Customer Reviews

Liszt: piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Hungarian Fantasy; Totentanz / Thibaudet

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Thibaudet is truly remarkable on the piano. Liszt wrote extremely technically complex, and simply beautiful piano compositions. Totentanz and the two piano concertos have always been my favorites. Thibaudet really brings out the epic beauty in the piano concertos on the one hand, and the heavy-metal-of-the-time Totentanz on the other. This is truly candy for the ears. I have several recordings of the piano concertos and Totentanz, and I cannot help but think that Thibaudet captures every bit of what Liszt intended with his fine craftsmanship in this CD here. Today I discovered I misplaced the CD, and rather than turn my house upside down to find it, I am simply going to purchase it again. It is worth it.

Though this recording of the two Liszt piano concerti and the Hungarian Fantasy and Totentanz with Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal has been available for almost twenty years now, it remains one of the most involved recordings of especially the concerti available. Jean-Yves Thibaudet is currently performing the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Miguel Harth-Bedoya guest conducting and the sensuous and eloquent performance is so captivating that it sends the listener back to this recording to encore that experience.

Thibaudet has not been known for his performances of the Liszt concerti, focusing his attention on other composers as his career has come into full bloom. For many the music of Liszt seems pompous and overblown (nowhere more so than in the 'Les Preludes') and it takes a poet such as Thibaudet to unveil the true beauties of these works. He is able to tackle the demands of the horrendously difficult passages with complete ease, allowing that trademark Lisztian drama unfold in all its sparkle. But it is the gentler portions, such as the section in the A major concerto where the solo cello passages surpass anything Liszt ever wrote as far as tender beauty.

To reacquaint with the rich treasures of theses works listen to Jean-Yves Thibaudet and have your faith in Liszt's genius rekindled. Grady Harp, January 12

A truly glorious recording, just what I want in music, with brilliancy, sensitivity, and beauty. This is a must have for every music lover worth the name.