Liszt: Harmonies du Soir

2011 marks 200 years since Franz Liszt's birth. Therefore it is a truly anniversary year in the musical world. Consequently, many of the keyboard top-virtuosos decided to commit to the disc their approaches to the most virtuosic of the romantic music. Nelson Freire's recent recording stands as a celebratory bow to an undisputed genial composer. And the results are deeply satisfying not only for his aficionados but - I expect - for lots of audiences world over.

Virtuosity and soulfulness, incandescent touch and exploration of a deep sensitivity, these pieces span a large gamut of moods. Freire used to be considered as a refined interpreter of Chopin (his many recordings devoted to the great Polish romantic confirming it sparklingly). This particularity is felt in the present recording. His Liszt gains a reflective sweetness, deepens and softens even the most demanding proceedings. What a stunning account of the Petrarca Soneto 104! What a serene melancholy in images of Au Lac de Wallenstadt! What a light survey in Consolation no.3, so well-known and over recorded lyrical miniature, but so freshly and inspired read here!

This recent lisztian achievement of Nelson Freire - I am sure - will be missed by no genuine piano music lover. Its deeply felt rendition exerts a magical halo to all those who know what piano playing is about. Reccomended!

Nelson's soft and tender touch does this album and Franz Liszt great justice. However, unlike some, such as our Santa Fe Listener here, Liszt was not all bravado or "hollow showmanship."

Worse yet, calling Liszt the "P.T. Barnum of the piano" without balancing that comment with Liszt's deep philosophical side, or sublimely religious side, or any of the other magnificent sides of this multifaceted gem is not only disrespectful to this ultimate genius and leader of the Romantic Era, but it perpetuates the false claims and ignorance that prevails to this day. As such, I must break in my review here for a moment to address this important issue.

Was Liszt a showman? Yes. But he was also a great deal more, and he just so happened to be the greatest showman of his day, one that could dazzle, yet also lull his audience into an otherworldly veil of paradise, as even Chopin admitted when he said, "I am writing without knowing what my pen is scribbling, because at this moment Liszt is playing my études and putting honest thoughts out of my head. I should like to rob him of the way he plays my études."

Hence, Liszt was not some shallow, hollow, circus clown--he was the supremely gifted, raw, yet refined, ball of fire and grace that burst out upon his era like Prometheus, giving mankind the fire to scorch and burn, yet also the fire to burn within our hearts, releasing some of the most heartfelt and sincere evocations of the human experience ever to grace the keyboard.

Additionally, that the Marx Brothers, Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny all relished Liszt's more carnivalesque pieces (namely his Hungarian Rhapsody No.2) and used it to great rollicking effect, is a compliment of the highest order, and not some derogatory slur of Liszt's character or talents. Therefore, anyone interested in truly learning more about Liszt can visit my FRANZ LISZT SITE at http://www.d-vista.com/Liszt

Returning to Nelson Freire: what makes this album so gorgeous is that Nelson has wisely chosen a selection of Liszt's works that his Chopinesque fingers could do justice to, all being softer works of the master, save for the Hungarian Rhapsody and Ballade. Nelson manages to handle these two pieces, yet the Ballade does lose some of its vitality, as this piece is meant to oscillate like a placid sea slowly becoming whipped up by an oncoming hurricane. It's like a sea that rises and subsides, alternating between serene calm and rumbling tempest, and Nelson eliminates the menacing maelstrom, opting for a mild storm, alternating with peaceful calm.

Nevertheless, I will not deduct a star because of that, Nelson's interpretation was genuine and deeply felt and not some hack job, and his personal artistry must be taken into consideration and acknowledged.

All the other pieces in this collection, once again, demonstrate the real Liszt that was always hidden in these works, which others too often have maligned with harsh hammer blows or histrionic effects that disregarded the master's score or intent. So, Nelson shines in these pieces and makes the real and hidden Liszt shine as well, and that's a great and timely compliment in this all important Bicentennial year. Liszt often complained how others distorted his works, hence never allowing the public to hear the beauties within, so I'm sure Liszt would be proud of Nelson's recital too. Therefore, sit back with a warm cup of java, tea, or a shot of cognac, Liszt's favorite, and take in the beauty that this peaceful and transcending album offers. Enjoy!

This will undoubtedly be one of the standout releases in Liszt's bicentennial year, a recital of mostly old favorites done with extraordinary finesse. Now 66, the great Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire here summarizes a lifetime's devotion to style over technique. He applies to Liszt the same suppleness and thoughtful reflection that belongs to composers like Chopin and Schumann, without regard for Liszt's reputation for vulgarity and hollow rhetoric. Ultimately, music is only as good as it is performed, and Freire's ease, flow, and naturalness remove any hint of hollow showmanship. Yet unlike Brnedel and others who rob Liszt's music of its fun, this isn't a demonstration in reducing the P.T. Barnum of the piano to a sobersides.

Freire's playing is full-blooded and imaginative. Soft passages are phrased as if they came from Chopin's Nocturnes. More rhapsodic passages are phrased with the improvisation Freire displays when he plays Schumann's Carnaval. The selections on this disc derive from many sources, but I particularly love the ones from the Annees de pelerinage: Freire's version of "Au lac de Wallenstadt" is as seductive and dreamy as Chopin's Barcarolle. Phrasing and touch are really the greatest gifts of this pianist, especially as he ages and his experience deepens into the kind of effortless lyricism that turns the piano into a singing instrument. Of percussiveness there's no trace; one is reminded of Grigory Ginzburg's silken touch. Some may find the spontaneity too free, however: "Waldesrauschen" and the Hungarian Rhapsody no. 3 flow like water, careless about staying within its banks.

The most unusual selections, perhaps, are the six Consolations, subtitled "poetic thoughts," first composed between 1844 and 1848; Freire plays the revised version S. 172 from 1849-50. These are brief, largely inward-looking impromptus, sometimes centered on a lovely Chopinesque melody. Since Freire is one of our two or three greatest living players of Chopin, it goes without saying that his reading of these miniatures is exquisite and often deeply moving. The program has been arranged like an actual concert, and every canny recitalist saves something exciting for the close -- in this case "Harmonies du soir," one of the best known and least barnstorming of the twelve Transcendental Etudes. Throughout the program Freire has left no doubt that he has astonishing technical virtuosity, even when he keeps it in the background. In the etude he can unleash it, as the gentle night music of the opening unwinds like a glistening ribbon. Only in the last three minutes do fistfuls of notes appear, and Freire encompasses their demands without breaking the spell -- an unforgettable journey and a haunting end to a one-of-a-kind album.