Liszt Brilliant

Bayreuth is not only the city of Richard Wagner, but also of his father-in-law Franz Liszt. Described by the New York Times as a brilliant pianist who combines musical maturity and youthful daring in his exceptional playing, Kit Armstrong performed at the famous Margravial Opera House Bayreuth, a masterpiece of Baroque theatre architecture, works by Wagner, Liszt and Mozart in a concert that was technically sophisticated - and poetically poignant. (Der Opernfreund) Alfred Brendel, who has guided Armstrong as teacher and mentor since 2005, ascribes to him an understanding of the great piano works that combines freshness and subtlety, emotion and intellect.

For fans of Sviatoslav Richter, it does not much matter if the sound is not all that great and it does not much matter if the repertoire is the same repertoire as always. It does not even matter much if the performances are not the greatest Richter ever recorded. For fans of Sviatoslav Richter, the only thing that matters is that there are new Richter recordings because that all by itself means that they will be some of the greatest performances of the greatest repertoire ever recorded. And this five-disc set of Sonatas by Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt does not disappoint. With recordings dates from 1961 through 1975 and recording venues all in the USSR and its empire, the sound is hard and harsh. But with repertoire ranging from the last three Beethoven Sonatas through Schubert's last Sonata to Liszt's only Sonata, the music has the supreme masterpieces of the Romantic repertoire. And while there are Richter performances here and there that may arguably exceed these, Richter's performances here are as virtuosic, as expressive, as profound, and as transcendent as any he ever recorded. Which makes them some of the greatest performances of the greatest repertoire ever recorded.

Recordings of modern piano interpretations of Franz Schubert's Wanderer-Fantasie, Frédéric Chopin's Etudes, Op. 10, Franz Liszt's Réminiscences de Don Juan, and Igor Stravinsky's Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka are plentiful, though the movement for historically informed performances is increasingly influencing how these works are received. For this 2018 Harmonia Mundi release, Alexander Melnikov presents these core repertoire pieces on four different pianos, matching each to an instrument of the proper vintage.

Here is a program of unapologetically exhibitionist works for solo piano, performed by an artist who has absolutely no reason to be apologetic for his virtuosic showmanship. In reviewing repertoire Yevgeny Sudbin has previously recorded, I’ve not been overwhelmed by this not-so-young-anymore (he’s 33 now) Russian keyboard dynamo. Technically, he’s brilliant, but then so is just about every other young pianist fresh from the conservatory or the competition circuit.