Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) is known as Beethoven’s strongest advocate in Denmark and the man who wrote Elverhøj. But Kuhlau was first and foremost a pianist, one whose works for the instrument have a depth and character of their own. In the first of a new series, Marie-Luise Bodendorff reassesses Kuhlau’s contribution to the piano literature with fresh, muscular performances of music including the previously unrecorded Divertissement, op.37.

The German-born composer Friedrich Kuhlau fled to Denmark as a young man. With his strong cosmopolitan personality he became a loner loner – and at the same time a key figure – in the Danish Golden Age. In 1813 Kuhlau was granted Danish citizenship and the honorary title of Royal Court Musician

It was as a pianist that Kuhlau was best known in his lifetime. In that capacity, he would travel to Sweden and Austria as well as returning to his native Germany. On one such trip in 1825, Kuhlau had a well well-documented encounter with his musical hero Ludwig van Beethoven, whose five piano concertos he had already premiered in Denmark.

Kuhlau’s music bore all the hallmarks of early Romanticism at a time when Danish music was only just cottoning on to it. His piano music is melodically rich, explores the full sonority of the instrument and ranges in texture from the delicate to the imposing.

38-year-old pianist Marie-Luise Bodendorff was born in Augsburg, Germany and has in recent years distinguished herself in concert series and at several festivals in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, France and China.

This first instalment of Bodendorff’s recordings of Kuhlau’s works for piano includes the world premiere recording of the Divertissement in E flat major, op.37 , in which Beethoven’s influence is obvious.