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Liszt: Works for Solo Piano / Nelson Goerner
Alpha

Liszt: Works for Solo Piano / Nelson Goerner

Contemporary Virtuosic Romantic Dramatic Piano
$20.99

Details

Composer
Franz Liszt
Artist
Nelson Goerner
Format
CD
Label
Alpha
Released
Apr 26, 2024
Catalog #
ALPHA1036
UPC
3701624510360

About

This is pianist Nelson Goerner’s twelfth recording for the Alpha Classics label. He devotes his new album to the solo piano works of Franz Liszt, with the famous Sonata in B minor as the centrepiece, nearly twenty years after his first CD of the sonata, he felt the urge to re-record it, following a series of critically acclaimed concerts. His talents as a storyteller and as a virtuoso with an eye for nuance are heard to marvellous effect in this monumental work, a veritable ‘musical action’ that undoubtedly belongs in the pantheon of the finest literature for piano. The programme is completed by excerpts from Liszt’s major cycles, including the Petrarch Sonnets from the Années de pèlerinage and the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, along with the spectacular concert étude La leggierezza.

REVIEWS:

Nelson Goerner made an excellent studio recording of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor that the Cascavelle label first released in 2007. This live all-Liszt recital from 2023 also features the Sonata. Although it benefits from fuller-bodied engineering, the interpretation offers surprisingly little change in regard to overall design, substance, and execution. Goerner’s tempo relationships remain judicious and unified, while themes are characterized with subtle yet telling contrast.

Forced to choose, I’d favor Goerner’s diversified voicings and greater dynamic projection in the remake’s Andante sostenuto. On the other hand, the earlier Allegro Energico fughetta gathers greater spontaneous momentum, followed by a more incisive yet less grand recapitulation. One could argue that there are fewer distinctly individual touches here in comparison with recent reference-worthy interpretations by Marc-André Hamelin, Benjamin Grosvenor, Joseph Moog, or Giovanni Bertolazzi. Yet that hardly matters, given Goerner’s intelligent mastery and total identification with the score.

If anything, Goerner’s readings of Liszt’s three Petrarca Sonetti offer even more fervent and poetic melodic projection, together with mellifluous legato chord voicings and prominent bass lines. If no one alive plays La Leggierzza with the feathery aplomb of Benno Moiseiwitsch’s unrivaled 1941 HMV recording, Goerner’s impassioned mobility comes pretty darn close to that paradigm, although he never plays softly enough when required.

Lightness and insouciance, however abound in the Valse oubliée No. 2. Goerner takes his sweet time over the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6’s introduction, milking the music’s bardic implications without lapsing into vulgarity. Most pianists understandably treat the friska section as a high-wire right hand octave etude: think Horowitz, Cziffra, and Argerich. Goerner nails the notes, of course, yet presents both hands as equal partners, letting you hear a piano composition instead of a piano competition. I have no hesitation recommending such a satisfying and well-rounded Liszt program.

-- MusicWeb International (Jed Distler)

Tracklist 9 tracks

  1. 1 No. 4. Sonetto 47 del Petrarca (Sonnet 47 of Petrarch) 05:40
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 4. Sonetto 47 del Petrarca (Sonnet 47 of Petrarch)
    Duration
    05:40
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  2. 2 No. 5. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca (Sonnet 104 of Petrarch) 06:28
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 5. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca (Sonnet 104 of Petrarch)
    Duration
    06:28
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  3. 3 No. 6. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (Sonnet 123 of Petrarch) 06:48
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 6. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (Sonnet 123 of Petrarch)
    Duration
    06:48
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  4. 4 4 Valses oubliées, S215/R37: Valse oubliée No. 2 06:12
    Track
    4
    Title
    4 Valses oubliées, S215/R37: Valse oubliée No. 2
    Duration
    06:12
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  5. 5 I. Lento assai - Allegro energico 12:01
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Lento assai - Allegro energico
    Duration
    12:01
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  6. 6 II. Andante sostenuto - Quasi adagio 06:38
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Andante sostenuto - Quasi adagio
    Duration
    06:38
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  7. 7 III. Allegro Energico 10:50
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Allegro Energico
    Duration
    10:50
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  8. 8 3 Études de concert, S144/R5: No. 2 in F Minor, "La Leggierezza" 04:54
    Track
    8
    Title
    3 Études de concert, S144/R5: No. 2 in F Minor, "La Leggierezza"
    Duration
    04:54
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner
  9. 9 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244/R106: No. 6 in D-Flat Major 07:04
    Track
    9
    Title
    19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244/R106: No. 6 in D-Flat Major
    Duration
    07:04
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Nelson Goerner