Search - Timothy Ehlen :: To the Distant Beloved

Awesome interpretations of Schumann and Beethoven

Music Mama | San Francisco, CA | 10/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my new favorite recording of Schumann's Fantasie. The Sonata in A Major is also exceptional. I'd highly recommend this CD."

Warm, engaging, colorful and satisfying performances!

the true critic | 12/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Most recordings nowadays, even ones that are very good, seem like, well, recordings. There is an antiseptic perfection about them. The recording studio only seems to serve as a kind of veil between the music-making and the listener. With Timothy Ehlen's recording, one has the feeling that he is in one's living room making music for good friends. There is an immediacy , warmth and a constant search for colors that gives the effect of direct communication.



The three works on the CD all require a great deal of these qualities. Ehlen meets the challenges of all three, and lets us have fun listening. The Romantic poetry and ardor of the Schumann is amply exressed, especially in the last movement, which is really ravishing. Beethoven's Op. 101 is one of the composer's most personal statements, and that personal quality is abundant in Ehlen's performance. When recording a Beethoven sonata, it is easy to fall into the trap of perfecting, refining and reducing all the life out of it in an effort to be properly reverential. Ehlen's performance, especially of the first movement, is both fresh and refreshing.



Yet my favorite part of the CD is the Beethoven-Liszt "An die ferne Geliebte." The heartfelt "Romantic" qualities (and it is one of the first truly "Romantic" pieces) are given full reign in Ehlen's performance. It is absolutely irresistable. One hears the expressivity and direct communication of the emotion of the text that a great Lieder singer would bring.

"