Review of the new CD “Internal Images” in the Schweizer Illustrierte, 10 January 2011
“He invents musical moods and themes and develops them spontaneously. Christoph Braun understands the almost forgotten art of improvisation and surprises both himself and his audience with his sometimes dreamy, sometimes powerful music, which can also be vividly romantic or abstract. A fascinating performance!”
Review of the new CD “Internal Images” in Musik & Theater, October 2010
“Christoph Braun has been playing the piano since he was a child and at some point he discovered that improvising was the best outlet for his talent. Since then his public performances have been based on improvisation – in this case a live recording of a piano recital in Zurich in February 2010. This is Braun’s third CD of improvisations and once again he takes his audience on a thrilling journey through his own imagination. These piano pieces – a product of the moment, constantly under development, with sounds and harmonies representing the tonality of the late romantic and early modern eras – are impressive not only because of their tonal air, but also their formal conception, which is nothing if not farsighted. In other words, when Christoph Braun improvises, the music never gets into difficulties or comes to a halt. Everything seems to flow naturally, even the pauses and the silences between the sounds. The harmonic spectrum has its own charm and the stylistic variety adds the finishing touches. In addition, Christoph Braun is an accomplished pianist and this enables him to express momentary internal images and subjective ideas, which make their way into his fingers and emerge as sounds.”
Review of the new CD “Internal Images” in the Berner Zeitung, 9 September 2010
“‘I am an incorrigible romantic,’ says Christoph Braun, the pianist from Zurich and, you could add, a gifted improviser. His third album, a live recording made in February this year, demonstrates what happens when these two things come together. Braun’s ad-lib compositions, with titles such as ‘Ballade’ (Ballad), ‘Wunschtraum’ (Dream) or ‘Wohlan!’ (Let’s go!), convey an amazing sense of consistency while obviously taking their inspiration from his preoccupation with (late) romantic works. Some of his “Internal Images” may be slightly sugary, but he deserves praise nevertheless.”
Other press articles
“…Anyone who took their seat in the circle feeling sceptical about the highly elastic concept of ‘improvisation’ would have been very pleasantly surprised by the multifaceted performance. Braun’s amazingly consistent ad-lib compositions are clearly based on his interest in romantic and classic modern works, make free use of their effects and experiment with their idioms to find new means of expression. Braun writes apologetically in the programme notes that he is an ‘incorrigible romantic’. That’s certainly good enough and why not?”
NZZ
“…The confident touch, the carefully studied style, the polished piano playing – all of these things are very much present when Christoph Braun sits down at the grand piano to improvise. But there is much more to his performances than that: the integrity of a momentary mood, the ability to play with effects and quotations, the playful journeys into the unknown and the certainty that the path which he has chosen and which is very much of the moment leads where he wants to go.”
Zürichsee-Zeitung
“…Braun is very clearly guided by his feelings during his performances. His ‘striptease of the soul’ is appealing. After his concerts, members of the audience often tell him about the images that he has conjured up with his pieces. And on many occasions they have tears in their eyes.”
Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich
“It is interesting to discover that this music, despite being based on traditional grammar, has its own character and its own independent rhetoric. It enthrals listeners and carries them off on a journey through time, where the immediate present repeatedly comes together with long-established forms and means of expression to create new combinations.”
Musik & Theater
“A feast for the ears from this nimble-fingered romantic. Christoph Braun, the pianist from Zurich, has just brought out his second CD. Once again he has improvised or, to put it more accurately, produced ad-lib compositions. This shows that the concept works not only in live performances. Snapshots of his performances can also warm the heart. Moving and emotional landscapes are revealed in the playing of Christoph Braun, who describes himself as an ‘incorrigible romantic’.