Sonata Dante

The pre-eminent Lisztian of our day returns to Brilliant Classics for a symphonic sequel of transcriptions.

Aimi Kobayashi is a leading young Japanese pianist, one of the ten finalists at the Chopin Competition in 2015. Born in Yamaguchi, Japan, on 23 September 1995, Aimi began her piano studies aged three, and made her first appearance with orchestra at the age of seven, followed by her international debut two years later. Since then, Aimi has appeared at the Carnegie Hall in New York no less than four times. Her international career continues to flourish: she was invited by various venues in Moscow, Poland and Brazil, amongst others.

Franz Liszt: A Faust Symphony; Dante Symphony; Piano Sonata in B minor; 3 Verdi Paraphrases;
Placido Domingo; Berliner Philharmoniker; Daneil Barenboim – conductor/pianist
Classical | 3 CDs | EAC Rip | 838 MB | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Complete scans
Publisher: Teldec Classics, Warner Music UK | Recorded: 1988, 1991, 1998 | Published: Not indicated

Warner Classics has issued this splendid three disc boxed set of eight Franz Liszt scores. It fetaures Daniel Barenboim as both piano soloist and conductor… This fine selection could not have a finer advocate than Daniel Barenboim; a true giant in the classical music world today. A brilliant performer at the piano and a conductor of great renown this man lives for music. - Michael Cookson; MusicWeb-International

Louis Lortie plays Liszt - The Complete Annees De Pelerinage
24B/96kHz Stereo FLAC: 2,41 GB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Chandos # [CHAN10662(2)] | Country/Year: Europe 2011
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

…This Années de pèlerinage is unquestionably one of the finest releases thus far during the Liszt bicentennial. Time will tell, but it also may be the finest recording of the work to date. Not to be missed.

The virtuoso pianist and exclusive Chandos artist Louis Lortie here performs all three books, or ‘Years’, of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage), a work rarely recorded in its entirety. Lortie has made more than thirty recordings for Chandos, covering a repertoire from Mozart to Stravinsky. His recording of Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Variations won an Edison Award; his disc of works by Schumann and Brahms was judged one of the best CDs of the year by BBC Music, and his interpretations of Liszt’s complete works for piano and orchestra and of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas were both selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone.

This CD features music by composer Franz Liszt from the play "Tom & Jerry in the Garden of Earthly Delights." For this performance, pianist Martin Oei commissioned animations and videos to illustrate the life of Franz Liszt. Martin's goal is to introduce a younger audience to classical piano music and the remarkable role Liszt played in the 19th century.

Hélène Grimaud made her first five CDs for the Denon label, when the pianist was in her mid-teens through early 20s. Brilliant Classics has reissued them as a super-bargain boxed set. Even in her formative years, Grimaud’s world-class pianism and first-rate musical mind seemed fully sprung. Listen as she fearlessly tears through Rachmaninov’s Second Sonata, or notice the way she brings out the symphonic underpinnings of the same composer’s Op. 33 Etudes-Tableaux and Liszt’s Dante Sonata and you won’t doubt that a mature artist is at work. She makes Chopin’s G minor Ballade colorful and exciting by playing it as the composer intended, rather than re-writing his dynamics, phrasings, and ritards. Sonically, her 1992 Rachmaninov Second scores over her later traversal on Erato (see my review by typing Q3366 in Search Reviews), while fans of her terrific Erato Ravel Concerto should find the earlier Denon version equally incisive and commanding.

Alessio Bax plays an Italian-inspired programme, picking his favourite pieces taken from a rich history of music from one of the most romantic countries in the world. He opens the programme with a J.S. Bach transcription of an oboe concerto by Venetian composer Alessandro Marcello, which reveals a deep insight into Bach’s mind.