Geisterszenen / Geistervariationen

The Romantic era was marked by a great penchant for the transcendental, the supernatural, the mysterious, indeed, the “ghostly”. All these facets are merged in an exemplary manner in the Geisterszenen (Ghostly Scenes) composed in 1850 by Anselm Hüttenbrenner, a friend and fellow student of Franz Schubert and a respected pianist himself. These mostly highly virtuoso, fantasy-like Musical Tableaux cycle is not only Hüttenbrenner’s most original piano work, but also an outstanding example of cyclical romantic piano music. Julia Rinderle succeeds in creating with her debut CD an exemplary premiere recording of this fascinating, rousing piano cycle. Robert Schumann’s Geistervariationen (Ghost Variations) – whose theme was sung to him by angels, as he believed – are directly related to the tragic events of February, 1854 which led to his admission to the psychiatric hospital Endenich near Bonn, Germany. Julia Rinderle approaches this last, subtly nuanced piano work of Schumann with great sensitivity and intuition.

The Memmingen-born pianist Julia Rinderle has performed in the USA as part of the Pianofest in the Hamptons and has given solo recitals in China (including in Wuhan and Beijing). Her performances at the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, and the Glass Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna deserve special mention. Since 2019/20, Rinderle has been a lecturer at the music academies in Hannover and Leipzig.