Freedom

This recording's title, Freedom, reflects the disc's exploration of what composers produced when they did not start with a codified musical form but rather with a poetic idea. In this thought-provoking program, both Schubert and Schumann's cycles show powers of evocation and characterization at their height, while in Schoenberg's music, pared back beyond it's essentials, we catch a glimpse into the elements of a psychological crisis. Fiammetta Tarli's playing reveals details of the music unheard before, and in such central repertoire that's quite an achievement; especially impressive is the sense of buoyant fun that she found in Schoenberg's short piano pieces, fun being seldom associated to Schoenberg's music.