Beethoven-Liszt & Mozart-Alkan: Piano Transcriptions
Show recording detailsBIS-2615
Originally recorded in 2021
Classical
Piano
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About
This recording brings together two of the greatest works of the Classical era in transcriptions for solo piano by two of the greatest pianist-composers of the Romantic era, resulting in two of the most thrilling experiences that nineteenth-century pianism has to offer. Successfully marrying the unique characteristics of the piano to the defining features of Beethoven’s orchestral writing, Franz Liszt is showed here at his most coloristic. He vividly captures the rapid scene shifts and mood changes of Beethoven’s Eroica and exploits not only the piano’s ability both to whisper and to roar, but also the power and intensity of silence. In Mozart’s 20th piano concerto, Charles-Valentin Alkan takes on a different challenge as he masterfully weaves the orchestral and solo piano parts into a single tapestry that brims from start to finish with piano writing of startling inventiveness and originality. These two pianistic tours de force are presented here by Paul Wee – also a barrister specializing in commercial law at Essex Court Chambers in London – whose astonishing technique and passion for nineteenth-century pianism have been highlighted on acclaimed recordings dedicated to music by Alkan and transcriptions by Thalberg.
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Reviews
Shortlisted for the Gramophone Piano Award
“… This arrangement works well as abetted by Paul Wee’s astonishing technique serving insightful musicianship, good enough for the orchestra to not be missed; indeed, all the lines sound convincingly as one, and the first-movement cadenza is a collector’s item.” *****
Performance **** Recording *****
Recommended
“… I found it hard to listen to anything but this new disc for over a week because the music is so compellingly recreated by true power-house playing of the highest quality. This truly is a recording that demands replay after replay, with sensational, inspirational and exuberant pianism in every track…”
Recording of the Month
“… The imagination with which Wee brings the concerto to life is staggering and the way he differentiates between tuttis and solo writing adds much to the drama… It’s the Scherzo that really puts the others in the shade, for Wee can actually take it at a tempo that emulates orchestral accounts…”
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