RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Waldesrauschen, S145/1 (1863) [4.00]
Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, S161/5 (1846) [5.56]
Valse oubliée in F sharp major, S215/1 (1881) [2.44]
Ballade No, 2 in B minor, S171 (1854) [13.43]
Au lac de Wallenstadt, S160/2 (1855) [2.44]
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 3, S244/3 (1854) [4.24]
Six Consolations, S172 (1850) [16.02]
Harmonies du soir, S139/11 (1851) [8.36]
Nelson Freire (piano)
rec. Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, 26-31 January 2011
DECCA 478 2728 [56.09]
This is a wonderful piano recital. Freire’s tone is exquisite throughout and
at the same time he produces a dazzling virtuoso display, negotiating Liszt’s
cascading octaves, leaps, runs and difficult passage work with gusto. He selects
a range of pieces from throughout Liszt’s career, including a selection from
‘Années de Pelerinage’, to the late ‘Valse oubliée’ with its dissonant chromatic
harmonies.
Freire opens his recital with Waldesrauschen (or ‘Forest murmurs’) which was
originally published as one of two concert studies with Gnomenreigen. Freire’s
opening right hand figurations were of gossamer delicacy and lightness and
the melody in the left hand finely shaped. The range of tone colours and textures
evoked were quite breathtaking, and Freire shows his mettle by powering through
Liszt’s virtuoso passage-work and cadenzas. Having demonstrated his virtuoso
credentials, Freire then turned to the second Petrarch sonnet from Liszt’s
‘Années de Pelerinage’. This was a full-blooded performance with Freire bringing
out the rich sonorities and yearning passions in the piece.
Freire again shows us a range of tone colours and textures in the first of
Liszt’s four Valse oubliées. The opening was spiky and angular and the passage-work
very dry and clear, but there was then a seamless transition into the amorous
passions of the central sections. The second Ballade was the longest piece
in this magnificent recital. Liszt’s Ballades are very different from those
of Chopin and the second is a large-scale programmatic work with a rather
loose structure which can make it difficult to bring off. Freire navigated
his way through the technically demanding passage-work with aplomb, and injected
drama and a sense of unifying cohesion throughout.
Can everyone reading this review please listen to Freire’s wonderful recording
of ‘Au lac de Wallenstadt’. This short piece also forms part of ‘Années de
Pelerinage’ and Marie d’Agoult (Liszt’s then mistress) describes it as being
“imitative of the sigh of waves and the cadence of oars”. Freire captures
beautifully the motion of a boat charting its way through quiet waters in
the left hand figurations while evoking resonant Alpine sounds. The third
Hungarian Rhapsody is one of Liszt’s shorter and lesser known pieces in the
form. Freire’s control of rhythm and his delicacy in the fast or ‘friss’ sections
were quite breathtaking.
Liszt’s six Consolations are technically much less demanding than most of
his other piano works although the sixth is not without its difficulties.
The third is the most famous and beautiful piece in the set and is reminiscent
of Chopin’s Nocturne in D flat. Freire brings a ravishingly beautiful tone
to the third while he captures and frames perfectly the quirky elusiveness
of the sixth. Freire finishes his recital with Liszt’s penultimate transcendental
study entitled ‘Harmonies du soir’ which also serves as the title for this
disc. This is a study in tone colours, broken chords and harmonic progressions.
Freire brings his full tonal palette to the work creating exquisite colours
and textures. Altogether, this is an absolutely superlative recital.
Robert Beattie
An absolutely superlative recital.