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Naxos

Liszt: Transcriptions from Opera / Chen

$19.99

Details

Composer
LISZT, FRANZ
Artist
Han Chen
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Jan 08, 2016
Catalog #
8573415
UPC
747313341573

About



Naxos’ survey of Liszt’s piano music seems to have been progressing in dribs and drabs, with little fanfare since its launch more than 20 years ago. However, if you’re a fan of Liszt and the highest order of transcendental virtuosity, grab Volume 41 right away. I first became aware of Han Chen, winner of the 2013 China International Piano Competition, as a commanding new music pianist, one of many in New York. He’s also a composer. Since most new music pianists don’t bother with Liszt (and when they do, it’s usually awful), I was prepared for the worst. Instead, I heard the best!
It isn’t just Chen’s assured, elegant and totally effortless technique that blows me away, it’s also his idiomatic flair, his use of color and touch to convey character, plus a gift for textural variety and differentiation that one associates with golden age legends. Listen to the Bellini Sonnambula Fantasy’s carefully sculpted climaxes and how the final pages’ buckets of chords and runs sing out with no strain, struggle or imbalance whatsoever. The Polonaise from I Puritani swaggers with joyful scintillation, while the convoluted thematic juggling in the Freischütz Fantasy conveys a sense of lightness and play that Leslie Howard’s premier recording keeps under wraps. The engineering replicates how a well-regulated concert grand sounds in a small hall with a luminous yet not overly resonant acoustic. Need I say more? - ClassicsToday

Tracklist 7 tracks

  1. 1 Weber - Oberon: Overture, S574/R288 08:24
    Track
    1
    Title
    Weber - Oberon: Overture, S574/R288
    Duration
    08:24
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Han Chen
  2. 2 Fantasie sur des motifs favoris de l'opera La sonnambula (1st version), S393/R132 12:29
    Track
    2
    Title
    Fantasie sur des motifs favoris de l'opera La sonnambula (1st version), S393/R132
    Duration
    12:29
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Han Chen
  3. 3 Schwanengesang und Marsch aus Hunyadi Laszlo, S405/R160 09:34
    Track
    3
    Title
    Schwanengesang und Marsch aus Hunyadi Laszlo, S405/R160
    Duration
    09:34
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Han Chen
  4. 4 Halloh! Jagdchor und Steyrer aus der Oper Tony, S404/R159 07:48
    Track
    4
    Title
    Halloh! Jagdchor und Steyrer aus der Oper Tony, S404/R159
    Duration
    07:48
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Han Chen
  5. 5 Bellini - I puritani: Introduction et polonaise, S391/R130 04:51
    Track
    5
    Title
    Bellini - I puritani: Introduction et polonaise, S391/R130
    Duration
    04:51
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Han Chen
  6. 6 Weber - Freischutz Fantasie, S451/R284 13:30
    Track
    6
    Title
    Weber - Freischutz Fantasie, S451/R284
    Duration
    13:30
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Han Chen
  7. 7 Festmarsch nach Motiven von E.H. z. S.-C.-G., S522/R51 06:21
    Track
    7
    Title
    Festmarsch nach Motiven von E.H. z. S.-C.-G., S522/R51
    Duration
    06:21
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Han Chen