Liszt's output is dominated by the solo piano, but there are also
important contributions to the choral, orchestral and song repertoire. The
chamber music probably comes after these genres in importance, but
nonetheless has some very worthwhile pieces, not least for violin and piano.
This disc provides a good cross-section of those works and opens and closes
with his two main compositions for the duo. It also includes an attractive
selection of smaller pieces.
The
Duo Sonata (on Polish Themes) S.127 was completed in 1835 and
is a tribute to Liszt's friend Chopin. The music draws on the Mazurka in C
sharp minor Op.6 No.2, as well as on other Polish material. It is one of his
more significant chamber works for any combination and is in four
substantial movements. The
Epithalamium was a wedding gift to the
great violinist Eduard Reményi, for whom the gipsy style
Die drei
Zigeuner (The Three Gypsies) was also intended. The two Elegies were
originally for solo piano and commemorate members of Liszt's circle, while
the variations of the
Grand Duo Concertant provide considerable
opportunity for virtuoso display for both instruments. It would be a
surprise that the slight romance of Lafont could yield such riches if we had
not heard Liszt do it so often in his solo piano display pieces. With the
exception of the
Duo Sonata this repertoire is for the most part
very entertaining salon music and none the worse for that.
Both these prize-winning Polish performers are very impressive indeed.
Voytek Proniewicz has both the big technique and appealing tone for such
repertoire. Wojciech Waleczek is a worthy partner - Liszt after all is
unlikely to provide straightforward piano parts. Waleczek is certainly up to
their more outrageous demands. In the shorter works they exude charm and an
easy sense of style, and bring the same commitment to those works as to the
larger ones. In the
Grand Duo they are formidable, not least in the
fourth variation, a tarantella which is a
tour de force in such
skilful hands.
All in all this is a very enjoyable disc, well recorded, with intriguing
repertoire splendidly played. There are quite a few alternatives for each
work here, but few one-disc selections include both the larger works. Thomas
Albertus Irnberger (violin) and Edoardo Torbianelli (who plays a fortepiano)
do so on a Gramola SACD which has three other works in common with this
issue. I have not heard that, but it is twice the price and surely unlikely
to be
twice as good.
Roy Westbrook
Previous review:
Philip R Buttall
