Fantasies
Joel Schoenhals’ Schubert is strong and muscular but sculpted with large contrasts. One of Schoenhals’ core strengths is the clarity of his articulation; but more, it is the real feel for the core of Schubert’s writing that shines. There is a Brendel-like quality here, a grasp of overarching structure which means that direction is never lost. The slow movement contains huge detail held within a very lyric flow; the dance roots of the scherzo are clear in a reading the emerges as a sort of Landler-plus. The determined nature of the finale is strong in intent and exciting; but the important thing to notice is the sense of completion that resonates in the listener afterwards, not the virtuoso show. The end is carefully prepared; the whole is beautifully and entirely convincingly delivered.
The ever strong coupling of the Schubert and Schumann fantasies is shown to great effect here. One can, perhaps, point to Schoenhals’ technical prowess in the Schumann (the preternatural evenness of his left hand at the opening, for example), but again it is his ear for long-term harmonic movement that shines through. Textures are impeccably weighted. The sound is perfectly Schumann, and Schoenhals brings a great sense of grandeur to the chordal statements. - Fanfare
Joel Schoenhals’ Schubert is strong and muscular but sculpted with large contrasts. One of Schoenhals’ core strengths is the clarity of his articulation; but more, it is the real feel for the core of Schubert’s writing that shines. There is a Brendel-like quality here, a grasp of overarching structure which means that direction is never lost. The slow movement contains huge detail held within a very lyric flow; the dance roots of the scherzo are clear in a reading the emerges as a sort of Landler-plus. The determined nature of the finale is strong in intent and exciting; but the important thing to notice is the sense of completion that resonates in the listener afterwards, not the virtuoso show. The end is carefully prepared; the whole is beautifully and entirely convincingly delivered.
The ever strong coupling of the Schubert and Schumann fantasies is shown to great effect here. One can, perhaps, point to Schoenhals’ technical prowess in the Schumann (the preternatural evenness of his left hand at the opening, for example), but again it is his ear for long-term harmonic movement that shines through. Textures are impeccably weighted. The sound is perfectly Schumann, and Schoenhals brings a great sense of grandeur to the chordal statements. - Fanfare
Songs of Louis Théodore Gouvy
"If you go to the Fanfare Archive and search for reviews of music by Théodore Gouvy (1819–1898) you will discover that I have joined a long list of critics who have been praising his music for some years now. Why Gouvy has so thoroughly disappeared from the music scene when his contemporary Saint-Saëns has always had a place on the world stage is something that puzzles me, and puzzles most people who come to know his music. During his lifetime, he actually was performed with some regularity and respected by very important musicians. He maintained relationships of mutual respect with Liszt, Schumann, Berlioz, Lalo, Grieg, Bruch, Gounod, and Saint-Saëns. It is odd how someone like that falls by the wayside. Gouvy lived much of his life in Germany, because of the musical climate there, but he always thought of himself as French, and stylistically his music is closer to the French idiom. These songs are exquisite; they are at a uniformly high level of inspiration, and the music is perfectly suited to the texts that Gouvy chose. The ones on this disc are all settings of Renaissance poets. Many of these are first recordings, and others are first recordings in their original keys.
The strength of these performances is the colorful, animated pianism of Schoenhals. He goes way beyond just playing the notes, providing colorful, alive accompaniments throughout." - Fanfare
"If you go to the Fanfare Archive and search for reviews of music by Théodore Gouvy (1819–1898) you will discover that I have joined a long list of critics who have been praising his music for some years now. Why Gouvy has so thoroughly disappeared from the music scene when his contemporary Saint-Saëns has always had a place on the world stage is something that puzzles me, and puzzles most people who come to know his music. During his lifetime, he actually was performed with some regularity and respected by very important musicians. He maintained relationships of mutual respect with Liszt, Schumann, Berlioz, Lalo, Grieg, Bruch, Gounod, and Saint-Saëns. It is odd how someone like that falls by the wayside. Gouvy lived much of his life in Germany, because of the musical climate there, but he always thought of himself as French, and stylistically his music is closer to the French idiom. These songs are exquisite; they are at a uniformly high level of inspiration, and the music is perfectly suited to the texts that Gouvy chose. The ones on this disc are all settings of Renaissance poets. Many of these are first recordings, and others are first recordings in their original keys.
The strength of these performances is the colorful, animated pianism of Schoenhals. He goes way beyond just playing the notes, providing colorful, alive accompaniments throughout." - Fanfare
Chinese Piano Music
"Consummate technical skill and polish. Recommended both to enthusiasts of off-the-beaten-path repertory and of finely wrought piano playing.
Schoenhals’ tonal palette is massively varied. Variety within the unity of orientalist sonority and harmony is the key here, and beyond all doubt, Schoenhals triumphs. The recording is simply staggeringly good. This is a pure winner." - Fanfare
"Consummate technical skill and polish. Recommended both to enthusiasts of off-the-beaten-path repertory and of finely wrought piano playing.
Schoenhals’ tonal palette is massively varied. Variety within the unity of orientalist sonority and harmony is the key here, and beyond all doubt, Schoenhals triumphs. The recording is simply staggeringly good. This is a pure winner." - Fanfare
Songs of Louis Théodore Gouvy
"It always seems as if Joel Schoenhals is breathing with them because he is as intent on helping them shape their phrases as they are helping him shape his phrases. It has been a very long time since I have heard such mutual artistry (and artistic agreement) between vocalists and pianist." - Opus Colorado
"It always seems as if Joel Schoenhals is breathing with them because he is as intent on helping them shape their phrases as they are helping him shape his phrases. It has been a very long time since I have heard such mutual artistry (and artistic agreement) between vocalists and pianist." - Opus Colorado
Schubert and Rachmaninoff: Moment Musicaux
"These are rich and romantic readings, beautifully played and recorded. There is no more sensitive and poetic recording of the Schubert. And the final Maestoso (Rachmaninoff) is truly majestic - not merely a virtuoso show. A wonderful program, played with great sensitivity and tone." - American Record Guide
"Schoenhals realizes the music's desperate pathos but doesn't let it turn into hysteria (Rachmaninoff). - Fanfare
“He has the ability to carefully control his touch in a surprisingly specific way, yet still sound natural and not inappropriately, over-the-top theatrical” - All Music.
"These are rich and romantic readings, beautifully played and recorded. There is no more sensitive and poetic recording of the Schubert. And the final Maestoso (Rachmaninoff) is truly majestic - not merely a virtuoso show. A wonderful program, played with great sensitivity and tone." - American Record Guide
"Schoenhals realizes the music's desperate pathos but doesn't let it turn into hysteria (Rachmaninoff). - Fanfare
“He has the ability to carefully control his touch in a surprisingly specific way, yet still sound natural and not inappropriately, over-the-top theatrical” - All Music.
Liszt: Schubert Songs
This is different from similar recitals. Schoenhals has chosen to record all 14 of Liszt’s Schwanengesang transcriptions along with six songs from Die Schöne Müllerin. The pianist has been praised already by this reviewer for his performance of Bartók’s For Children and continues to display a perfect marriage between intellect and musicality. Musicality in this case means a willingness to interpret rather than attempting to play everything exactly as it appears on the printed page.
The first selection, “Das Wandern,” for example, is very free with rubato and ritardando. While this can spell disaster in the hands of a lesser artist, Schoenhals manages to bring it off. The other songs are handled in a similar manner, and many are quite thrilling in their display of virtuosity.
Seek this one out and find one of the greatest releases of the year. Now if someone would only help me to close my jaw, hung open by the second track. Only then can I return to mundane existence. - American Record Guide
This is different from similar recitals. Schoenhals has chosen to record all 14 of Liszt’s Schwanengesang transcriptions along with six songs from Die Schöne Müllerin. The pianist has been praised already by this reviewer for his performance of Bartók’s For Children and continues to display a perfect marriage between intellect and musicality. Musicality in this case means a willingness to interpret rather than attempting to play everything exactly as it appears on the printed page.
The first selection, “Das Wandern,” for example, is very free with rubato and ritardando. While this can spell disaster in the hands of a lesser artist, Schoenhals manages to bring it off. The other songs are handled in a similar manner, and many are quite thrilling in their display of virtuosity.
Seek this one out and find one of the greatest releases of the year. Now if someone would only help me to close my jaw, hung open by the second track. Only then can I return to mundane existence. - American Record Guide
Liszt: Schubert Songs
Franz Liszt was not the first composer to transcribe music. Other composers had been doing that for centuries. But he deserves to be called the “father of transcriptions” because of the way he approached them, particularly in his many song transcriptions and paraphrases. As pianist Joel Schoenhals observes in his notes to Lieder of Franz Schubert transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt, these are not merely virtuoso arrangements of beautiful songs, attractive as the idea may be. “They are narratives in sound,” he insists. “Even if the text is not sung, the listener can derive narrative and emotion in sound alone.”In his recording of twenty Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs, Schoenhals cultivates a beautiful, well-placed tone that is always easy on the ear. His sense of flow in the interpretation of these pieces enhances the idea of narratives without words that Liszt aimed to achieve. (Liszt's sensitivity to the original Schubert songs was such that he insisted the words be printed above the score, and once took a publisher to task for failing to do so.) Schoenhals follows Liszt's “melody in the thumbs” technique, allowing the fingers to roam freely and create a feeling of spaciousness in these tiny masterpieces, which amount to self-contained stories in tone.
Some of Schubert's best-known songs are among these transcriptions, including six Wilhelm Müller songs and all fourteen from Schwanengesang (Swan Song). Schoenhals is sensitive to the varying moods and the emotional density of all these pieces, which include cheerful songs such as “Das Wandern” (The Wanderer) and “Abschied” (Departure) as well as songs of love and longing like “Ihr Bild” (Her Picture) and “Frühlingssehnsucht” (Longing for Spring). They also include songs of painful reflection (“Der Stadt,” [The City]) and dire foreboding (“Kriegers Ahnung” [The Soldier's Premonition]). In pieces such as “Ständchen” (Serenade), perhaps Schuber'ts best-loved song, he is at pains to select the most lyrical and most intimate of several available versions. Most of all, Schoenhals helps us realize that the transcription of a familiar lyric can be a wonderful musical experience in its own right. - Classik Reviews
Franz Liszt was not the first composer to transcribe music. Other composers had been doing that for centuries. But he deserves to be called the “father of transcriptions” because of the way he approached them, particularly in his many song transcriptions and paraphrases. As pianist Joel Schoenhals observes in his notes to Lieder of Franz Schubert transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt, these are not merely virtuoso arrangements of beautiful songs, attractive as the idea may be. “They are narratives in sound,” he insists. “Even if the text is not sung, the listener can derive narrative and emotion in sound alone.”In his recording of twenty Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs, Schoenhals cultivates a beautiful, well-placed tone that is always easy on the ear. His sense of flow in the interpretation of these pieces enhances the idea of narratives without words that Liszt aimed to achieve. (Liszt's sensitivity to the original Schubert songs was such that he insisted the words be printed above the score, and once took a publisher to task for failing to do so.) Schoenhals follows Liszt's “melody in the thumbs” technique, allowing the fingers to roam freely and create a feeling of spaciousness in these tiny masterpieces, which amount to self-contained stories in tone.
Some of Schubert's best-known songs are among these transcriptions, including six Wilhelm Müller songs and all fourteen from Schwanengesang (Swan Song). Schoenhals is sensitive to the varying moods and the emotional density of all these pieces, which include cheerful songs such as “Das Wandern” (The Wanderer) and “Abschied” (Departure) as well as songs of love and longing like “Ihr Bild” (Her Picture) and “Frühlingssehnsucht” (Longing for Spring). They also include songs of painful reflection (“Der Stadt,” [The City]) and dire foreboding (“Kriegers Ahnung” [The Soldier's Premonition]). In pieces such as “Ständchen” (Serenade), perhaps Schuber'ts best-loved song, he is at pains to select the most lyrical and most intimate of several available versions. Most of all, Schoenhals helps us realize that the transcription of a familiar lyric can be a wonderful musical experience in its own right. - Classik Reviews
Liszt: Schubert Songs
Joel Schoenhals pours forth a cornucopia of Liszt-winged Schubertian melody with an engaging ardor just where Leslie Howard’s traversal of this fare (Müllerlieder, Schwanengesang, Hyperion CDA 66954/6, Fanfare 19:1,Schwanengesang alternative versions, Hyperion CDA 66957/9, Fanfare 19:2) begins to sag under the documentary weight of dutifully including every variant with a workmanlike punctilio in which, as Peter J. Rabinowitz noted, “even the ‘Ständchen’ from Schwanengesang—an almost guaranteed success—begins to droop.” Schubert-Liszt collections are not lacking, though they rarely give us complete cycles, as Schoenhals has, while Howard’s looms with the putative authority of his invaluable annotations, completeness, and prestige as the inevitable comparison.
And by comparison, Howard is muted where Schoenhals is mercurial, mournful where Schoenhals is passionate, plodding where he is impetuous, dull where he’s radiant, and so on. Howard’s passage work may be occasionally more deft—or blasé—but Schoenhals awakens Schubert’s exuberance, lifts it from piercing melancholy to ecstatic flights, and touches the throbbing heart of Liszt’s recreations in a way that persuades us the piano is indeed a viable, if not preeminent, medium for so much vocally conceived music. As Rabinowitz slyly noted, “It may be a heresy to suggest that the Schubert-Liszt songs are superior to the Schubert originals—but it’s a heresy that I suspect is widely shared, if not widely confessed.” No need to confess, but there’s abundant pleasure to be found here. Fleur de Son’s immediate, detailed, glowing sound—in marked contrast to Hyperion’s veiled capture for Howard—lends a fillip to general éclat. Enthusiastically recommended. - Fanfare
Joel Schoenhals pours forth a cornucopia of Liszt-winged Schubertian melody with an engaging ardor just where Leslie Howard’s traversal of this fare (Müllerlieder, Schwanengesang, Hyperion CDA 66954/6, Fanfare 19:1,Schwanengesang alternative versions, Hyperion CDA 66957/9, Fanfare 19:2) begins to sag under the documentary weight of dutifully including every variant with a workmanlike punctilio in which, as Peter J. Rabinowitz noted, “even the ‘Ständchen’ from Schwanengesang—an almost guaranteed success—begins to droop.” Schubert-Liszt collections are not lacking, though they rarely give us complete cycles, as Schoenhals has, while Howard’s looms with the putative authority of his invaluable annotations, completeness, and prestige as the inevitable comparison.
And by comparison, Howard is muted where Schoenhals is mercurial, mournful where Schoenhals is passionate, plodding where he is impetuous, dull where he’s radiant, and so on. Howard’s passage work may be occasionally more deft—or blasé—but Schoenhals awakens Schubert’s exuberance, lifts it from piercing melancholy to ecstatic flights, and touches the throbbing heart of Liszt’s recreations in a way that persuades us the piano is indeed a viable, if not preeminent, medium for so much vocally conceived music. As Rabinowitz slyly noted, “It may be a heresy to suggest that the Schubert-Liszt songs are superior to the Schubert originals—but it’s a heresy that I suspect is widely shared, if not widely confessed.” No need to confess, but there’s abundant pleasure to be found here. Fleur de Son’s immediate, detailed, glowing sound—in marked contrast to Hyperion’s veiled capture for Howard—lends a fillip to general éclat. Enthusiastically recommended. - Fanfare
Stravinsky: Petrouchka and Le Sacre
Although both these works exist in the composer’s own one-piano, four-hand arrangements, they are performed here using two pianos. The pianists justify this as enabling them to achieve more sonorities and pedaling possibilities. The results are most impressive and attest to the musicianship and technical skills of these artists.
Schoenhals has been very favorably reviewed before in these pages (Mar/Apr 2004, Sept/Oct 2005), and Boyd, Professor of Piano at University of Toledo, contributes his own splendid credentials to these performances. The colorful drawing, “Stravinsky rehearsing The Rite of Spring” by Jean Cocteau, is emblazoned with a kaleidoscope of colors that reflect the sound and spirit of the playing. Neither of these pianists makes an effort to push their tonal palate beyond the possibilities of the piano, and neither are they bangers, intent on pounding you into submissions. By all means, get the orchestral versions first, but save your money for these revealingly effective two-piano editions as well. - American Record Guide
Although both these works exist in the composer’s own one-piano, four-hand arrangements, they are performed here using two pianos. The pianists justify this as enabling them to achieve more sonorities and pedaling possibilities. The results are most impressive and attest to the musicianship and technical skills of these artists.
Schoenhals has been very favorably reviewed before in these pages (Mar/Apr 2004, Sept/Oct 2005), and Boyd, Professor of Piano at University of Toledo, contributes his own splendid credentials to these performances. The colorful drawing, “Stravinsky rehearsing The Rite of Spring” by Jean Cocteau, is emblazoned with a kaleidoscope of colors that reflect the sound and spirit of the playing. Neither of these pianists makes an effort to push their tonal palate beyond the possibilities of the piano, and neither are they bangers, intent on pounding you into submissions. By all means, get the orchestral versions first, but save your money for these revealingly effective two-piano editions as well. - American Record Guide
Stravinsky: Petrouchka and Le Sacre
A new C.D., Igor Strainvksy, features pianists Joel Schoenhals and Michael Boyd performing Petrouchka and The Rite of Spring, two of the composer’s most familiar works, which he arranged for one piano, four hands. Schoenhals and Boyd play their parts on separate pianos, which enable them to explore the qualities of each instrument, include more pedaling, and perform with greater sonority. The duo also adds touches of color to Petrouchka with triangle and tambourine.
Both pianists earned doctorate degrees at the Eastman School of Music and are now professors of piano at Eastern Michigan University and Toledo Universities, respectively. Their performances emphasize rhythmic grace, a welcome quality because both works were written for ballet, as well as color and clarity.
While there is an academic tendency to dismiss piano transcriptions, these pieces should not be because of the simple reason they were written by Stravinsky himself. Furthermore, it is possible in well-written and well-played transcriptions, as these are, to hear interesting clarificationsof the score that may emerge. While Stravinsky’s orchestral textures are at times thick, the four-hand arrangements provide listeners with details and nuances usually not present in a symphonic performance.
Schoenhals and Boyd negotiate these complex scores beautifully, creating rhythmic drive and excitement without becoming bombastic or over pedaled. This duo reminds us that these popular scores are filled with charm, color, and imagination (Fleur de Son #57976) - Jeffrey Wagner, Clavier
A new C.D., Igor Strainvksy, features pianists Joel Schoenhals and Michael Boyd performing Petrouchka and The Rite of Spring, two of the composer’s most familiar works, which he arranged for one piano, four hands. Schoenhals and Boyd play their parts on separate pianos, which enable them to explore the qualities of each instrument, include more pedaling, and perform with greater sonority. The duo also adds touches of color to Petrouchka with triangle and tambourine.
Both pianists earned doctorate degrees at the Eastman School of Music and are now professors of piano at Eastern Michigan University and Toledo Universities, respectively. Their performances emphasize rhythmic grace, a welcome quality because both works were written for ballet, as well as color and clarity.
While there is an academic tendency to dismiss piano transcriptions, these pieces should not be because of the simple reason they were written by Stravinsky himself. Furthermore, it is possible in well-written and well-played transcriptions, as these are, to hear interesting clarificationsof the score that may emerge. While Stravinsky’s orchestral textures are at times thick, the four-hand arrangements provide listeners with details and nuances usually not present in a symphonic performance.
Schoenhals and Boyd negotiate these complex scores beautifully, creating rhythmic drive and excitement without becoming bombastic or over pedaled. This duo reminds us that these popular scores are filled with charm, color, and imagination (Fleur de Son #57976) - Jeffrey Wagner, Clavier
Trios
For the listener looking for first-class performances of first-rank trios scored for clarinet, viola, and piano, it would be hard to do better than this disc by Kim Aseltine, Eva Stern, and Joel Schoenhals. These three works -- Mozart's "Kegelstatt" Trio, Schumann's "Marchenerzahlungen" Trio, and Bruch's Eight Pieces undoubtedly represent the apogee of the form as practiced in the late eighteenth through late nineteenth century in central Europe. The performances are easily as fine as any ever recorded. Aseltine has a warm, fruity tone and a smooth technique, Stern has a rich, juicy tone and an agile technique, and Schoenhals has a subtle tone, a nuanced technique, and a wonderful way of weaving in between Aseltine and Stern. Together, they create an effervescent "Kegelstatt," a magical "Marchenerzahlungen," and a reading of Bruch's Eight Pieces so sweet, mysterious, whimsical, and endearing that it elevates the music. Recorded in clean, close, and very intimate digital sound, this disc shows off the performers and the repertoire to best
advantage. - James Leonard, All Music
For the listener looking for first-class performances of first-rank trios scored for clarinet, viola, and piano, it would be hard to do better than this disc by Kim Aseltine, Eva Stern, and Joel Schoenhals. These three works -- Mozart's "Kegelstatt" Trio, Schumann's "Marchenerzahlungen" Trio, and Bruch's Eight Pieces undoubtedly represent the apogee of the form as practiced in the late eighteenth through late nineteenth century in central Europe. The performances are easily as fine as any ever recorded. Aseltine has a warm, fruity tone and a smooth technique, Stern has a rich, juicy tone and an agile technique, and Schoenhals has a subtle tone, a nuanced technique, and a wonderful way of weaving in between Aseltine and Stern. Together, they create an effervescent "Kegelstatt," a magical "Marchenerzahlungen," and a reading of Bruch's Eight Pieces so sweet, mysterious, whimsical, and endearing that it elevates the music. Recorded in clean, close, and very intimate digital sound, this disc shows off the performers and the repertoire to best
advantage. - James Leonard, All Music
Béla Bartók: For Children
It would be difficult to imagine a better rendition of Béla Bartók's well-known suites “For Children,” Parts I and II, than this beguiling recording by pianist Joel Schoenhals, a member of the music faculty at Eastern Michigan University. Inspired by the Hungarian composer's field trips to collect folk songs in rural Hungary and Slovakia in 1906, the 85 brief pieces embody the gypsy-like spirit, both melancholy and unquenchable, of the Eastern European peasantry and, particularly, of their offspring at work and at play.
Schoenhals fits his mood and technique to the demands of the little works, which are often singsong in nature, lullaby-like or powerfully dance-like. Though essentially simple in composition and intention, these pieces radiate purity and luminosity made all the more evident by the performer's understanding of and devotion to the material. The gaiety, the sadness sometimes feel unutterable.
I listened to this album over and over with increasing pleasure. - Memphis Commerical Appeal
It would be difficult to imagine a better rendition of Béla Bartók's well-known suites “For Children,” Parts I and II, than this beguiling recording by pianist Joel Schoenhals, a member of the music faculty at Eastern Michigan University. Inspired by the Hungarian composer's field trips to collect folk songs in rural Hungary and Slovakia in 1906, the 85 brief pieces embody the gypsy-like spirit, both melancholy and unquenchable, of the Eastern European peasantry and, particularly, of their offspring at work and at play.
Schoenhals fits his mood and technique to the demands of the little works, which are often singsong in nature, lullaby-like or powerfully dance-like. Though essentially simple in composition and intention, these pieces radiate purity and luminosity made all the more evident by the performer's understanding of and devotion to the material. The gaiety, the sadness sometimes feel unutterable.
I listened to this album over and over with increasing pleasure. - Memphis Commerical Appeal
Profile: Meaty Chops
I was listening to a fairly random selection of classical CDs when suddenly I heard a disc that was anything but random--a collection of trios for clarinet, viola and piano by Mozart, Beethoven, and Bruch. Every performance on it is top-notch. The clarinetist, Kim Aseltine, has a fruity tone and an effortless technique; the violist, Eva Stern, a juicy tone and an agile technique; and the pianist, Joel Schoenhals, a meaty tone and a nuanced technique--but also a wonderful way of binding the clarinetist and the violist together to create a cogent ensemble with a cohesive sound. The players aren't suave Europeans or sleek Asians but young Americans on the faculty at EMU. And why not? EMU has a first-class music department and there's no reason why a disc by faculty players shouldn't be first class, too.
Schoenhals, who has a solo recital on September 25 at Pease Auditorium, has three other discs out, and all are remarkable. His recording of Liszt's virtuoso transcriptions of songs by Schubert is astounding. He executes each arrangement's coruscating cascades of notes brilliantly, and yet there is plenty of warmth and soul in his playing. Even more impressive is his disc of Bartok's For Children, on which Schoenhals performs all eighty-four brief pieces with stupendous intensity and staggering virtuosity--not necessarily what you'd expect in music nominally written for children. But most impressive is his disc coupling Stravinsky's Petroushka and The Rite of Spring in two-piano arrangements performed with Michael Boyd. Schoenhals and Boyd nail the transcriptions' gazillions of notes with breathtaking accuracy, and--though their supersonic speed makes it hard to tell them apart--with their verve, vivacity, and overwhelming virtuosity, the two of them sound like four, eight, sometimes even sixteen pianists.
If Schoenhals is this good live, his concert ought to be a jaw-dropping experience. For this recital, he's selected a truly fantastic repertoire: Schumann's perfervid Fantasy, Chopin's patrician Polonaise-Fantasy, Scriabin's passionate Sonata-Fantasy and Beethoven's immortal Moonlight Sonata. Each work has tremendously difficult pages--Schumann's colossal central March and Beethoven's demonic closing Presto--as well as transcendently beautiful pages--Chopin's luminous closing coda and Beethoven's sublime opening Adagio sostenuto. If Schoenhals can roar though the difficult pages, soar through the transcendent pages, and, most importantly, unite the two into a seamless aesthetic whole, his recital will be one of the
events of the season. - James Leonard, Ann Arbor Observer
I was listening to a fairly random selection of classical CDs when suddenly I heard a disc that was anything but random--a collection of trios for clarinet, viola and piano by Mozart, Beethoven, and Bruch. Every performance on it is top-notch. The clarinetist, Kim Aseltine, has a fruity tone and an effortless technique; the violist, Eva Stern, a juicy tone and an agile technique; and the pianist, Joel Schoenhals, a meaty tone and a nuanced technique--but also a wonderful way of binding the clarinetist and the violist together to create a cogent ensemble with a cohesive sound. The players aren't suave Europeans or sleek Asians but young Americans on the faculty at EMU. And why not? EMU has a first-class music department and there's no reason why a disc by faculty players shouldn't be first class, too.
Schoenhals, who has a solo recital on September 25 at Pease Auditorium, has three other discs out, and all are remarkable. His recording of Liszt's virtuoso transcriptions of songs by Schubert is astounding. He executes each arrangement's coruscating cascades of notes brilliantly, and yet there is plenty of warmth and soul in his playing. Even more impressive is his disc of Bartok's For Children, on which Schoenhals performs all eighty-four brief pieces with stupendous intensity and staggering virtuosity--not necessarily what you'd expect in music nominally written for children. But most impressive is his disc coupling Stravinsky's Petroushka and The Rite of Spring in two-piano arrangements performed with Michael Boyd. Schoenhals and Boyd nail the transcriptions' gazillions of notes with breathtaking accuracy, and--though their supersonic speed makes it hard to tell them apart--with their verve, vivacity, and overwhelming virtuosity, the two of them sound like four, eight, sometimes even sixteen pianists.
If Schoenhals is this good live, his concert ought to be a jaw-dropping experience. For this recital, he's selected a truly fantastic repertoire: Schumann's perfervid Fantasy, Chopin's patrician Polonaise-Fantasy, Scriabin's passionate Sonata-Fantasy and Beethoven's immortal Moonlight Sonata. Each work has tremendously difficult pages--Schumann's colossal central March and Beethoven's demonic closing Presto--as well as transcendently beautiful pages--Chopin's luminous closing coda and Beethoven's sublime opening Adagio sostenuto. If Schoenhals can roar though the difficult pages, soar through the transcendent pages, and, most importantly, unite the two into a seamless aesthetic whole, his recital will be one of the
events of the season. - James Leonard, Ann Arbor Observer
