Beethoven: Reflections

Pierdomenico, Leonardo

PCL 10224

This original concept-CD presents three works by Beethoven as reflected in the eye and mind of another composer, and transmitted to another medium, the piano solo.

Franz Liszt transcribed Beethoven’s 9 symphonies for piano solo, a colossal enterprise of far-reaching importance: not only he made this music thus accessable for a wide audience who could not hear the symphonic works otherwise, but he also created a new work of art in itself. The iconic 5th Symphony recorded here retains all of its demonic power and intensity, the near-impossible piano writing adding to a sense of high-strung tension and drama.

Charles-Valentin Alkan was one of the greatest pianists and piano-composers of the 19th century. Apart from his substantial output of original piano works (and hów original they are!) he made a transcription of the first movement of Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto, integrating the by no means easy piano solo part in the orchestral structure. A special feat is Alkan’s own cadenza, a lengthy and insane outpouring of Beethovenian frenzy, even quoting the triumphant theme from the finale of Beethoven’s 5th symphony!

As a bonus we hear Beethoven’s “An die ferne Geliebte” in a transcription of Franz Liszt.

This second recording for Piano Classics by young Italian pianist Leonardo Pierdomenico firmly establishes his position as one of the most promising artists of his generation. His first CD with works by Franz Liszt received rave reviews from the international press, among which the prestigious Gramaphone Critic’s Choice: “His highly developed technique and cultivated sound, both adaptable to a variety of affects, are wedded to those twin essentials for artistic Liszt-playing: imagination combined with thoroughgoing, scrupulous musicality.”.

CD x 1

Piano Classics

1/15/21

5029365102247