Sontraud Speidel

Worldwide Press Reviews

„Full Clarity of line helps flawless Speidel technique …With an artist of this

"Full Clarity of line helps flawless Speidel technique …With an artist of this calibre every piece has authority."
The Evening Star, Washington D.C./USA

"… Sontraud Speidel appeared as a Clara Schumann of our time, with bravura and intimacy, and virtuosic sweep and delicate shading …"
Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik, Germany

"… A piano recital, which was a musical event even for fastidious ears … A sensitive artist like her, who is a servant of the work of art, is not regarded as being usual in Rome."
L´Osservatore Romano, Rome/Italy

"… The climax of the concert, and an irretrievable musical delight, was the interpretation of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in d minor by Speidel. Touching the keys not only with her fingers, but also with her soul, she revealed the entire force of that outstanding concerto. The interpretation of the pianist reminded us of historic performances by Clara Haskil."
Newspaper of Athene/Greece

"… Calm and self-evident virtuosity, which places itself at the service of the musical substance. Artists, who play music with this human approach, are much important …"
Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin/Germany

"Winkler´s Concerto presented at Tanglewood…Sontraud Speidel was the strong, well prepared soloist …"
Boston Evening Globe, Boston, Massachusetts/USA

"Outstanding chamber concert with Speidel … a musical adventure… "
Lillehammer/Norway

"... The German pianist received much acclaim … at the Wigmore Hall. She achieved effortless accuracy throughout a long and testing programme, and the range and beauty of her tone brought complete integrity to the works she played …"
London Times, London/England

"Almost too good ... Speidel is one of those artists to whom the word incredible aptly can be applied…The listener was led to hear the passion in her playing …As her hands sailed up and down the keyboard, the notes rolling off like drops in a spray of water, one could only be amazed that such skill exists."
Chico News and Review, Chico/California/USA

"… The pianist Speidel - on of the most outstanding currently in Germany … With great sympathetic understanding, and with her own, self-evident virtuosity, Sontraud Speidel proved her technical brilliancy and her power of interpretation. An amazing artist, and a graceful priestess of music of the highest rank ! …"
Honnefer Volkszeitung, Bad Honnef/Germany

"… She is a master of her craft. Her bravura technique was well matched by her sensitivity and gave the audience an experience to be remembered."
Paradise Post, Paradise/California/USA

"Brilliant piano debut in the Town Hall: Sontraud Speidel kindled fireworks … played with a perfection that almost cannot be surpassed. The concert was an art happening par excellence … Robert Schumann’s “Grande Sonate in f minor”: An interpretation like that of this huge piece will not be played again soon…"
Bayerische Rundschau, Germany

"Conquering playing - the Piano Sonata op. 1 by Johannes Brahms was played completely unspectacularly and without any aggressive approach. This interpretation was wholesome for the opus of Brahms; a lot of warmth and artistic understanding of the composition. The artist did not play for the sake of exhibiting her own ability: she still served the piece, however without neglecting an individual interpretation …"
Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, Heidelberg/Germany

"… During the concert in the Schumann House, Sontraud Speidel remained concentrated and proved her admirable condition, which became obvious in the finale of Hummel’s large Sonata op. 81 in f# minor. She stretched out the middle part with intimacy, and in the first and last movements, her playing impressed with the fastest tempi …"
Bonner Rundschau, Bonn

"Sontraud Speidel brought it off with a stunning performance that fully exposed the range and depth of Beethoven´s marvellous creation (Diabelli Variations). Not only was her playing technically faultless, it conveyed brilliantly the wealth of emotion in the work … Coming after this, the shorter pieces were like a light dessert after a sumptuous main course, Rachmaninoff at first happy and exuberant (“Love´s Joy”), then heavy, even melancholic in the sentimental way of waltzes (“Love´s Grief”). Again Speidel was faultless, both technically and emotionally."
Chico News, Chico/California/USA

"Sontaud Speidel built an artistic monument for Fanny Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn’s sister, with this brilliant recording, which must be praised for the interpretation and playing technique."
Zeitschrift fuer Musikpädagogik, Germany

"… With the pianist Sontraud Speidel, an ideal, sensitive, and engaged artist was found."
Darmstaedter Echo, Darmstadt/Germany [about the CD recording with works from Fanny Hensel]

"Sontraud Speidel is nimble and flowing and has distinct affinity for this repertoire."
American Record Guide/USA [about the CD recording with works from Fanny Hensel]

"… Sontraud Speidel proves the brilliance and sovereignity of both herself and the composer by her powerful, engaged, and at the same time sensitive playing."
Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung [about the CD recording with works by Theodor Kirchner and Carl Reinecke]

"Schumann’s spirit came forth from her hands … Pianist with color, charm, and spirit … Full-blooded pianist … Her great strength is the enormous breadth of variation of her touch, and her technical perfection that never ends in itself …"
Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, Heidelberg/Germany

"A remarkable pianist … an inexorable architecture, a superior approach, a clarity and just a right amount of energy, which allows her to draw thrilling paintings with superb colors … In the art of S. Speidel, there is much elegance, intelligence, mastership, transparent intuition and a continous relevance which lierally fascinates"
Bieler Tagblatt, Bienne/Switzerland

"Sontraud Speidel at the piano: a rare virtuoso … Sontraud Speidel is a great pianist, and her program is not lessened by her virtuosity."
Les dernières nouvelles, Haguenau/France

"Music-Mission of the highest artistic quality. Sontraud Speidel in the Town Hall: Kehl had a pianistic event … she showed a breath-taking perfection in pearlyscales, engaging passages of thirds and octaves, thrilling playing of chords, dreamily secure technique, masterful playing of nuances … a wide scale of pianistic art, which rarely can be heard …"
Kehler Zeitung, Kehl/Germany

"A piano concert, which cannot be desired nicer … Sontraud Speidel is a master of nuanced touch, and of a well-reasoned and deeply-felt cultivation of sound. Her art of phrasing, and sensitively pointed agogics prove her high musicality, her talent for interpretation, and her deep and poetic seriousness. Her self-evident “craftsmanlike” skills, and her enormous playing technique, are the basis for her intimate expressive approach, which made the evening with Sontraud Speidel an event …"
General-Anzeiger Bonn

"Piano recital of lyricism, fine control…a wonderful capacity for shaping the minutest gesture…She is a thinker and a poet …"
Palo Alto Times, Palo Alto, California/USA

"… with the pianist Sontraud Speidel, a performer was found that enthralled the audience …"
Il Giornale, Milano, Italy

"… made Joseph Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D Major a festival of clarity, virtuosity, precision, and pearl-like shining figuration …"
Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, Heidelberg/Germany

"… Sontraud Speidel convinced [in the Schwetzingen Festival] as soloist in the Sinfonietta [by Martinu] impressively with her keen accuracy and clarity of interpretation, and also with defining a clear boundary between lyrical intensity and Romanticism, and the danger to fall back into the conventional: hallmarks of a sovereign interpretation …"
Badische Neueste Nachrichten, Karlsruhe/Germany

"Many good pianists have been introduced recently in several concerts, but then, Sontraud Speidel came and made all of them fall into oblivion … in short, it was an event. Sontraud Speide's audience completely forgets the virtuosity, because the pianist, who won several prizes, does not put on airs. With the greatest self-effacing approach, she plays her program by heart in a clarity and purity that succeeds only in the greatest artists, of which Sontraud Speidel is surely one."
Solinger Morgenpost, Solingen/Germany

"… The Piano Concerto of Chopin was the climax of the evening. With breath-taking sovereignty, Sontraud Speidel varied the themes of the Maestoso with fine scales of brilliant elegance … Many shouts of "bravo" rewarded the brilliant pianist."
Badische Neueste Nachrichten, Karlsruhe/Germany
The art of diamond cutting

The Eugen Werner Velte prize is awarded to the pianist and pedagogue Sontraud Speidel

By Christine Behringer

PAMINA Dec. 22, 2011

The Eugen Werner Velte prize is awarded to the pianist and pedagogue Sontraud Speidel

"Practicing - that's just like cleaning your teeth.“ Sontraud Speidel, professor of piano at the Karlsruhe Music University and director of the Karlsruhe Piano Podium, drums this sober word of musician's wisdom into her students during lessons, for the very reason that the foundation of great art and lively music-making is after all hard work, which may not be much fun, but is a simple necessity. And the young Rastatt pianist and conductor Frank Düpree, who has been working with Sontraud Speidel for the last 14 years, and whose list of performances and awards is impressively long, knows this very well. In order to learn a piece of music off by heart, one has to cope with certain obstacles in the lessons: “You sit down at the piano and play a Bach fugue. Frau Speidel also sits down at the piano and plays the fugue at the same time - but a semitone higher. That produces pretty extreme dissonances.“ One has to have played virtuosic and complicated figuration completely blind at least once (meaning literally just “shut your eyes and hope for the best!“)

Sontraud Speidel is obviously an unusually gifted teacher. She has a feeling for pianistic rough diamonds and knows how to polish them. Her up-and-coming young talents are showered with prizes almost every week: the Mendelssohn prize, first place in the Prof. Dichler competition in Vienna, “Jugend musiziert“ at the federal level goes without saying. She is also artistic director of the concerts of the Baden Cultural Foundation and the Hohenwettersbach Musikforum - and promotes talented young musicians here as well.
It is this all-round commitment which has now brought Sontraud Speidel the Eugen Werner Velte Prize at the Karlsruhe Music University, an award established by the Rector´s office and now presented for the first time. The award is intended in future for personalities, who have served the “artistic, pedagogical or organisational interests of the music university in an exceptional way, thus enhancing the national and international reputation of the institution“. In his appreciative address, Rector Hartmut Höll especially emphasised Sontraud Speidel's “resolute tranquillity“ and “inner independence“ as well as her empathy and insight into human nature, characteristics which are prerequisites of great achievement.
The pianist and composer Eugen Werner Velte, vice-chancellor of the Karlsruhe Music University from 1971, had also worked untiringly in the interests of his students and the university, which wouldn't exist now except for his dedication. As Hartmut Höll put it, he acted “outwardly with political intelligence and inwardly with sensitivity“. In her acceptance speech, Sontraud Speidel also painted a vivid picture of her former teacher: Whereas other lecturers were interested mainly in conversations with each other, and didn't mind a bit of gossip along the way, Eugen Werner Velte mainly sought communication with the students; in so doing, he was exceptional for his profound respect for the giftedness of his pupils. Sontraud Speidel's great wish is especially that his works, currently in manuscript form in the library, should “at long last be published“.
For Sontraud Speidel too, teaching means “intelligently passing on one's own knowledge“. She doesn't think much of a style of teaching based on an “artificially induced permanent state of tension“. Even though the market place for musicians is highly competitive, she wants to “keep the pressure of competition in her class down as low as possible“.
Twenty current and former students (some of whom themselves now university lecturers) thanked Sontraud Speidel with a broad and finely performed programme. Hartmut Höll had previously pointed out to the audience that Sontraud Speidel's students are special not for superficial virtuosity but for artistic individuality. The guests in the fully occupied Velte Auditorium, (including incidentally the great granddaughter of Fanny Hensel) could hear that for themselves. No two performances were alike. The contributions were distinguished not only by enormous stylistic variety and technical ability, but in particular through the personal manner of the presentation. By the time the person being honoured together with three of her students herself sat down at the piano for a snappy and witty "Galop-Marche" (by Albert Lavignac) one could really sense: this was the result of a huge artistic team spirit and intuitive rapport.
From Schumann's Sound-World

Pianist Sontraud Speidel Shines

Allgemeine Zeitung Bingen - July 31, 2006

Pianist Sontraud Speidel Shines

Other pianists sit down on the piano, resting in concentration before their fingers play the first notes. Not Sontraud Speidel. She enters the stage, bows briefly, does not move the piano bench, and immediately begins playing. She seems to forget her audience, immerses herself into the world of sound and the style of the composer. She plays very expressively and guides the audience in a journey through sound [...] She kept that transcendence and special interpretation during the entire recital, and she brought out the particular sound-colors of the different composers.
Fine Sound Display and Virtuosic Elegance

Recital as a Moving Finale of the German-Polish Meetings in the Town Church

By Elisa Hernicek

Badische Neueste Nachrichten April 11, 2006

Recital as a Moving Finale of the German-Polish Meetings in the Town Church

In the final concert of the German-Polish Meetings, four sacred works by Polish composers of the 19th and 20th century were woven into the program around Chopin's Piano Concerto. Christian-Markus Raiser engagingly directed the Karlsruhe Bach Choir, the Camerata 2000, and the soloists Simone Fessner [soprano], Sibylle Kamphues [alto], Andreas Reibenspies [baritone], and Sontraud Speidel [piano].

[...] Chopin's Piano Concerto was the centerpiece of this evening. Sontraud Speidel varied the themes of the Maestoso with fine scales of masterly elegance and with breath-taking sovereignty. She presented the richly decorated Norturne melody of the Larghetto with its expressive middle section with delicacy. The Concerto ended with a dancing Allegro. The Polish Mazurka, which is contained herein, benefitted particularly by the precise shaping of the rhythm. The brilliant pianist was honored with many calls of 'bravo'. [...]
Harmonious and Expressive

Sontraud Speidel Fascinates in the Baden Museum with Splendid Piano Playing

(KG), Solinger Tagblatt, April 4, 2006

Sontraud Speidel Fascinates in the Baden Museum with Splendid Piano Playing

If one listens to Sontraud Speidel in concert, playing the piano seems to be the easiest matter of course. There is no moving of the piano chair, no phase of concentration. She sits down and plays, and plays with an enthusing clarity and a force of expression, with a full sound. For the Master's Recital in the Werner Trenkner Society, she brought a program that was comprised exclusively of works of women composers. In the 19th century, there were more of them than assumed. For example Maria Szymanowska, a celebrated pianist in the tsar's court in Russia, who composed a Polonaise in F major. With her approach to Polish folksongs, she became a precursor of Chopin. Sontraud Speidel placed this beautiful piece of music at the beginning of her recital.

The pianist, who forms a well-known piano duo with Evelinde Trenker besides her work as soloist, is also a teacher in great demand throughout the whole world, including USA and Japan, in Montreal and Tel Aviv. She explained the pieces she played in an informative and very pointed manner, playing extracts from similar piano pieces, which also demonstrated her large repertoire.

This night was focussed on pieces by Clara Schumann and Fanny Hensel. The "Quatre Pièces fugitives" by Clara Schumann, and the Sonata in g minor by Fanny Hensel, were particularly fascinating. With this work, Fanny Hensel proved that she could compose works equally outstanding as her celebrated brother Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Her "Lied ohne Worte No. 4", which is based on an Italian dance, is an enrapturing piece, too, especially if played with as much impetus and virtuosity as Sontraud Speidel. She played Schumann's "Träumerei" as an encore in return for the virtually endless applause.
Dimensions of Piano Playing

Many good pianists have been introduced recently in several concerts, but then, Sontraud Speidel

(wgu), Solinger Morgenpost, April 4, 2006

Many good pianists have been introduced recently in several concerts, but then, Sontraud Speidel came to the Baden Museum as a guest of the Werner Trenkner Society, and made all of them fall into oblivion. 150 years ago, notwithstanding her virtuosity it would not be easy for her to have great success, because music-making and composing women were suspect in society. Even an artist like Fanny Mendelssohn was prepared by her father to her duty as a wife and mother. Only when marrying the court's painter Wilhelm Hensel, could she unfold her musical talent. Professor Sontraud Speidel played works by women, a field that enables many discoveries even today. Although Robert Schumann required that his wife Clara would be content with "her main job as mother", he cared for the printing of the brilliant pianist's few compositions. The large audience in the Meistermann Hall experienced much more than a piano recital: it was a highly interesting lesson about piano playing, as Sontraud Speidel introduced many compositions in brief extracts. She compared and discovered resemblances, and she related facts about the female composers and their time: in a word, it was an event. People in the audience completely forget the virtuosity, because the multiple prize-winning pianist does not put on airs. She plays her program by heart with the most matter of course, with a clarity and purity of piano playing that is found only greatest artists, and Sontraud Speidel is of course one of them. Two of the great female composers of the 19th century, are also Maria Szymanowski from Poland, and Anna Weiss, the German mother of the great pianist and composer Ferrucio Busoni. The happiest time of Fanny Hensel's life was her long stay in Italy. After her sudden death aged only 42, the strong symbiosis with her renowned brother Felix became obvious, when he passed away only a half year later. Sontraud Speidel was justifiably jubilant at the conclusion, and she expressed her appreciation by playing two encores.
The Finishing Touch

Municipal Music School / Big Run to the Master Courses

By Thomas Hampus

Schwäbische Post Ellwangen, March 27, 2006

One year ago, the master class for pianists hold by Professor Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe, was a great success. The second class at the recent weekend surpassed the previous one.

For the past year, the Johann Melchior Dreyer Municipal Music School has successfully offered master classes of the highest quality, especially for advanced pupils, but also for professional musicians. The professors Lukas David, violin, and Martin Ostertag, cello, are remebered well, and of course Sontraud Speidel.

The music professor from Karlsruhe has now lead a master class in Ellwangen for the first time. The piano teacher Ruben Meliksetian, who also had engaged Martin Ostertag, brought his former professor to the Jagst river.

On a recent Saturday and Sunday, she cared intensively for the active participants of the course, that was organized in cooperation with the State Organization of the music schools in Baden-Wuerttemberg, benefitting 6-21 years old pianists, and also eight auditing participants. In several cases, the teachers came with their students to the music school in Ellwangen.

Besides one pupil from Ellwangen, the professor taught pianists from Berlin, Calw, Frankfurt/Mainz, Karlsruhe, Lahr, Pforzheim, Stuttgart, Ulm, Weil der Stadt, and some Czech towns.

Despite the busy calendar, two participants were willing for short interviews. Charlotte, 12 years old, has played the piano for 7 years, and came with her teacher. She emphasized that Speidel "works very exactly". Obviously, the pupil meant the aspects of musical analysis, piano technics, and musical interpretation. Larissa Schuele, teacher from Calw, was pleased as well. She had brought to Ellwangen four pupils, who had won prizes in regional competitions of "Jugend musiziert"; some of them will be entered in the next state competition in Aalen. The participants' final concert offered a wide range of music that had been studied, from Johann Sebastian Bach's "Goldberg Variations", to a four-hand piano sonata by Mozart, a Slavonic dance by Antonin Dvorak, and rarely played compositions like a March, by the Russian Valerij Aleksandrovic Gavrilin.
Students Learned Much in Master Class

The direction by Professor Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe

(mar) Ipf- und Jagst-Zeitung Ellwangen, March 27, 2006

The direction by Professor Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe in the piano master class last Saturday afternoon in the music school, was very informative- especially for Magdalena Galka from the music college in Stuttgart. When she studied Chopin's Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor, some things could be improved. Speidel suggested to hold the pedal longer, to watch the musical tension of the piece, and to listen in order to test how the playing affects herself. Ruben Meliksetian, a piano teacher from the music school in Ellwangen, organized this master class for music school teachers, students and advanced pupils, which lasted two days.
Reverie in the Afternoon

Piano music - Sontraud Speidel plays in the Emperor’s Hall of Lichtenberg Castle

By Silvia Adler

Darmstädter Echo, March 21, 2006

Piano music - Sontraud Speidel plays in the Emperor’s Hall of Lichtenberg Castle

"Where the words end, the music begins", wrote the Romanticist E. T. A. Hoffmann. This quote from a poet seems to become a program in the well-known “Scenes from Childhood” op. 15 by Robert Schumann. In 13 poems without words, the young composer who desired to become a poet himself, makes audible that which is unspeakable. Sontraud Speidel began her Sunday afternoon’s piano recital in Lichtenberg Castle with this piano suite composed in 1838; the subtitle of the concert was “Robert Schumann and his family”. Almost casually, she sounds the first chords; foregoing intentionally superficial effects, she seems to listen into the music from the start. She penetrates the mystery of the pieces deeper and deeper, and makes Schumann’s memories of childhood, told from the perspective of the adult, become alive with great persuasive power by her sensitive and concise interpretation. With soulfull tenderness of touch and subtly applied delays of chords, she confers an enchantment to the universally known “Träumerei”, that makes one believe that you are listening to the piece for the very first time.

The pianist, who has won international prizes several times, shapes the vehement emphasis of the “Quatre pièces fugitives” op. 15 by Clara Schumann with virtuoso furor and passionate crescendos. Painful inner strife is reflected in the deepest chasms of the soul, in the “Kreisleriana” of Robert Schumann.

In a finale full of power of sound, Sontraud Speidel plays Johannes Brahms’ sonata No. 1 in C major, which combines romantic temperament with a classical stylistic sense. The pianist, who was honored with uproarious applause, thoroughly enjoys the sound-palette of the work, from symphonic luster, to songlike simplicity.
Joyful Far-East Piano Festival under Direction from Baden

Professor Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe led the First International Piano Festival in Taiwan

uha, Badische Neuste Nachrichten

Professor Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe led the First International Piano Festival in Taiwan

The First International Piano Festival in Taiwan, directed by female and male pianists from Karlsruhe, proved that the excellent reputation of the pianist’s art in Baden goes far beyond the regional borders. The summit conference of piano-art was directed by Sontraud Speidel, professor at the Karlsruhe Music College. Co-directors were piano-duos Noriko Ishikawa & Manfred Kratzer, and Eriko Takezawa & Christoph Sischka, two ensembles that began their musical career at the Karlsruhe Music College as well. Also, the Polish professor Andrezej Jasinski, teacher of Kristian Zimmermann, participated in the festival.

The festival in Taiwan lasted for approximately one week, and brought together leading pianists and teachers from that country with the piano guests from Baden. The program included master classes, discussions, lectures, and concerts. A spectacular concent in the National Concert Hall, played on 8 pianos with up to 32 hands, was broadcast by Taiwan TV. Due to the great success of this well-attended festival, it will be repeated in two years under the same direction.

Sontraud Speidel, in demand as a jury member in international competitions, and leading many important seminars, was also the director of the piano festival “clavissimo” in Seoul for the second time, which offers a similar program and includes a competition. The first prize includes a trip to Vienna and a course of the winner’s choice. The professor from Karlsruhe has produced twelve CD recordings, some of them with rarely played piano music, and is going to record overtures with Evelinde Trenkner, arranged for four-hand piano.
Talented with Subtle Instinct for Sound

Sontraud Speidel at the Schumann House in Endenich

Von Barbara Kaempfert-Weitbrecht

General-Anzeiger Bonn

Sontraud Speidel at the Schumann House in Endenich

The concert in the Schumannhaus in Endenich, which was played now after being cancelled when the pianist was ill, was a piano recital that cannot be imagined better. The young German pianist, who won first prizes in international competition, and who is very successfully playing concerts worldwide, is already professor at the State Colleges for Music in Trossingen and Karlsruhe. Sontraud Speidel is a master of subtle touch and of a cultivation of sound that is reflected and felt in the smallest details. Her art of musical phrasing and her subtly pointed fluctuation of speed prove her high musical talent and her endowment for interpretation with a deep, poetic seriousness. Her obvious, “workmanlike” skills and her completely efficient technique form the basis of her spiritualized espressive gestures, which made the evening with Sontraud Speidel an event.

The artist arranged a large program for her making up her previous absence, beginning with Czerny’s “La Ricordanca”. The brilliant cascades of this series of variations was completed with fascinating light-footedness and delicacy, and was a light-hearted entrance to the remaining program. The main was of course Schumann, whose impromptus op. 5 were played first, which culminate in a finale with lively forward motion, and containing a fugue as its center. The Kreisleriana Fantasies op. 16, which was the largest piece of this evening, was ideal to display the expressiveness and the musical art of the performer by the rapidly changing conditions of the soul. Two posthumously published, characteristic movements from op. 14 and op. 22 supplemented the examples from Schumann’s work.

A very special, beautiful and rich field for Sontraud Speidel’s sensitive exegesis of expression and sound, were also the Variations op. 9, of Johannes Brahms. Small wonder that the endless applause at the end of the evening did not let the artist go without playing an encore.
"Kreisleriana" was the Event of the Evening

Pianist Sontraud Speidel in the Schumann House

By Gunter Duvenbeck

Bonner Rundschau

Pianist Sontraud Speidel in the Schumann House

BONN. Oddly, music lovers in Bonn have not been making their discoveries in the Beethovenhalle, the "central" temple of muses recently, but rather in the “periphery” like Duisdorf, or now again in the Schumannhaus in Endenich, where pianist Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe played her (official) Bonn debut. Delayed due to illness, it became on Tuesday an event of pianistic mastership and musical empathy for German Romantic piano music.

The artist, who played first in Bonn in November, 1979 as a guest of the Federal Chancellor in the Palais Schaumburg, is reputed in her native land as an “insider tip” for connoisseurs. In the USA and in Russia, where she has made several concert tours, this is known already.

It would seem to be good advice for her to avoid falling entirely into our hectic concert bustle, because both her demeanor and playing seem to be completely free from any superficiality. Love of details, refined with the most delicate tints of sound, is combined with wise arrangement of musical architecture, calm decaying of lyrical moments with heartfelt verve in the dramatic passages. Virtuosity never ends in itself, not even in Czerny’s "Ricordanza" Variations that opened the concert amiably and with exceedingly beautiful sound.

The Boesendorfer piano in the Schumannhaus is rarely heard played so sophisticatedly, and so well adapted to the delicate acoustics of the room. Schumann’s Impromptus op. 5, and Brahms’ Variations op. 9 made obvious that Sontraud Speidel’s interpretation is full of subtle feeling for the sound and expression. Her tempi, often quite slow, were based on a large breath: one could perceive what is "between the notes", as it were.

Performed in this manner, Schumann’s "Kreisleriana" became of course the event of the evening, and indeed Sontraud Speidel’s interpretation of this visionary set was played with abruptly changing moods, so that it approximated the inmost essence of the music.

Also in the dramatic attacks of the fast movements, she controlled the line perfectly, and arranged the music according to its shapes and phrases by dexterous rubatos, as convincing as the lyrical and cantabile sections. Every attentive listener should have noticed that the reason behind making music in such a superior manner, must be both the depth of sensitivity, and intelligence.
Sontraud Speidel Kindles Fireworks

Brilliant Piano Début in the Town Hall

wi., Bayerische Rundschau

Robert Schumann’s "Grand Sonata" was the climax of a memorable concert

The debut of the new Steinway grand-piano in the town hall was doubly brilliant: first, the possibilities of an instrument with a really breath-taking splendor of sound became obvious, and second, the piano was played by music professor Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe with nearly unsurpassable perfection. The concert was an art event par excellence, an occurrence for all listeners, whose expectation was surely exceeded. The reason obviously, was that Sontraud Speidel introduced herself as an exceedingly passionate pianist who surmounts all technical difficulties without any effort, and without becoming addicted to superficial formalism. On the contrary, she gave a subtle personal touch to the concert, also characterized by the self-confidence of an artist who does not make any concession to virtuosity for it's own sake. Beyond all question, the wonderful instrument is a credit for Kulmbach.

The Piano Sonata #18 in Eb Major from Ludwig van Beethoven’s opus 31, which opened the concert, would not need to be mentioned due to its popularity, if the pianist would not have played it in a such willful manner. She brought Beethoven down from his pedestal, and made the composer who is falsely known as a Titan, understandable for the listeners. The artist provided the large work, that virtually transgresses the dimensions of a sonata, the gravity and monumentality which was presumably given to it by the composer. The miscellaneous arabesques - many of them are in the beautiful Menuetto - did not stay alone, also a lot of reflective approach, even bitterness, could be felt. The pianist painted a perplexing and startling portrait of Beethoven in his torn self-estimation, and opposition to his own nature.

This was not very different in the interpretation of Franz Liszt’s Variations on Bach’s theme "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen" [Weeping, Crying, Sorrow, Sighing], and the musical reminiscences of the Crucifixus from the b-minor Mass. However, the approach to the “Musique per Piano” by Maurice Ravel, a sonatina in three movements, must be different. The pianist understood the feeling of the composer excellently, also his connection to an art that includes painting. Indeed, music of the “Blue Group” could be heard, a society of artists that never existed again in that combination.

Robert Schumann’s “Great Sonata” in f-minor, subtitled “Concert Without Orchestra”, stood apart. An interpretation of this huge opus like Sontraud Speidel’s will not be heard again too soon. It is an honor for Kulmbach that this concert was played here.
"All of him lies therein"

Interview SZ with descendant of Clara und Robert Schumann

By Thorsten Eberding

Sindelfinger Zeitung

Rarely played works / Her own concerts not thought possible

She does not have a lame finger. Nevertheless, she has inherited something from her celebrated great-great-grandparents, Clara and Robert Schumann. Music is a part of Barbara Schumann’s world, too. The descendent of the married couple of composers came to Sontraud Speidel's concert at the Sindelfingen Odeon. SZ spoke with Barbara Schumann, who lives in Cuxhaven.

SZ: "How do you feel having such celebrated ancestors?”

Barbara Schumann: "It's very nice for me. I enjoy people always being friendly to me, and shaking my hand. It allows me to have contact with many people, for example the director of the Schumann Museum in Zwickau, and many others. I travel a lot.”

SZ: "Do you participate in the management of the Schumann heritage?“

Barbara Schumann: "No, I still own some personal things. For example a letter from Robert Schumann, and a beautiful plate of Clara Schumann, that I keep in my sideboard. It was a gift from the Austrian Empress, when she played piano for her. I use it only for very special occasions.”

SZ: "Do you play concerts, too?"

Barbara Schumann: "I have never thought that possible, because I do not play piano well enough. When I wanted to play something for Sontraud Speidel before her concert, I came to a standstill right in the midst - though I know that piece virtually by heart. I am, however, a music teacher. When I did this formerly, it was rather unsatisfactory. You know, how it works: music school - not everybody goes there with much enthusiasm. Now, I only have three pupils, studying piano or flute. This gives me time for travelling, and for beginning and maintaining contacts throughout Germany.”

SZ: "What made you travelling to Sindelfingen?“

Barbara Schumann: "Sontraud Speidel, who is a good friend of mine, played rare pieces today, which are scarcely played elsewhere. I listened to them with great pleasure. Today, I listened to Robert Schumann’s 'Grand Sonata' just for the second time. In this expressive work, there is his entire ability, his greatest pieces are reflected. All of him lies therein.”
Sontraud Speidel Plays Sonatas

in Rheinbreitbach

By Antonia Wahl

Generalanzeiger Bonn

in Rheinbreitbach

Connoisseurs of music have known for a long time, that the concerts in the “Hoettche” in Rheinbreitbach are of the highest standard. Heinz Rechmann, owner of this cozy wine tavern, always tries to bring excellent artists to his house. For example Sontraud Speidel, who enthused her audience on this evening with piano sonatas. The professor from Karlsruhe chose for her program the Sonata No. 21 in b minor by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven’s "Storm” Sonata, and Robert Schumann’s Grand Sonata, “Concert Without Orchestra”.

The brilliant playing technique of Sontraud Speidel was as fascinating as her musical interpretation, which was full of contrast and tension. The demanding passages of these large pieces were characterized by pearly ease. The colorful sound went from expressive to tempestuous.

The tension mediated by Sontraud Speidel made the best effect in the contemplative atmosphere with the small audience. The pianist is a piano professor at the State University for Music in Karlsruhe. She has already played several concerts at the Schumannhaus in Bonn.
The Fortune of the Hour

1950 Society: Concert before Christmas in the Synagogue of Ichenhausen

(bw) Suedwestpresse Ulm

1950 Society: Concert before Christmas in the Synagogue of Ichenhausen

The 1950 Society organized an Advent evening with the pianist Professor Sontraud Speidel in the synagogue of Ichenhausen. She played works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt, and Robert Schumann. Snow, rain, and slippery streets were forgotten, when Ichenhausen’s restored Baroque synagogue (which had been destroyed in 1938 as were all synagogues in Germany), and reopened as a house of friendship somewhat more than one year ago by the cooperation of many persons, appeared in a bright light. Staying under the star with 16 beams, which is reminiscent of the canopy of heaven together with many little stars and the blue color, is a great experience. Annegret Bock was right, when she said in the beginning: The Angel announced Christmas in the Jewish Bethlehem. What would be more obvious than preparing oneself for Christmas, and recalling the sense of Christmas sincerely, at exactly that place, after the terrible incidents 50 years ago? Everyone had ample time for reflection.

The eyes, emotions, and feelings were addressed long before the first note sounded. The commercialization and kitsch of Advent was far away.

Solemn and spiritualized, Sontraud Speidel began the "Aria Variata alla Maniera Italiana" in a minor, BWV 989 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Was it the fortune of the hour, a lucky chance, or just the excellent interpretation of the artist from Karlsruhe, that everything was right from the first note and the first themes on? The light, the colors [the pianist, the star on the stage, of course a part of the large room-painting, which encloses the audience], the architecture, and the ornaments harmonized with the sound in an unique manner. The acoustics, which was found as somewhat problematic in the recent concerts with string ensembles, was faultless during all performances of this piano evening: the lid of the grand-piano was in the right direction, and the vault of the ceiling reflected smoothest pianissimo chords as well as loudest fortissimo ascents with nice harmony and without any blur or disturbing echo [the feedback at the beginning, caused by the microphone at the speaker’s desk, which inadvertantly was not switched off, was soon recognized and turned off].

Bach’s Aria was well suited for answering unanswered questions, which were addressed in the spoken introduction, and which must be acknowledged by everyone in this room. The clear phrases were full of depth, and the wide bows of tension were well reflected, all variations were related to each other. Some ornaments of the room seemed to be repainted, and the details of the colored glass windows gleamed and sparkled in the music.

A different world was entered in Franz Liszt’s "Variations on a Theme of Bach": weighty theme, filigreed and distinct the variations. The “Weeping, Crying, Sorrow, Sighing” touched one’s most inward emotions, but it was far from despair. The loneliness of the Crucifixus increased greatly until the Chorale, which went through many variations, spoke the formal and final answer.

In the “Great Sonata in f minor, op.14” [Concerto Without Orchestra] by Robert Schumann, the outstanding technique of the artist was fully displayed: absolute accuracy, keen rhythm, elegant ornaments, precise coordination of the hands, even the most difficult passages were absolutely perfect! Was there really no orchestra? The Allegro and the Scherzo lived by the rhythms, and the Andantino expressed Clara Wieck’s destiny in many variations from her husband’s perspective: a very spiritualized interpretation full of love and affection. The Prestissimo at the end of the Sonata was very effective, but also full of personal magnetism.

The artist returned the favor for the vivid applause, by playing one of the “Songs Without Words” by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
An Exciting Rediscovery

Schumann premiere in a matinee of Southern German Radio

By Thomas Rübenacker

Neue Zeitschrift für Musik

Schumann premiere in a matinee of Southern German Radio

The premiere of a piece by Robert Schumann is already a spectacular affair in itself: so much can still be discovered from the strangest and purest master of Romanticism. Joachim Draheim however, well-known Schumann expert and author of this matinee in the broadcast hall of the Sueddeutscher Rundfunk, studio Karlsruhe, went a step further - he illuminated the professional friendship, however one-sided it may have been, between Schumann and Frédéric Chopin.

The morning that was like an evening - so full of “plenty of euphony” as expressed by Thomas Mann, with so exhaustively wise comments (in the best sense) and chosen texts - this morning was an unique event, not only by this premiere, but also by the traced connotations. Chopin’s Op. 2 was at the beginning: rarely known variations on Mozart’s duet Là ci drem la mano from the opera Don Giovanni, which were glowingly dedicated by the twenty year old Schumann to his teacher and father-like idol Wieck, as Draheim said. The comments, read by the actor Markus Hoffmann clearly and without lofty speech, was comprised of documents and quotes by their contemporaries in the manner of a radio feature. Additionally, Sontraud Speidel presented herself like a Clara Schumann-Wieck of our time, with brilliance and emotions, with virtuosic gestures and delicate interpretation. She masterfully interpreted how the theme is represented and transformed in the variations.

The same in the short character piece Chopin from Schumann’s Carnaval, which is, as Draheim pointed out, “an amazing exact copy of the style”. But even more: this became evident in the two last dedicated works, at first Schumann’s central work Kreisleriana, which is dedicated to Chopin [and also to E. T. A. Hoffmann due to its topic], and second Chopin’s “revenge”, the F Major Ballade, op. 35. Romanticism was rarely heard so clearly as the epoch of style, in which the individual artist established and emancipated himself by leaving the connection with the collectivism of the court. Two kindred souls could be perceived, though they could not have argued more differently. Exactly those differences in the close relation, became evident in Sontraud Speidel’s analytical interpretation, which did not lack, however, emotional warmth.

Finally, after the Nocturne in g minor, op. 15 no. 3, came the premiere: Variations on precicely this Nocturne, which had been published hitherto incompletely and are still remaining a fragment. Draheim discovered the autographs between Berlin and Zwickau with the scientific precision of a detective, and he found that they were written approximately between 1834 and 1836, due to the stylistic proximity to the Carnaval, and the Symphonic Etudes. At the end of the third variation, he added eight bars in the corresponding style. Thrilling. If events like that will not take place any more at the Studio Karlsruhe, that loss would be a shame.
Decided Quickly and Won

Sontraud Speidel substituted for Justus Frantz when ill

By Martin W. Eßinger

Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung

Sontraud Speidel substituted for Justus Frantz when ill

The Heidelberg Society of the Music and Art Friends had initially engaged Justus Frantz for its sixth chamber music evening. In the early morning, he cancelled his appearance due to tenosynovitis. At short notice, Sontraud Speidel substituted for him with an extensive Schumann program. She is professor in Karlsruhe, has won many prizes and documented her pianistic art on several recordings. In 1979, she played in the Palais Schaumburg, and in 1980, she made a concert tour through the Soviet Union with great success. The historic assembly-hall of the university was completely sold out, and everybody was in great anticipation for Frantz. Though the change in performers, only a few concert-goers returned their tickets. However, there were quite a few that looked upset, and were disappointed about the cancellation. In contrast to the initially scheduled rather short program with popular works of the piano literature, three rarely played compositions of Robert Schumann would now be heard. How frequently is it possible to hear all twenty pieces of the “Album Leaves”, op. 124, played completely? Schumann composed them between 1832 and 1845, creating musical miniatures, each with very different characters. Surely, not all of them are on the same compositional level; some are even similar in style to the superficial salon music of the Biedermeier composers. An artist with the dignity of Sontraud Speidel makes, however, all these pieces interesting. “Sorrow’s Presentiment” and “Endless Sorrow” were played as deeply felt scenes, and they remained in remembrance also due to their simple melodies. On the other hand, the two “Fantasia Pieces” required the entire keyboard with wild and intense gestures. The two following charming “Waltzes” are typical for Schumann. The “Lullaby”, composed for his daughter Marie in 1841, seems to be a piece from his “Scenes from Childhood”, which are very popular among piano playing youth; Sontraud Speidel played it with particular intimacy. The rapid “Canon” was the effective finale of the “Album Leaves”. Sontraud Speidel managed to give each of the twenty miniatures its own character. She played the pieces without any undue excess, and gave the pieces a superior expression with the warmth of female sentiment.

Schumann’s third Piano Sonata in f minor was composed in 1835. Initially, it contained five movements, and was played by Sontraud Speidel after the intermission. One of the two Scherzos of this strange composition was removed by Schumann in the final version. Mrs. Speidel played this movement as the second piece before the intermission. The pianist pointed out the quality of this nearly forgotten piece by her conscientious interpretation. Particularly pleasing was its lyrical and romantic middle section; in the Presto section, Sontraud Speidel could display her perfect technique, which she never uses simply for efect.

After the intermission, Schumann’s strange “Concerto without Orchestra” could be heard. Obviously, this third Sonata in f minor must be counted among his best works. Franz Liszt estimated this piece very highly; nevertheless, it has been played since then very rarely. Surely, it is an outstandingly bold work in its musical approach and shape. But it is also deeply emotional and highly virtuosic, as it was played by Sontraud Speidel. The pianist played the first movement with the necessary emotional intensity, and the stormy stir of the musical happenings captured the audience directly. The style of the second movement is like a short novel. The third movement, titled “Quasi Variationi, Andantino da Clara Wieck”, fascinatingly varies a march-like theme of sixteen bars; it is pointed out that Clara was still sixteen years old at that time. Schumann reveals in those variations his whole art, and his sincere passion, which forms the basis for the fourth, tragic variation. The virtuous and powerful “Prestissimo possible” guides the captivating work to a furious finale. The pianist owed the difficult piece nothing, and she was greeted with strong applause and flowers. She returned the favor by playing a piece by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy as an encore. Mrs. Speidel presented much more on this evening than just a substitute for an ailing celebrity. Her guarded manner, her warm sound, and her singing interpretation were always at the service of the musical content: service to art, and not for effect, are paramount for her.
Bravuras From the Years Before the German Revolution [1848]

Romantic piano music with Sontraud Speidel in the Stephansaal

uha, Badische Neueste Nachrichten

Romantic piano music with Sontraud Speidel in the Stephansaal

[...] The enthusiastic applause confirmed the ardent force and the affected spirit of Sontraud Speidel, making charming chamber pieces from the music of the years before the German revolution [1848].

[...] In Carl Maria von Weber’s Piano Sonata no. 1 in C Major op. 24, whose finale haunts the concert hall, and the sonata’s main “Perpetuum mobile”, the pianist made the opera composer perceptible, and she amazed with her accuracy in countless difficult passages. At the conclusion after the thrillingly played last movement, the entire audience was completely with her.
The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in the Heidelberg Town Hall

Romantische Klaviermusik mit Sontraud Speidel im Stephansaal

By Helmut Haack

Das Orchester

The Architect Muenchinger. The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in the Heidelberg Town Hall

[...] The Pianist Sontraud Speidel from Karlsruhe played Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D Major in an ideal stylistic cooperation with Karl Muenchinger, as a festival of clarity, virtuosity, precision, and pearl-like brilliant ornamentation. Anyone who searched here for the pleasant acoustics, completely got his money worth. Especially the final movement, which always has been regarded by virtuosos as a challenge (and therefore, did not fall into oblivion for some time like some of Haydn’s other piano music), proved Sontraud Speidel’s brilliant quality. The audience, which came as a “chamber music consort”, offered an intense and long applause.
Inspired by Service for the Art

Sontraud Speidel Inspired with Word and Interpretation

H.S-W., Bad Honnefer Zeitung

Sontraud Speidel Inspired with Word and Interpretation

The artist Sontraud Speidel - one of the most outstanding from Germany nowadays […] The audience could enjoy the virtually unbelievable breadth of her art of interpretation […] With great stylistic intuition, and with self-evident virtuosity, Sontraud Speidel proved […] her technical brilliancy and her powerful interpretation which is focused exclusively on the clarity of the piece (Brahms’ Sonata op. 1). An amazing artist, and priestess of music by the highest grace.
Love and Passion

The pianist Sontraud Speidel has been standing up for works of female composers for a long time. The program she played during the Darmstadt Piano Summer in the Centralstation, contained pieces by female composers fr

By Klaus Trapp

Darmstaedter Echo

The pianist Sontraud Speidel has been standing up for works of female composers for a long time. The program she played during the Darmstadt Piano Summer in the Centralstation, contained pieces by female composers from the Romantic era. Margareta Danzi was represented with some variations, and Clara Schumann with her four “Pièces fugitives” that are full of contrasts; also Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn with two pieces, and Ilse Fromm-Michael's suite, “Four Dolls”.

In short descriptions, the pianist spoke about the difficult situation of women in earlier times, if they chose the “inappropriate” passion of composing. Speidel pointed out with her poetic and sophisticated piano playing that these compositions are worth listening to. In the case of Fanny Hensel, the virtuoso approach was surprising. These short works were complemented by a sensitive interpretation of Robert Schumann’s “Scenes From Childhood”, and two posthumous pieces by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

After intermission, a singular work followed: the Sonata op. 14 in f minor by Robert Schumann in four movements - also known as “Concerto Without Orchestra”. Before playing, the pianist spoke about the love and passion which is characteristic in this music. Her committed interpretation pointed out the enormous spread of the emotions. Speidel built a great arch, from the simplicity of the Andantino theme [written by Clara] in the variations movement, through the dramatic eruptions in the first and last movements. After the enthusiastic applause, she played two spirited encores: Schumann’s “Phantasy Dance”, and “Spinner’s Song” by Mendelssohn.
Interview

in PTNA Magazine

Tokyo

Good things must be passed on: this is the starting-point. Professor Speidel breathes new life into unknown pieces by Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny Hensel, Clara Schumann, or T. Kirchner, all from the 19th century. Her entire interest and energy is dedicated not only to the discovery of unknown works; she also organizes concerts for children, and she is the founder of “Piano Podium” - a network for musicians. Discovering new standards, and passing them on other people, is drawn forward by her inquisitiveness.

You are known for discovering and playing the works of female composers and many other unknown pieces.

I recorded the works of Fanny Hensel, and Clara Schumann. Also I played in concert, variations by Mozart’s son, and a piece for piano four-hands by Johann Beethoven, a brother of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Now, it is internationally known that I am very committed in this field. Therefore, even private persons, who own the original manuscripts, often come to me. Also, radio and television companies request me to record rarely played pieces, and these are not only works from the Romantics, but also from the Impressionists, and modern pieces.

Why do you play such pieces, which did not become well-known in the history of music?

Because this music is so beautiful. In the 19th century, the women were intensively bound to the kitchen, the church, and bringing up their children. Nevertheless, there were some talented women who were able to develop their aptitude. For example Felix Mendelssohn estimated the talent of his sister Fanny Hensel very much, and obviously he was even jealous.

Some of the early published pieces by Felix were really composed by Fanny Hensel. Of course, she could release her compositions later with her own name.

And how do you come to the music of Impressionism and modern music?

There are many contemporary composers, and it is normal to become familiar with their works, reading newspapers and books, or meeting the composers personally. Also, I become acquainted in international competitions with many pieces that I did not know before. If I like something, I want to play it myself and to recommend it to other people.

I estimate your approach being important, that you play not only well-known, but also unknown pieces. Also, you give many children and young people the opportunity to play public concerts.

Yes, we give scholarships to outstanding talented children, and search for possibilities to play concerts, for example in hospitals or other social services. The funds which are collected by my work, give young musicians new opportunities.

This is one of the jobs of the Piano Podium, isn’t it? Surely, this can be compared with the tasks of PTNA. Please continue in this manner!

Sontraud Speidel
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