Pacini Plays Beethoven and Liszt
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Franz Liszt, Ludwig van Beethoven
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Warner Classics
Magazine Review Date: 11/2016
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 77
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 9029 59770-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Sonata for Piano No. 21, 'Waldstein' |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Sophie Pacini, Piano |
(6) Consolations, Movement: Andante con moto |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Sophie Pacini, Piano |
(6) Consolations, Movement: Un poco più mosso |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Sophie Pacini, Piano |
Ouvertüre zu R. Wagners `Tannhäuser' |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Sophie Pacini, Piano |
Réminiscences de Don Juan (Mozart) |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Sophie Pacini, Piano |
(3) Liebesträume, Movement: No. 3 in A flat, O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Sophie Pacini, Piano |
(19) Hungarian Rhapsodies, Movement: No. 6 in D flat |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Sophie Pacini, Piano |
Author: Patrick Rucker
The Waldstein is astonishingly punctilious, every indication of the score scrupulously observed. Yet, when all is said and done, it’s as though we’ve explored a facsimile of the sonata, rather than the piece itself. The most beautiful playing here is in the Liszt miniatures: two of the six Consolations and the third Liebestraum, all delivered with beguiling simplicity and beautiful sound.
The Tannhäuser Overture transcription requires great inner calm and an inerrant focus on the orchestral sonorities held in the mind’s ear – think of the performances of Moiseiwitsch or Bolet. Pacini’s preoccupation with pianistics early on derails her focus on the music. In the more challenging Don Juan Fantasy, the Commendatore is a boring old windbag, the ‘Là ci darem’ variations pedestrian and Giovanni’s aria ‘Fin ch’han dal vino’ fast but flat. At the last minute a not particularly Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 darts out of the wings. I can’t describe it because, by that time, I was in aural shutdown.
The sound quality is fine; but whoever advised on repertory for this release should be tarred and feathered. Pacini herself is far too gifted to be dismissed. I shall watch with interest as life experience allows her artistry to mature.
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