Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Ferruccio Busoni, Franz Liszt :: Lise de la Salle plays Bach, Liszt

A Young Pianist to Watch

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 05/17/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There is no question that 16-year-old French pianist Lise de la Salle is a young musician with phenomenal technique and musicality. This is, I believe, her second release; the first featured music of Rachmaninoff and Ravel and received pretty unanimous praise. The program on this CD has been carefully thought out. It consists of Bach keyboard works or transcriptions--some might balk at their being played on the piano, as they do at the recordings of Glenn Gould, András Schiff, Murray Perahia and others--followed by some of the rather more familiar Liszt pieces. As Amazon has not yet listed the works I shall do so:



Bach: Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903; Organ Chorale Prelude 'Nun komm der Heiden Heiland,' BWV 659 (transcription by Ferruccio Busoni); Toccata in D Major, BWV 912; Chorale Prelude 'Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ,' BWV 639 (transcr. Busoni); Organ Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543 (transcr. Franz Liszt)



Liszt: 'Saint Francis of Paola Walking on the Water, S 175/2; Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, S 161; La lugubre gondola, No. 1, S 200; and the First Mephisto Waltz, S 514



There is absolutely nothing amiss in these performances except that, for the most part, they do not catch fire. Considering that there are magnificent performances of some of these pieces in the Bach, on the piano, by such masters as Schiff, Arrau and Edwin Fischer (Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue) and in the Liszt by Cziffra and Kempff (St. Francis of Paola); Bolet, Ashkenazy, Cziffra, Kapell, John Ogdon (Mephisto Waltz No. 1), Brendel (La lugubre gondola), Bolet, Horowitz, Kapell, Janis, Kempff (Sonetto 104) one has to ask what this release contributes. And the answer is that these are more than passable performances by a new pianist, a very young and talented pianist who, I believe, has the makings of a major musician and who bears keeping an eye (or ear) on.



In the Liszt she manages, unlike some, in the bombastic pieces (St Francis, say) to play cleanly and also bring out inner voices with clarity and insight. She also never bangs. It does sound to me that she occasionally over-pedals, especially in the Bach transcriptions, yet she coaxes unfailingly gorgeous tone from her piano. I suspect she has not found her niche yet -- that is, the kind of music that brings out her best -- but I would love to hear her in some Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, say.



A little background. She was born in Cherbourg, her talent was evidenced early and she had an early admission to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique-Paris. Her primary teachers have been Pascal Nemirovski, Pierre Réach, and Geneviève Joy-Dutilleux. She has won a number of competitions including, in 2004, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York.



Scott Morrison"

A young promising musician, a smart program but disappointin

villegem | canada | 08/23/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First: the recorded sound of the piano lacks lower register. Everything is concentrated on the sparkling of the upper register but you could not imagine a concert grand is 9 foot long and weights 350kg!

Thus Liszt and particularly the Mephisto Waltz lack solid base. The diabolic, rapturous waltz becomes a lightweight exercice.

The climax building in St Francis is not climbing much of a mountain.

And of course there is Bach. Lise de La Salle is talented, musical but Bach "a la romantique" is really out of place.

Heavy pedalling, homophonic as opposed to the polyphony of Bach make hers sound like film music, lacks the architecture and pulsation of Baroque music. The counterpoint and symbolic motives of the Baroque writing melt into a one liner thrill, unsure of its own meaning.

That is a disappointment and clearly the young musician is not comfortable in this element.

With its hints of annoying Argerich like accelerandos, Lise de la Salle first opus had the benefit of youth and novelty. It was worth the discovery. The second opus should have been better.

Let's give some time to time and revisit this young virtuoso in a while!

"

A must add for Bach and Liszt lovers

James West | Los Osos, Ca. USA | 07/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a complete piece, this recital is very satisfying, and it has remained in my short-list rotation for the last several months. In this respect, it is much like the recent Liszt recording by Arcadi Volodos; the more I've listened to the music on these discs--music that, in the hands of lesser artists, can be inscrutable and tedious--the more I've been drawn into their respective visions.



I have dozens of discs with the same material performed by Richter, Perahia, et al, and yet I would still place de la Salle's effort among the best. Are there more electric, barnstorming versions of some of the individual pieces on this disc? Yes, but this fact is beside the point. In my view, there are very few discs of this material that are so engaging from start to finish. I also disagree with another previous reviewer who complained about the sound. I don't know what kind of stereo equipment he has, but this disc sounds terrific on my system. Can de la Salle, sound the depths like Volodos? Not quite, yet she certainly makes the most of her vision and abilities. Don't hesitate on this one, unless, of course, you dislike artists such as Argerich!"