Marie-Luise Bodendorff - Kuhlau: Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 2 (2022)

For her second volume of Kuhlau’s piano music, Marie-Luise Bodendorff takes the three previously unrecorded rondos, Op. 1, as her starting point, some of his most charming and distinctive music. She continues with the composer’s Six Sonatinas, Op. 55, which remain popular with pianists today.

In the Fantasy on Swedish songs, Op. 93, Bodendorff displays all the craftsmanship, elegance and kindness of Kuhlau’s piano music. Friedrich Kuhlau fled from Germany to Denmark at the age of 24, when facing conscription into Napoleon’s army. He easily worked his way into the Danish musical and aristocratic milieu, gained citizenship and spent the rest of his life in the country. Kuhlau is known as Beethoven’s strongest advocate in Denmark. His piano music is melodically rich, explores the full sonority of the instrument and ranges in texture from the delicate to the imposing.