The 4th Solo CD Recording is
available now!

Beethoven op. 28 (Piano Sonata 'Pastorale')
Beethoven op. 119 (11 Bagatelles)
Chopin Etudes op. 25, No. 1, 2, and 3
Chopin Preludes op. 28, No. 23 and 24
Chopin Scherzo in C-Sharp Minor
Chopin Impromtu in A-Flat Major
Chopin Nocturne in C Minor
Wilding 3 Preludes

Sound clips coming soon.
Click here for more info.
For CD Review see below or click
ClevelandClassical.com.
Caroline Oltmanns

Upcoming Highlights:
Events in Ohio:
January 25 Solo Recital Hayden Hall, Hiram College, 7:30PM
January 31 Solo Recital Mount Union College, 3:00PM
February 1 Solo Recital Malone College, 7:30PM
February 13 Solo Recital Heidelberg College, 7:00PM
Februay 14 Master Class Heidelberg College, OH
For Program please click here!

CONCERT TOUR:
California Piano/Percussion Ensemble

Susan Svrcek and Caroline Oltmanns, piano
Yuri Inoo and Andrea Moore, percussion

B. Bartok: Concerto for 2 pianos and percussion
J. Wilding: Mayan Rites

February 28 University of Akron 3pm
March 1 Youngstown State University 8pm
March 2 Kent State University 8pm

California dates TBA
Press Review:

Die klassische Brillanz dieser Musik
(Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. IV) kam
unter ihren Händen wunderbar zur Geltung
- makellose Technik und Ausdruckswille
bildeten eine Einheit.

The classic brilliance of this music
(Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. IV)
came to life wonderfully under her
fingers - impeccable technique and
expressivity were united.

(Harburger Anzeigen und
Nachrichten. Oct 6, 2008)
Press Review:

CD Review from ClevelandClassical.com
Caroline Oltmanns, piano

by Daniel Hathaway

It's clear that Caroline Oltmanns loves playing the piano. The German-born professor at the Dana School of
Music at Youngstown State University appears frequently on area stages both as soloist and collaborator
(often with other pianists) and has issued four solo CD's since 2000.

On her web site, Ms. Oltmanns describes the latest recording, 'Pastorale', issued in September, as "a recital
compilation of audience favorites", and she has noted elsewhere that she intended to replicate the experience of
a live performance even through a studio recording. The disc is elegantly but simply packaged without a
single liner note -- underscoring the impression that this is a performance to be listened to and enjoyed
without requiring secondary materials to explain anything.

The album begins with the eleven 'New Bagatelles' of Beethoven's op. 119, one of two sets of miniature pieces
in widely varying styles that the composer wrote later in his career. Surpressing his usual tendency to be
wildly inventive and create large structures out of small germinal ideas, here Beethoven seems quite happy to
let musical ideas live in small containers -- sometimes very small: the longest Bagatelle in this set lasts two
minutes and twenty-two seconds, the shortest goes by in a mere fourteen seconds! Ms. Oltmanns serves up
these trifles charmingly, immediately establishing their individual characters.

Next comes Beethoven's 'Pastorale' Sonata, for which the album is named. Ms. Oltmanns lets the composer
speak for himself in an expressive but self-effacing performance, skillfully negotiating runs and breezing
through technically difficult passages.

A set of eight Chopin pieces follows: the first three Etudes of op. 25, Preludes no. 23 & 24, an Impromptu (op.
29), a Nocturne (op. 48, no. 1) and a Scherzo (op. 39). Chosen well for their contrasting moods, which run the
gamut from the fluttery and insubstantial to the dramatic and wild, these pieces reveal Ms. Oltmanns as a
pianist with impressive technique and fine musical sensibility who never becomes self-indulgent.

And now for something completely different: the disc ends with three preludes by Ms. Oltmanns' husband,
South African-born composer James Wilding, who teaches at the University of Akron. 'Viking Raid', 'Blues'
and 'Triumph', are extracted from Mr. Wilding's eleven 'Preludes', composed in 2008. The Vikings appear in the
form of clusters of seconds with syncopated rhythms punctuated by dramatic bangs in the bass. 'Blues' starts
with a soulful melody in the tenor register that later moves to the top of the texture, ending with an
appropriately bluesy chord. 'Triumph' is a kind of toccata with festive chords in the right hand and running
lines in the left. The trio of pieces makes for an attractive ending to this recital.

'Pastorale' is a fine introduction to Caroline Oltmanns' playing for those who haven't heard her, and a
welcome addition to the libraries of those who are already admirers. Our only quibble probably lies in the
mastering rather than the playing: most of the album seems to live in mezzo-forte land, as though contrasts
between the really loud and really soft had been evened out, and occasionally treble lines sound more
prominent than those in the bass register.

'Pastorale' is distributed by Filia Mundi Records, but can be ordered through the artist's web site. Her next live
appearance in the area, following solo recitals in Switzerland, is in the piano extravaganza 'Hands on Pianos',
where she joins Dror Biran, Michael Schneider and James Wilding in Guzzetta Hall at the University of Akron
on November 21 at 5:30 pm.