COMPOSERS: Chopin/Liszt
LABELS: Conifer
WORKS: Ballade No. 1; Ballade No. 2; Ballade No. 3; Ballade No. 4; Berceuse, Op. 57; Ecossaise, Op. 72/3; Fantasie, Op. 49,
PERFORMER: Kathryn Stott (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: 75605 51753 2 DDD (1989/90)
This excellent-value two-disc set mingles little-known works by Chopin with the familiar, and provides a feast of Liszt at his most lovelorn. Stott’s playing is highly individual: she is particularly good at creating poetic sound-worlds, yet with the most precise attention to musical detail – her Chopin Berceuse is simply the loveliest I’ve heard, while her Liszt, emotionally expressive and genuine, strikes an ideal balance between passion, grandeur and intimacy. She never spills over into sentimentality, but the communicative directness of the Liebesträume and the Petrarch Sonnets can bring tears to the eyes. My only reservation is that occasionally, as in the G minor Chopin Ballade, the sense of flow is a little submerged by that same attention to detail. Jessica Duchen
Chopin/Liszt: Ballade No. 1; Ballade No. 2; Ballade No. 3; Ballade No. 4; Berceuse, Op. 57; Ecossaise, Op. 72/3; Fantasie, Op. 49,
This excellent-value two-disc set mingles little-known works by Chopin with the familiar, and provides a feast of Liszt at his most lovelorn. Stott’s playing is highly individual: she is particularly good at creating poetic sound-worlds, yet with the most precise attention to musical detail – her Chopin Berceuse is simply the loveliest I’ve heard, while her Liszt, emotionally expressive and genuine, strikes an ideal balance between passion, grandeur and intimacy.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:16 pm