Wanderer Works – Jamina Gerl

   in Piano International (Jan, 2018)
Superbly recorded in Berlin in 2015, this excellently produced offering is Jamina Gerl’s debut disc. The Mendelssohn Fantasie Op 28 is a dream; Gerl’s terrific finger-speed towards the end is pure joy. Repertoire choices, too, are wonderful: the three Mendelssohn Venetian Gondola Songs unfold beautifully while Liszt’s Two Concert Etudes (the well-known ‘Waldesrauschen’ and ‘Gnomenreigen’) reveal a player capable of great pianistic colour. Her Shostakovich Fantastic Dances add pungency to the menu, and Chabrier’s Bourée fantasque – a work that clearly deserves wider recognition – captures the imagination most compellingly.

There is a parallel here to Ko’s recital reviewed below, in that both offer a major piece bettered elsewhere. For Gerl, …