“Christoph Declara possesses a broad vocabulary of playing techniques, which he excitingly executes with precision and confidence in all of the right places. [...] Declara not only plays with a feeling for cohesion throughout each of the four movements, but indeed throughout the entire work.”

“Christoph Declara has afforded his reputation as a Mozart pianist of distinction the finest sustenance. With a crisp attack, he allowed ribbons of sounds to shimmer through in clear phrases and tender, melancholic overtones.”

“What we experienced was a musician who worked in service of the music. With a highly nuanced attack, Declara tapped Schumann’s dense world of expression in a heartfelt, noble and supremely cultivated way.”

“We experienced a musician who revealed his maturity and sincerity in his interpretation of the work and in the seriousness with which he approached it. […] Declara breathes tender life into the most fragile of notes. […] We witnessed a young man on his quest for the truth.”

“[Declara] certainly has something to say, a story to tell, indeed a proclamation to make on the piano. […] He captured the nervous excitement of the Schumann Variations in a most captivating way, […] all the while remaining firmly rooted in the classic tradition […] and masterfully allowing his soul to break free. His playing remained distinct and transparent from start to finish. […] Declara presented the theme of the Handel Variations in all of its baroque elegance and powdered-wig charm, yet created space for the typical sixth notes to bring forth salvation and the octaves to unleash their fury – without ever losing control himself. And he managed to pull this off not by invoking circus-like acrobatics on the piano, but by employing a deliberate, honest and meticulous artistry. Meanwhile, the theme’s infernal wrath proceeded to unfold and the superbly melodious final fugue sounded as though Declara had at least twelve fingers. As the thunderous applause settled, the pianist broke into one of Brahms’s waltzes followed by a quiet piece from Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), entitled Der Dichter spricht (The Poet Speaks). And did the poet ever speak. The small parlour at Schloss Hartmannsberg turned into a giant soulful landscape.”

“It’s the pianist’s brilliant, natural way of playing and his command of the arrangement that makes this debut CD so worth listening to. Christoph Declara skilfully delivers Brahms’s Sonatas with a driving intensity while bringing the vulnerability and delicacy of the second movement to life. Sofia Gubaidulina’s chaconne is a tour de force on the piano, which Declara breathtakingly presents beyond the dryness of the avant-garde like a modern prelude to Brahms’s fervent, rigorous and nuanced Handel Variations. Congratulations!”

“Christoph Declara doesn’t just understand his craft: he’s a musician through and through who approaches the interpretation of each work with vast intelligence.”