Partly as a result of the old film
Lisztomania
and its
Rick Wakeman
soundtrack, but with plenty of contemporary evidence as well, the general impression of
Franz Liszt
is that he was a heroic, preternaturally charismatic wild man, the forerunner of the modern rock star. However, it is worth remembering that this was just one side of his musical personality. Here, pianist
Alexander Ullman
offers an unheroic reading of
Liszt
's three large works in (more or less) Classical forms, the
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
, the
Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
, and the epic
Piano Sonata in B minor
. He treats these piano pieces as if they were the orchestral music to which
turned later in his career, tracing small thematic connections in detailed readings with an impressive degree of keyboard precision. Sample the fugue section from the
B minor sonata
, where
Ullman
achieves a quick, skittering effect at a rapid tempo that's quite haunting once one gets over the novelty. Certainly, there are weightier readings of the sonata's opening material and of the concertos' outer movements, but
is thoughtful everywhere, and his interaction with
Andrew Litton
and the
BBC Symphony orchestra
is careful and well worked out. With excellent, idiomatic sound from Henry Wood Hall, this is a fine counter-to-type
recording. ~ James Manheim