First of all, hats off to Bryan Crimp and Malcolm Binns who have made these incomparable Liszt performances available on CD. Following on from APR’s first volume (2/97), this second reminds you that in his heyday Louis Kentner was the most stylish, witty and engaging of all Liszt pianists. Excellently transferred from 78s dating from 1939-59, this selection ranges from Liszt’s early exuberance to the grim-faced austerity of his final years, and throughout you will hear playing of a peerless scintillation, patrician command and a poetic engagement known to few pianists.

With the disc subtitled “The Pioneering Liszt Recordings”, APR makes it clear than Kentner was a tireless propagandist for Liszt’s genius in the face of lofty scorn and indifference from the musical (unmusical?) establishment of the time. Liszt was always at the heart of his vast, all-encompassing repertoire and his affection is evident in his many scintillating flourishes and additions to the score, all gloriously within the style. The Csárdás macabre, in particular, crackles with a virtuoso fire and elaboration unknown to the composer, its stark and baleful character generously ornamented and extended. Elsewhere you will have an unalloyed joy in music-making, a Third Liebestraum that “sings” and shimmers with all of Kentner’s rich cantabile, and Etudes as magical as any on record. Finally, the Les patineurs paraphrase brings down the curtain on one marvel after another. Here the skaters take to the ice with dazzling aplomb, spinning and pirouetting through one giddy arabesque after another, the only regret being that the performance was marginally cut for accommodation on 78s. Otherwise whatever sparkles and enchants is here in super-abundance together with a reminder of Liszt’s prophetic and dark-hued final years.