td
2009-03-07 20:35:17 UTC
From an unlikely source, a small, now defunct, I think, Canadian label
comes one of those CDs that simply blows all competition out of the
water.
Palexa is/was run by a lover of pianists, that is for sure. And there
have been many recordings of piano music of various levels of quality
which have appeared during its existence. But for CD-0537 its owners
sourced some truly great performances of Liszt by, arguably, the
greatest Liszt player of his or any age: Sviatoslav Richter.
On it he plays the Liszt Sonata (Carnegie Hall, 1965), Funerailles
(Budapest, 1959) and 8, get that, 8 Transcendental Etudes (Moscow,
1956).
Richter was in his absolute prime in the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s.
So, what we get here is the pianist uninhibited by memory problems
unleashed upon some of the greatest music Liszt ever wrote. How can
you possibly lose.
I probably prefer the Feux follets from 1958 in Sofia, but I am
quibbling. The whole CD is simply an astounding display of
musicianship, technique, temperament, poetry, passion, well,
everything that goes to make up a performance of a lifetime.
Wonder what HCS thought about the Liszt Sonata. I should check the NYT
archive to see what he said. At that time he was inexplicably down on
Sviatoslav Richter.
I did a quick search on amazon. Only amazon in the UK lists this as
available, although they say it takes one to two months for delivery.
Read: they don't have it and probably can't get it.
What a pity!
This CD really needs to circulate.
Scour ebay for a copy and pay what they are asking. This is something
truly special.
TD
comes one of those CDs that simply blows all competition out of the
water.
Palexa is/was run by a lover of pianists, that is for sure. And there
have been many recordings of piano music of various levels of quality
which have appeared during its existence. But for CD-0537 its owners
sourced some truly great performances of Liszt by, arguably, the
greatest Liszt player of his or any age: Sviatoslav Richter.
On it he plays the Liszt Sonata (Carnegie Hall, 1965), Funerailles
(Budapest, 1959) and 8, get that, 8 Transcendental Etudes (Moscow,
1956).
Richter was in his absolute prime in the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s.
So, what we get here is the pianist uninhibited by memory problems
unleashed upon some of the greatest music Liszt ever wrote. How can
you possibly lose.
I probably prefer the Feux follets from 1958 in Sofia, but I am
quibbling. The whole CD is simply an astounding display of
musicianship, technique, temperament, poetry, passion, well,
everything that goes to make up a performance of a lifetime.
Wonder what HCS thought about the Liszt Sonata. I should check the NYT
archive to see what he said. At that time he was inexplicably down on
Sviatoslav Richter.
I did a quick search on amazon. Only amazon in the UK lists this as
available, although they say it takes one to two months for delivery.
Read: they don't have it and probably can't get it.
What a pity!
This CD really needs to circulate.
Scour ebay for a copy and pay what they are asking. This is something
truly special.
TD