Down with Romanticism: Recital 1869 - Part 1 Gili Loftus & David Eggert

• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): Kinderszenen Op. 15:
• 1 Schumann: Kinderszenen Op. 15 - 1. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen 01:53
• 2 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 2. Curiose Geschichte 01:04
• 3 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 3. Hasche-Mann 00:34
• 4 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 4. Bittendes Kind 00:54
• 5 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 5. Glückes genug 00:40
• 6 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 6. Wichtige Begebenheit 00:49
• 7 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 7. Träumerei 03:01
• 8 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 8. Am Camin 01:06
• 9 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 9. Ritter vom Steckenpferd 00:47
• 10 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 10. Fast zu ernst 01:41
• 11 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 11. Fürchtenmachen 01:43
• 12 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 12. Kind im Einschlummern 02:16
• 13 Schumann: Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - 13. Der Dichter spricht 02:10
• Total Runtime 18:38

Info for Down with Romanticism: Recital 1869 - Part 1

The Down with Romanticism project is the brainchild of two questing musicians — cellist, David Eggert, and fortepianist, Gili Loftus — and is the culmination of over a decade of artistic collaboration. Following meticulous archival research and immersions into the soundworld of the early days of the recording era, they have embarked on an experimental approach to explore forgotten dimensions of playing 19th century music. Their performance showcases flexibility of tempo and rhythm, elasticity of intonation and pitch, generous use of portamento, flexible alignment of the pianist’s right and left hands and heightened individualistic expression like you’ve never heard before, but that were once standard for music of this era — all on two beautiful period instruments.

"For the inaugural part of the Down with Romanticism: Recital 1869 series, we draw inspiration from the world of early sound recordings documenting those musicians who retained aesthetic paradigms of the romantic era, and through which we are able to catch glimpses of long-abandoned performance traditions from a bygone time. Guided by the recorded sounds of Fanny Davies and Adelina de Lara, both pupils of Clara Schumann and erstwhile champions of the works of Brahms and Schumann, we drew inspiration from these muses of the past in divining our own 21st-century interpretation of Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scenes of Childhood), learning from Adelina and Fanny how to make notes speak, and texts sing."

The rarely recorded arrangement of Kinderszenen by Friedrich Grützmacher (a friend and colleague of Clara Schumann) for cello and piano is a perfect playground for Gili and David in which to explore a host of forgotten dimensions of expressivity in playing, such as flexibility of tempo and rhythm, elasticity of intonation and pitch, and generous use of portamento and flexible alignment of the pianist’s right and left hands.

Their experimental approach is eminently suited to highlight the distinct contrasts in character that are found in each miniature of Schumann's celebrated Scenes of Childhood, with each scene generously beckoning the listener in with the unabated lyricism that has made this piece an enduring favorite.

Gili Loftus, fortepiano
David Eggert, cello

Gili Loftus
Award winning keyboardist, Gili Loftus’ three-fold expertise on the fortepiano, modern piano and harpsichord lend her playing a character that is unique to her, and which has opened up new and exciting paths for artistic and historical exploration which Gili has been invited to share through her performances and lectures on both sides of the Atlantic.

Gili has been published in Keyboard Perspectives, her work featured in The New York Times, and in May 2019, she was invited to present a recital on Clara Schumann’s original 1827 André Stein fortepiano (no. 513), housed at the Robert-Schumann-Haus in Zwickau, Germany.

In growing demand as a solo and collaborative artist, Gili is invited to play with period-instrument ensembles both internationally and in her adopted city of Montreal, and is especially happy when she is called home to play concerts in her native Israel. Most recently, Gili has been busy with the creation of Ida’s Salon Online, a new series of bite-size online concerts on period instruments exploring different facets of Jewish art, life and culture in the diaspora. Gili’s studies and artistic endeavours over the years have been generously supported by the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as Fonds AIDA, le conseil des arts et des letters du Québec and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Gili’s recordings can be heard under the Backlash Music (Berlin) and Leaf Music (Canada) labels.

David Eggert
was raised in a musical family, playing string quartet and singing in choirs from an early age.

He studied in Edmonton with Tanya Prochazka, in Boston with Lawrence Lesser, in Montreal with Matt Haimovitz, in Salzburg with Clemens Hagen, and in Basel with Rainer Schmidt. Other important influences were Heinrich Schiff, Anner Bylsma, and Vittorio Ghielmi.

David Eggert won first prizes at the 2008 international cello competition Antonio Janigro in Zagreb, the Grand Prize at the 2006 Eckhardt-Gramatté competition for Canadian music, and the 2014 Domnick cello prize for new music in stuttgart, and received honorary awards at the Naumburg international cello competition in New York as well as the 2009 Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition.

He has since performed as a soloist and chamber musician in countries around the world.

David Eggert appears in concert halls as soloist and chamber musician from St. Petersburg and Istanbul to Boston and vienna to critical acclaim and disdain, re-evaluating the traditional canon, improvising, studying, making art music more open, finding the forgotten, neglected gems, and following the spirit of creativity in old and new compositions.

An adamant proponent of sounds and concepts of the contemporary art music, he has appeared in festivals among others in Darmstadt, Essen, Milan, Vancouver, and Istanbul performing world premiers, working with composers, and experimenting with kindred pioneers of new music.

Since 2015 he has been teaching cello, contemporary music, and chamber music at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern – Switzerland. He is also active in the fields of musical theater, electro-acoustic improvisation, historically informed performance practice, microtonal research, choral direction, and plays viola da gamba.

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