Concert review by Anna Mika in the Kronenzeitung, February 3rd 2025.
On Saturday, two internationally renowned artists with roots in Vorarlberg appeared at the Schlössle in Röthis: mezzo-soprano Corinna Scheurle and pianist Hanna Bachmann.
The beautiful hall in the Schlössle almost seemed too small for this remarkable event. Not only because it was filled to capacity, but also because Corinna Scheurle’s voice usually resonates in far larger venues — at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, in leading roles at the Nuremberg State Opera, and currently at the Berlin State Opera. The same applies to pianist Hanna Bachmann, a native of Röthis, whose name also appears regularly in international concert programs. The two artists, both with Vorarlberg roots, recently won the third prize at the prestigious Hugo Wolf Song Competition in Stuttgart. How wonderful, then, to experience them “on native soil” (to quote the final line of their encore, Schubert’s Wanderer an den Mond).
Those who heard Corinna Scheurle only a few years ago could marvel at the development she has undergone. While her sonorous voice could easily overwhelm such a small hall, she knows how to restrain it, offering an astonishing wealth of expressive colours and exemplary clarity of diction. What makes her performance so compelling, from first note to last, is the way she inhabits what she sings. Nothing —whether the lightheartedness of Schubert’s Des Fischers Liebesglück, the deep melancholy of Béla Bartók’s songs, or the drama of others — ever sounds forced; everything is felt with body and soul. Yes, she uses facial expression, gesture, and body language, but always in just the right measure.
At the piano, Hanna Bachmann met Corinna Scheurle’s artistry as an equal partner. Her playing was richly nuanced, within the limits of the hall’s rather modest grand piano. The variety of the program deserves particular mention: framed by Schubert at the beginning and end, it also included two remarkable works by Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979), followed by Bartók songs that allowed Corinna Scheurle to explore her Hungarian heritage through her mother, pianist Anna Adamik.
After the intermission came Maurice Ravel — like Bartók, a particularly rewarding challenge for Hanna Bachmann at the piano — and finally Schubert once again. Everything was sung in the original languages and from memory. This remarkable song duo will soon be heard again: on June 9th in Feldkirch, with a programme of Hugo Wolf and Schubert.