MUSICAL INTERCONNECTIONS
Dedicating a piano recital to Richard Wagner—the creator of monumental music dramas—is a bold undertaking. Yet pianist Matthias Kirschnereit embarks on precisely this adventure with his new album “Wagner Liaisons,” to be released on October 10, 2025, by Berlin Classics. In doing so, he opens a door to a little-explored realm of music history: Wagner’s piano miniatures, which, far removed from the opera stage, appear as intimate musical reflections. Kirschnereit does not, however, limit himself to Wagner alone, but places his works in a multifaceted dialogue with music by other composers. The result is a fascinating web of musical connections that illuminates Wagner as an artist and a human being in all his contradictions.
The selection of pieces is guided not only by historical or biographical references but also by musical associations. Kirschnereit speaks of “liaisons”—of pairs of works that reveal themselves through related keys, corresponding characters, or thematic connections. Thus, in the “Musical Letter to Mathilde Wesendonck” and in the “Album Leaf” by the young Rued Langgaard, one encounters Wagner’s influence extending into the late Romantic period.
The album concludes with a special juxtaposition: Joseph Rubinstein’s “Musical Pictures from Siegfried”—a brilliant operatic paraphrase—meets Franz Liszt’s contemplative “At the Grave of Richard Wagner.” Liszt, without whom Wagner would never have achieved many of his operatic goals, brings a conciliatory close to an eventful artistic life with his musical eulogy.
For Matthias Kirschnereit, this journey through Wagner’s pianistic cosmos is a voyage of discovery into uncharted musical territory: “For me, Wagner’s sounds are sometimes downright addictive! A spark of *Lohengrin* or a brief moment of *Tristan* across 88 keys!” In “Wagner Liaisons,” you can feel this fascination in every measure—as an invitation to rediscover Wagner away from the grand stage and to experience the subtle interconnections of his musical world.

Wagner Liaisons Matthias Kirschnereit

Artist

Matthias Kirschnereit

Composer

Franz Liszt

Anton Bruckner

Hans von Bülow

Friedrich Nietzsche

Georges Bizet

Further information

Genre

Klassik
Klavier

Publication date

17.10.2025

MUSICAL INTERCONNECTIONS

Dedicating a piano recital to Richard Wagner—the creator of monumental music dramas—is a bold undertaking. Yet pianist Matthias Kirschnereit embarks on precisely this adventure with his new album “Wagner Liaisons,” to be released on October 10, 2025, by Berlin Classics. In doing so, he opens a door to a little-explored realm of music history: Wagner’s piano miniatures, which, far removed from the opera stage, appear as intimate musical reflections. Kirschnereit does not, however, limit himself to Wagner alone, but places his works in a multifaceted dialogue with music by other composers. The result is a fascinating web of musical connections that illuminates Wagner as an artist and a human being in all his contradictions.

The selection of pieces is guided not only by historical or biographical references but also by musical associations. Kirschnereit speaks of “liaisons”—of pairs of works that reveal themselves through related keys, corresponding characters, or thematic connections. Thus, in the “Musical Letter to Mathilde Wesendonck” and in the “Album Leaf” by the young Rued Langgaard, one encounters Wagner’s influence extending into the late Romantic period.

The album concludes with a special juxtaposition: Joseph Rubinstein’s “Musical Pictures from Siegfried”—a brilliant operatic paraphrase—meets Franz Liszt’s contemplative “At the Grave of Richard Wagner.” Liszt, without whom Wagner would never have achieved many of his operatic goals, brings a conciliatory close to an eventful artistic life with his musical eulogy.

For Matthias Kirschnereit, this journey through Wagner’s pianistic cosmos is a voyage of discovery into uncharted musical territory: “For me, Wagner’s sounds are sometimes downright addictive! A spark of *Lohengrin* or a brief moment of *Tristan* across 88 keys!” In “Wagner Liaisons,” you can feel this fascination in every measure—as an invitation to rediscover Wagner away from the grand stage and to experience the subtle interconnections of his musical world.