Music / klaver solo

Années de pèlerinage - Suisse


Reviews (21)


Classics today

2011

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Jed Distler

2011

"André Laplante offers much to enjoy in the Swiss chapter of Liszt's Années de pèlerinage. He effectively shapes and sustains the stark rhetoric in the final two pieces ... Not a bad disc by any means, but it could have been bette".


Classics today

2008

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By

Jed Distler

2008

"In all, this is an unconventional, carefully thought out, and frequently persuasive Liszt program. The concert hall realism of Sony's sonics come closer than previous releases to capturing what Volodos sounds like from a choice seat in a choice venue".


Presto classical

d. 8. June 2018

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James Longstaffe

d. 8. June 2018

"Recording of the week: It is in movements such as 'Orage' where Piemontesi's virtuosity is on full display ... Even within this maelstrom of tempest-tossed chords, he takes care to observe all the markings ... This is extremely invigorating to listen to; I can't think of many other recordings that approach this level of turbulent frenzy ... [In Vallée d'Obermann] the way that Piemontesi shifts between torrid virtuosity and a delicately expressive touch is most impressive".


MusicWeb international

2021 November

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Stephen Barber (musikanmelder)

2021 November

"The Swiss book is a wonderfully poetic collection, the work of a young man enjoying the sights and sounds of Switzerland ... I really enjoyed these performances. Owen observes Liszt's directions closely and naturally and his playing has tremendous verve. The music flows with apparent ease ... There are, as one would expect, many other recordings ... but I was not inclined to make comparisons: Owen's performance stands by itself and is very welcome".


Politiken

d. 10. Apr. 2007

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Thomas Michelsen

d. 10. Apr. 2007

"Russeren Volodos med de overbegavede klaverfingre spiller ti klaverstykker af Liszt, og hvad han fremtryller på sit Steinway, er ren magi. Ikke bare buldrende utroligt og forrykt velklingende ... Men også eftertænksomt blidt og instinktivt velformet ... Malstrømme af lyd om kap med så delikat afvejede stemmeføringer og så klar pedalbrug, at alle forbehold falder".


BBC music magazine

2011 April

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Malcolm Hays

2011 April

"Laplante's ear for sonority is something sepcial - even in the simplest moments ... A truly special release".


BBC music magazine

2018 August

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Malcolm Hayes

2018 August

"Piemontesi's pianism can hold its own alongside anyone's in terms of absolute technical facility. He also has a special affinity with the lyrical directness in Liszt's idiom ... You can't really play 'Au lac de Wallenstadt' more straightforwardly than here; yet the result has a haunting loveliness ... If Piemontesi's way with the music's poetry is special, he is less impressive with its firepower".


Fono Forum

2012 März

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Arnd Richter

2012 März

"In Liszts Klaviermusik impressionistische Klangfarben zu entwickeln gelingt auch Bertrand Chamayou ... Der erst 30-jährige Bertrand Chamayou gehört ganz sicher zu den Bedeutenden, und diese Box ist zweifellos ein erster Höhepunkt in seiner Diskographie".


BBC music magazine

2012 February

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Malcolm Hayes

2012 February

"Chamayou offers a luminous, supple, poetic sensibility that you sense is uncannily close to how Liszt himself would have imagined and played these wondrous pieces. Chamayou's technique, while huge, is also brilliantly clear ... Lortie and Grimwood have already set a remarkable standard in their complete recordings. Chamayou is right up there - and, in places, perhaps even reaches a notch higher".


BBC music magazine

2009 September

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By

Malcolm Hayes

2009 September

"Vurdering: BBC music choice" - "There isn't a single dud among Daniel Grinwood's interpretations. The best of them ... match the finest I've heard anywhere".


BBC music magazine

2011 May

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Malcolm Hayes

2011 May

"Complete recordings of all three books (or "years") of this ultimate piano masterwork ... remain rare ... Louis Lortie's credentials for taking on this greatest of musical pilgrimages are selfevident from the start ... delivered with epic sweep and grandeur, wonderfully shimmering tremolos, and a huge tonal range ... This is not a definitive set ... Still, this is an excellent set to be warmly recommended".


BBC music magazine

2021 December

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Natasha Loges

2021 December

"Outstanding is 'Vallée d'Obermann', a warhorse usually flogged brutally through conservatoires everywhere. Owen's thoroughly sympathetic treatment redeems Liszt from his own excesses and demonstrates effortless control. In 'Au bord d'une source', Owen delicately conveys the bubbling, ever-changing stream. The closing 'Cloches de Genève' is timelessly beautiful. The lengthy closing 'Bénédiction' unfolds organically in this sensitive performance ... The passagework doesn't always sparkle flawlessly, but I was still enraptured".


The gramophone

2018 August

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Harriet Smith

2018 August

"The Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi ... is quietly carving out an impressive career for himself and this latest release offers ample affirmation of his gifts ... Technically Piemontesi is completely at ease with this music and feels no need to play up the virtuoso elements of Liszt's writing, while accompanying figures never get in the way of the narrative line ... Throughout, there's a tremendously clear sense of narrative, capturing both the grandeur and the myriad hues of Liszt's remarkable tone poem".


The gramophone

2012 March

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Bryce Morrison

2012 March

"Vurdering: Gramophone choice" - "Here are tributes, that would surely have brought tears of gratitude from the composer himself on hearing his genius so ardently celebrated and confirmed rather than ridiculed. Bertrand Chamayou, who gives us a complete Années de pèlerinage, is a young French pianist of an impeccable pedigree and one to make even the finest Lisztians look to their laurels".


International record review

2012 July/August

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Patrick Rucker

2012 July/August

"Vurdering: IRR outstanding" - "These days when unprecedented virtuosity is the common coin of an entire generation of young pianists, it is not easy to describe what precisely puts Chamayou head and shoulders above his peers. His mastery of the piano is flawless; his oneness with the instrument complete ... This is piano playing on a very high level and Liszt interpretation filled with insight and beauty".


Diapason

2011 decembre

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Bertrand Boissard

2011 decembre

"Vurdering: Diapason d'or" - "Et quel exploit de nous faire aimer - oui, aimer et pas craindre".


The gramophone

2009 July

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By

Jeremy Nicholas

2009 July

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "Played as Liszt would have heard it ... It's an enthralling journey that throws new light on these poetic ideals of the Romantic era".


International record review

2011 April

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Patrick Rucker

2011 April

"Lortie is, above all, a cultivated musician, the subtlest of pianists, blessed with a rich imagination ... deeply considered and vivid performances".


The gramophone

2007 July

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Jeremy Nicholas

2007 July

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "The virtuoso and the visionary sit side by side in a spell-binding collection ... The accelerando he makes in the final cavalry-charge octave passage of Funérailles is electrifying but even these pale beside his Cziffra-inspired arrangement of the Hungarian Rhapsody No 13, the friska section ranking among the most staggering feats of pianistic legerdemain on record. A great pianist and a great recording".


The gramophone

2021 November

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Patrick Rucker

2021 November

"Editor's choice: For his latest Avie release, British pianist Charles Owen hs chosen the nine pieces comprising Liszt's 1855 Swiss 'Année', delivering a performance imaginatively rich, drenched with colour and thoroughly original in concept ... Sensitive to every turn of Liszt's harmonic invention, Owen's chords are so beautifully balanced they seem almost luminescent. Accomplished with thorough and refined pianistic skill and a wholehearted identification with Liszt's message, Owen's music-making is powerfully compelling".