Of the numerous Liszt albums issued to mark the composer's bicentenary, this is among the most striking. Nikolai Lugansky is a fine – if occasionally cool – interpreter of his work, blending lyricism with panache and just the right sense of daring, so that you're often conscious of huge technical challenges braved, then overcome. The programme is essentially a selection from the Etudes d'Exécution Transcendente and the three books of Années de Pèlerinage, with the late Valse Oubliée and the transcription of the Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde thrown in. Some of it is wonderfully restrained, particularly the performance of Chasse-neige with which the disc opens, where the sheer beauty of Lugansky's playing belies the work's difficulty. Just occasionally – in the Liebestod, and in Petrarch Sonnet 123 – you wish he'd let rip a bit more. But there's a performance of Vallée d'Obermann that is overwhelming in its cumulative power, and an account of Feux Follets that is awesome in its technical dexterity. A flawed disc, though the best of it is an absolute knockout.
Contributor
Tim Ashley
Tim Ashley is a Guardian classical and opera critic, though he's also keen on literature and philosophy so you might sometimes find him cross-referencing all three. His work has also appeared in Literary Review and Opera magazine and he is author of a biography of Richard Strauss
Tim Ashley
The GuardianTramp
