It is understandable if some are exasperated by the extension of the historical-performance movement as far forward as Liszt, but this recording of the Piano Sonata in B minor with three smaller works is unusual in both sound and conception. Russian pianist
Alexei Orlowetsky plays an Erard piano made in France in 1889. This was about the time the once-feared sonata became a standard repertory item. The enjoyable booklet notes by Klaas A. Posthuma recount the sonata's reception history, beginning with Clara Schumann's comment that she felt "quite ill" on hearing it and with the critic Hanslick's barb: he had, he wrote, never experienced so bloody a battle against all that was musical. "I can wait," Liszt responded serenely, and indeed he lived to see this sprawling work appreciated for its demonic fugues and its Wagnerian motivic suggestiveness. The Erard is quite a pianistic beast, with 90 keys, with A above middle C tuned to 443 cycles per second, and above all with a unique shutting-down of the ringing resonance one hears from a modern Steinway.
Orlowetsky claims that the instrument's design allows the proper realization of Liszt's notated pedaling; what the average listener will notice throughout is how individual notes seem to flash uncannily in the foreground, with subtle gradations in attack clearly audible.
Orlowetsky offers an interpretation that takes advantage of the instrument's strengths. He is sparing in his application of tempo rubato, placing less emphasis on dreamy echoes of sound and more on the work's moments of driving intensity. The recording quality of this Dutch disc, originally issued on an apparently private label in 1991, is quite good; there's a strong sense of the pianist's immediate presence.
The other three selections on the program are infrequently heard pieces that help fill out a complete picture of Liszt's output. Liszt's transcription of Bach's Prelude and fugue for organ in A minor, BWV 543 (he doesn't fool with the notes, surprisingly enough) and his operatic fantasy entitled Reminiscences de Norma represent types of works that he often included on his own concerts. The Norma piece is notable for its omission of the famed aria "Casta diva," and for its free, allusive treatment of Bellini's themes. The Csárdás Macabre, unpublished until 1950, was written at the end of Liszt's life and deserves wider exposure. This little-heralded recording offers a fresh look at a composer who has received few of them.