Concert review by Anna Mika in the Kronenzeitung, February 26th 2024.
Both the program and the quality of performance impressed at a concert by pianist Hanna Bachmann on Saturday evening in her hometown of Röthis. Hanna Bachmann curates a small concert series in her native Röthis, held in the atmospheric hall of the Schlössle. After a postponement due to illness, the evening’s recital proved to be a remarkable event — one that would have been enthusiastically received on a far more prestigious stage.
Take, for instance, Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” which was heard not long ago at a Bregenz Meisterkonzert. Bachmann’s interpretation, however, was both cleaner and more expressive. Indeed, in recent years the 30-year-old has grown significantly in musical personality and warmth.
Bachmann is particularly committed to the music of women composers, and it was with such a work that the programme continued. As the Austrian premiere, following its world premiere in Luxembourg and with an upcoming performance in London, she presented “Reset” by Gerda Poppa. In this six-part piece, the Röthis-born composer responded to the pandemic lockdown of spring 2020. One could hear not only protest or sadness, but also moments of cheerfulness, and in the clustered lamentations of the ending perhaps even a touch of nonchalance. A powerful work, brilliantly played!
The highlight of the evening was Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn’s cycle “Das Jahr,” which Bachmann performed with gripping intensity. To this multi-layered composition were added projected paintings by Christian Stl Holzknecht, the Val Gardena-based painter. Directly inspired by the music and the accompanying poems, his works derive much of their expressive force from being painted directly onto wood.