Liszt

Wozu auch der Einsatz historischer Instrumente gehört, die in diesem Fall die Merseburger Hofmusik eingebracht hat. An der Orgel ist Denny Wilke zu erleben. Für die großen, aufwühlenden Chöre sorgen der Philharmonische Chor Dresden und das Collegium Vocale Leipzig – allein schon an der Besetzung merkt man: Das ist ein großes Werk, in das man eintauchen kann wie in einen Film.

Wozu auch der Einsatz historischer Instrumente gehört, die in diesem Fall die Merseburger Hofmusik eingebracht hat.

Marc-André Hamelin returns to Liszt with this imperious recording, containing works based on music by two composers who were a great influence on the young composer/pianist: the Paganini Etudes and three Schubert Marches. Paganini was the foremost virtuoso of his day, on any instrument, and having heard him in Paris in 1832 Liszt was determined to replicate his showmanship and mastery on the piano. His Etudes, based on Paganini's infamous Caprices (the nearest the violinist came to notating in full the extraordinary acrobatics he often improvised on stage), are the culmination of this early creative spark. Marc-André Hamelin plays the final 1851 version. Liszt was devoted to Schubert, and transcribed many of his songs for piano, as well as marches and other works; the three marches on this disc are based on various rarely heard Schubert marches for piano duet. Marc-André Hamelin's virtuosity is both nonchalant and dazzling, and he brings wit and sparkle to the Paganini Etudes, and great power and architechtural control to the Schubert Marches. A must for piano lovers everywhere.

In this new release, the exclusive Chandos artist and award-winning pianist Louis Lortie continues his exploration of piano works by Franz Liszt. His previous Liszt releases have been critically acclaimed, Gramophone describing his performance of the complete Années de Pèlerinage as ‘spellbinding’. Here Lortie turns his hand to the composer’s opera transcriptions and paraphrases, works that revolutionised composition for the piano with their unheralded technical innovation.

It's curious that Marc-André Hamelin, the Quebec pianist perhaps most identified with pure virtuosity, hasn't recorded a great deal of the music of Liszt, the quintessential composer-virtuoso. This collection of Liszt pieces delivers satisfying results, although they don't involve the sheer keyboard-pounding fireworks you might expect. Indeed, Hamelin deploys his gifts more in the maintenance of total control over the music – not an easy thing with the Piano Sonata in B minor, it must be said – than in sheer power.