On this solo recital Alexander Lonquich sets Robert Schumann's Kreisleriana beside the Partita that Heinz Holliger wrote in 1999, a work ECM calls "radicalized romanticism". "Schumann is the composer who has almost always been at the true centre of my thoughts," Holliger has said, and the programme follows that line from one composer to the other. Lonquich plays Kreisleriana in its first edition of 1838 rather than the later revision most pianists use. Both works carry dedications to pianists, Schumann's to Frédéric Chopin and Holliger's to András Schiff.

The recording was made in November 2008 at the Auditorio of Radio Svizzera in Lugano, in collaboration with RSI Rete Due, and released in 2011. Manfred Eicher produced, with Stephan Schellmann as engineer. The booklet has an essay by Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich and a note by Lonquich on his choice of edition. Lonquich had already recorded for ECM, including the solo album Plainte Calme and Schubert with the violinist Carolin Widmann.

According to Lonquich, the 1838 Kreisleriana has more extreme dynamic and tempo markings, and several ritardandos disappeared from the revision. "The original version really does tell us a completely different story," he writes. The eight fantasies end with the fleeting Schnell und spielend, and the two works take roughly the same time, about thirty-five minutes each. Holliger's seven movements open with a Praeludium subtitled Innere Stimme, which Jungheinrich hears as Schumann's style "hurled off track". They include a substantial fugue and a Ciacona monoritmica nearly fourteen minutes long. Between them stand two intermezzi titled Sphynxen für Sch., homages to the musical ciphers in Schumann's Carnaval, played partly inside the piano.

In the Sunday Times, Paul Driver agreed with the choice of edition, writing that it "offers a deeper bond with Holliger's adventurousness." Charles Timbrell of Fanfare praised Lonquich's tight dotted rhythms, long phrasing and "unbridled" virtuosity, and noted that he follows Schumann's first edition "very persuasively". Thomas Meyer wrote in the Schweizer Musikzeitung that his grounded Kreisler gathers energy that then serves Holliger's music. In the fugue and chaconne, he added, the obsession grows from inner tension rather than sheer force.

This is the CD edition of ECM New Series 2104, released in January 2011.