Search - Liszt, Bolet :: Piano Sonata in B Minor / Mephisto Waltz

Great, great, great old stuff!

Mark McCue | Denver, CO USA | 08/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, it's about time. If you want to hear what all the fuss is/was about Bolet and Liszt, then get this CD, shut yourself away with your stereo, put it on and soak it in.In the Sonata you have Bolet with all his--and Liszt's--quirks, and they make a fine old pair as if they were two old geezers on a porch trying to outdo each other in stories of their richly-led lives. Bolet seems to be having an interpretative dialog with the composer, and sometimes he'll give you a little pause as if to say "you asked for it, you got it" and really lets rip. The technique is astonishing, the melodic acumen of the pianist is so savvy that you find yourself following a theme as you would follow a fish swimming away that you just released. Bolet imparts to us a great joy of performance, something very hard to capture on disc, but it comes through very strongly.In the concerto, Bolet gets Robert Irving as co-conversationalist, and you couldn't ask for anyone better. Together, their careful planning pays off with explosions of color and drama. Yet nothing clatters, nothing yells, it's all content and none of it's ugly. The orchestral standard is exceptionally fine; Toscanini's primary colors and razor-sharp execution remain.This is a great, great, great old classic from Everest in what I assume is of Harry Bellock origin. It's a superb, classy, exceptionally enjoyable offering that you MUST have whether it's for love of the composer himself, the artists or what the instrument can do."