The Grosses Konzertsolo, a prototype for Liszt's two-piano Concerto Pathétique, receives a blazing, utterly inspired reading where fire and poetry lock horns and never let up. It puts all other recorded performances of this piece in the shade (not that there've been that many, I admit). Similarly, the rarely heard La Notte boasts such high levels of pianistic finish and stylish elegance that you'll never need to hear the piece in its orchestral version again--that is, if you've heard it, ever! As for being an orchestra, and a sexy one at that, look no further than Bavouzet's remarkable playing of Wagner's Prelude to Tristan und Isolde in Zoltan Kocsis' transcription.

Conversely, the bleak, anti-virtuosic sound world of late Liszt also sparks Bavouzet's imagination. For example, he judges the odd chromatic twists and turns of Schlaflos in a more fluid fashion than Paul Lewis' fine recording on Harmonia Mundi. Although the excellent annotations do not mention the instrument, the sound of the piano itself leads me to suspect that Bavouzet employs the same vintage 1901 Steinway he used in his MDG Ravel cycle. It relates to a modern American Steinway much as a hand-carved oakwood table does to a factory-made Formica copy. The harp-like, disembodied quality of soft, rippling passages suggests the "piano without hammers" of Debussy's ideal. No doubt Liszt would have liked it too, and possibly would have enjoyed Bavouzet's meaningful, committed and loving interpretations even more. A very special disc, not to be missed. [2/3/2006]