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To hear pianist Francesco Piemontesi tell it, he waited until middle age to attempt the Liszt Transcendental Etudes, even though these works are often programmed by hotshot young pianists intent on displaying their technical mastery. What Piemontesi gets is that Liszt's most difficult works have technical depths that are still achieved by only a few. A piece like "Scarbo," from Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, was at the edge of the technically possible when it was written, but now any competent conservatory graduate can play it. The Transcendental Etudes and the Liszt Piano Sonata in B minor are different. A good performance is quite possible, but great ones that evoke the spell in which Liszt held his audiences are rarer. The latter is what the music gets here from Piemontesi. He is strong throughout, but it is in the dense virtuosic passages, with sheets of sound issuing from his piano, unfortunately unidentified in the booklet, that leave the listener amazed. Sample "Mazeppa" from the Etudes or the fugal treatment of the main sonata material for an idea; those sheets of sound never lose their individual notes. Piemontesi is hardly less effective in the slower passages, which have a kind of majesty. He records on home ground at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, and it is an appropriate venue for his remarkable achievement.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Études d'exécution transcendante, S. 139 (Franz Liszt)
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
DISC 2
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Franz Liszt, Composer - Michael Rast, Producer - Francesco Piemontesi, Piano, MainArtist
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
Album review
To hear pianist Francesco Piemontesi tell it, he waited until middle age to attempt the Liszt Transcendental Etudes, even though these works are often programmed by hotshot young pianists intent on displaying their technical mastery. What Piemontesi gets is that Liszt's most difficult works have technical depths that are still achieved by only a few. A piece like "Scarbo," from Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, was at the edge of the technically possible when it was written, but now any competent conservatory graduate can play it. The Transcendental Etudes and the Liszt Piano Sonata in B minor are different. A good performance is quite possible, but great ones that evoke the spell in which Liszt held his audiences are rarer. The latter is what the music gets here from Piemontesi. He is strong throughout, but it is in the dense virtuosic passages, with sheets of sound issuing from his piano, unfortunately unidentified in the booklet, that leave the listener amazed. Sample "Mazeppa" from the Etudes or the fugal treatment of the main sonata material for an idea; those sheets of sound never lose their individual notes. Piemontesi is hardly less effective in the slower passages, which have a kind of majesty. He records on home ground at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, and it is an appropriate venue for his remarkable achievement.
© James Manheim /TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 01:35:48
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Francesco Piemontesi
- Composer: Franz Liszt
- Label: PENTATONE
- Genre: Classical Chamber Music Solo Piano
2023 Pentatone Music B.V. 2023 Pentatone Music B.V. / radiotelevisone svizzera italiana
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