Alumno de Pfitzner, Gerhard Frommel (1906-1984) dio sus primeros pasos como creador en la convulsa Alemania nazi, en la que luchó por forjar un estilo propio, ajeno tanto a la pomposidad postwagneriana como al serialismo. Lo que no impidió que su música, por su naturaleza tonal, fuera considerada fascista tras la guerra…

These fascinating sonatas came as a real discovery to me. I was afraid they’d be too old-fashioned for my taste…but Frommel’s skill, resourcefulness, and strength of personality carried me along as I found one thing after another to marvel at and delight in. Much of this pleasure is due of course to pianist Tatjana Blome, who plays with admirable clarity, authority, and vivacity, and is captured in Grand Piano’s clear, strong, and immediate sonics.

Listeners wanting to hear more by Frommel might…hope for a second volume of the piano sonatas from Tatjana. © 2012 American Record Guide Read complete review on American Record Guide online

The mysterious, fantastical environs of Piano Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor, in all its neo-romantic splendour eventually yields to the eerily sharp harmonic phrasing of the second sonata—Op. 10—which in many ways serves as the antithesis to the first composition. Finally, Piano Sonata No. 3 beguiles with its numinous expressions, channeled effectively through the dancing fingers of pianist Tatjana Blome. A rapturous sojourn. © 2012 Scene Magazine Read complete review

These three sonatas, essentially classical in form and length, come across with very different emotional and intellectual impact. The first and longest, from 1930-31 and revised in 1975, is in the challenging key of F-sharp minor and is mostly a tender, lyrical work. The second, in F major, dates to 1935 and shows a much stronger Stravinsky influence in its clownishness and grotesqueries. The third as played by Tatjana Blome is a curious piece, dating originally to 1940-41 but being revised in various ways from as early as 1962 to as late as 1980. It is the most impressionistic of the three works and shows the most individual treatment of the piano in its structure. Blome plays all the sonatas sensitively and with great understanding, and the disc will be a treat for listeners interested in off-the-beaten-path piano music that is nevertheless very worthy of being heard with an unbiased ear, leaving behind any uncertain political association its composer may have had. © 2012 Infodad.com Read complete review

Tatjana Blomen tuore levytys Gerhard Frommelin (1906-1984) kolmesta pianosonaatista avasi minulle aivan uuden musiikkiestetiikan. Musiikinhistoria on nimittäin aktiivisesti pyrkinyt unohtamaan ne säveltäjät, jotka tekivät työtään natsi-Saksassa eivätkä joutuneet pakenemaan rotunsa tai taiteensa takia. Schönbergin dodekafoniaa ja sarjallisuutta pidettiin 1950-luvulta alkaen poliittisesti korrektina, kun taas kaiken muun saksalaisen musiikin ylle lankesi fasismin varjo. Tämä on harmi, sillä esimerkiksi juuri Gerhard Frommel tarjosi aidosti omaperäisen vaihtoehdon sekä ekspressionismille, impressionismille että uusklassismille.

Tatjana Blome’s fresh recording … opened up to me a completely new form of musical aesthetics. Frommel offers a genuinely unique alternative to both expressionism, impressionism and neo-classicism. I did not know Frommel’s music previously but […] he is a natural successor to the Central European tradition of romanticism, which everyone believe to have ended in the “isms” of the early 20th century.

The piano sonatas on the disk at hand are well put-together, inventive examples of idiomatic modern piano music that abound in thematic material of an attractive sort, pleasing developmenal passage work and a memorable quality in general.

Frommel’s sonatas have a maturity of voice and sense of eventfulness that tempt me to call out the name as a discovery, a neglected voice, someone whose reputation needs reviving…these three very charming sonatas…[are] played with sympathy and sensitivity by Ms. Blome.

well-crafted and enjoyable, especially when played with Blome’s light touch and rhythmic precision. © 2012 Culture Catch Read complete review