First real complete recording
For more than 60 years, repeated attempts have been made to record Robert Schumann's complete works for piano two hands, a fascinating cosmos of great variety and range between highly virtuoso pieces for the concert hall and valuable literature for piano lessons. Unfortunately, this task, which is as appealing as it is difficult, has not always been approached with the necessary care, quite apart from purely artistic deficiencies, so that none of these recordings rightly bears the title of "complete recording".

The first real complete recording of Robert Schumann's two-hand piano works by Florian Uhlig, initially planned for 17 CDs in 15 volumes, attempts for the first time, with thematically sensibly conceived CDs (e.g. "Robert Schumann and the Sonata," "The Young Piano Virtuoso," "Schumann in Vienna," "Schumann and Counterpoint," "Variations") to present all the original piano works between 1830 (Abegg Variations op. 1) and 1854 (Ghost Variations) according to the latest text-critical editions and/or first editions. Several of these CDs also contain first recordings, often after fragments unpublished at that time, which could be supplemented.

Reviews

"Florian Uhlig plays this microcosm of inexhaustibly imaginative petitessen with sensitive touch." (Audio)

"With a wide range of color valeurs and a broad dynamic scale, Florian Uhlig penetrates the finest ramifications of Schumann's music." (FonoForum / Recommendation of the Month)

"The production is also and above all interpretatively highly gratifyingly successful." (FonoForum)

"Florian Uhlig's interpretations accommodate the 'pre-Lisztian' virtuosity of this music: The 37-year-old pianist possesses, in Mozartian terms, a 'steady hand,' he gets down to business deftly and volubly, largely eschewing striking declamation or bel cantist indulgence. He also plays rhythmically freely, 'unacademically' tightening some passages to the limit of urgency, but occasionally surprising with extremely slow tempos: an unrastingly idiosyncratic Schumann performance, certainly challenging some contradiction, but never uninteresting." (FonoForum)

"Under his hands, each of the piano pieces gains clear contour and a characteristic emotional color." (FonoForum)

"Uhlig plays with his usual attentiveness, with drive and an ability to form cantabile lines, with rhythmic precision and restrained use of pedal - criteria that have distinguished the entire edition so far and are now audible once again in summa." (concerti)

"The technical cleanliness and dexterity of his playing and, more importantly, the convincing musical penetration of the material deserve unqualified, even admiring recognition." (FonoForum, March 2017)

"Florian Uhlig plays Schumann technically perfectly, elicits unexpected nuances from the Steinway, and discovers facets that one didn't think one knew. With his project, he achieves great things, musically as well as editorially." (crescendo)

"For a Schumannian, this double album becomes a real treasure trove." (FonoForum)

"The pianist gets completely under the spell of the music's poetic magic and finds many shaping nuances despite structuring clarity." (Stereo)

"The more one listens to this recording, the more one's respect for Uhlig's demanding interpretations, which do justice to Schumann's poetic intentions, increases." (Stereo)

"In his Schumann complete recording Florian Uhlig has arrived at the influence of E.T.A. Hoffmann - and impresses with colorful, eloquent playing." (FonoForum / Recommendation of the Month)