Liszt: Piano Sonata

 

The last of my fully committed survey of Franz Liszt's solo piano music ended with his Transcendental Etudes in the late 90s. Since then, I have cleaved to the composer's orchestral and choral music and didn't really return to his piano efforts, except here and there in spurts of this and that.

Too bad, as I have been apologizing for Liszt's piano concertante music recently. All of those piano/orchestral fantasies and rhapsodies based on other composer's themes remind me of Liberace, of which I once owned sheet music of the Las Vegas performer's Beer-Barrel Polka. I had a pianist cousin who was appalled I would lower myself to play such tripe, but I found it fun. I think her issue came from her childhood living in Las Vegas.

I say too bad for me because I was enchanted by this recital of Liszt's solo piano music. The guy really knew how to write for piano, especially to his own abilities. And yet, I think it goes a little further than that here. I believe this program of four substantial solo works to be especially well put together. The four compositions come from between 1848-1858, the years following Liszt's abandonment as a touring pianist in order to move towards a focus on a more mature style.

Most will want to know how Brazilian pianist Arnaldo Cohen fares in Liszt's monumental Piano Sonata in B minor. Common consensus dictates Cohen finds a middle ground, taking the volcanic approach of Martha Argerich and marrying it with Claudio Arrau's thoughtful power. To me, such a phrase sounds like a press junket trying to sell a product.

But it is true, Cohen sails through the music as if on a mad horse, but wistfully pines over the more sensitive portions. Most importantly to me, is the pianist holds my attention throughout, a sure sign that composer and performer have done their job well. At 30 minutes, the mind could wander or the composer could lose me, but that was not the case here.

Many mention Liszt's Piano Sonata as tuneless and formless, but I find the exact opposite, at least with Cohen by my side. I recognize all of Liszt's themes throughout, intelligently brought back across four large contrasting sections. Sure, Liszt tends towards chromaticisms, but I find his musical voice rather clear here, where I follow him every step of the way, hand-in-hand with Arnaldo Cohen. A sonata performance to love, methinks!

I love when Liszt primarily utilizes the middle and lower ends of the keyboard, as he does in the opening portion of Funérailles, the seventh part of the composer's Harmonies poétiques et religieuses. One certainly gets the overly serious nature of the grim opening funeral march, although the 12-minute piece ends up as a more triumphant march, complete with showy octaves.

I rather enjoy the virtuosic variations of Liszt's Rhapsodie Espagnole, based on the Folia and Jota Argonese. Despite the obvious Spanish elements, Liszt doesn't really try to accentuate the Nationalistic exoticism of the music, but instead makes it a piano showpiece in the composer's own style. No castanet or tambourine effects from Liszt here. As with Totentanz, Liszt always seems to work better for me in a theme and variations sort of format rather than a free-wheeling piano fantasy.

While the liner notes play up Liszt's continuing use of descending motives, this aspect proves to be very effective, especially in the rather sober opening of Vallée d'Obermann, the sixth part from the composer's first collection of Swiss Années de Pèlerinage. Of course, Liszt expands and expands his quite gentle musical ideas, so that by the end the listener is ready for the cascading octaves and chromatic runs, which we receive amply.

The BIS piano sound is very good. At first I thought it a little removed, perhaps a bit tinkly, but once everything was said and done, the clean sound is ideal. Clarity is key with Arnaldo Cohen, where I was never awash in over-pedaling or murky textures, unless prescribed in Liszt's music. He prefers forward motion, yet there is always a sense of rubato and rumination as well, never leaving the music unthought of in lieu of bombast. Of course, there is plenty of the latter, and with impressive weight and power.

 

Works
Piano Sonata in B minor, S 178 (31.15)
Vallée d'Obermann, S 160/6 (13.35)
Funérailles, S 173/7 (10.41)
Rhapsodie Espagnole, S 254 (14.31)

Soloist
Arnaldo Cohen, piano

Label: BIS
Year: 2004
Total Timing: 72.30

A stunning recital of solo piano music by Franz Liszt, including the composer's Piano Sonata.

Arnaldo Cohen runs rampant through the music with impressive weight and clarity, willing to ignite fires, but not without judicious intelligence and character as well.

A modern benchmark in Liszt, for sure!

Find more Liszt recordings HERE!