Schumann/ Ponthus - Fantasie 17 / Kreisleriana 16 / Kinderszenen 15

Virtuoso pianist Marc Ponthus's new recording for Bridge Records consists of three of Robert Schumann's key masterpieces: Kinderszenen, op. 15, Kreisleriana, op. 16, and Fantasie in C, op. 17. Ponthus's last recording for Bridge was the "Complete Music for Piano" of the late Pierre Boulez. Ponthus's Boulez recording received glowing reviews, and was Gramophone magazine's "Editor's Choice". Pianist Marc Ponthus, also a conductor and composer, is noted for landmark performances of the complete piano works of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez and radical performances of celebrated works such as Bach's "Goldberg Variations" and Beethoven's "Hammerklavier Sonata". He has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe and created the "Lower Eastside Ensemble" dedicated to performing contemporary music. His belief that art can define humanity and that music transcends political boundaries brought him to perform in war-torn Sarajevo. He wrote about those experiences for the London newspaper, "The Independent," and continues to work with intellectuals and philosophers in France and the United States on behalf of the people of Bosnia, Chechnya, and South Sudan.