Great Pianists: Benno Moiseiwitsch 2
Unlike the first volume ofhistoric performances by Benno Moiseiwitschreleased by Naxos, which was devoted to major works, the second volume is filled almost entirely with encore pieces, most of which are now rarely heard. The one exception--and it is itself an infrequent visitor to concert halls--is Liszt's gigantic transcription of Wagner's "Tannhauser Overture." In this 1938 recording, one of the pianist's greatest, Moiseiwitsch achieves what even so great a modern master as Jorge Bolet (BMG) failed to do--realize Liszt's seemingly impossible aim of reproducing the sonority and might of the orchestral score on the piano.The short pieces are just as superb. The 1939 performance of Weber's "Invitation to the Dance" (in Taussig's dazzling arrangement) is matched in elegance and tonal beauty only by the recordings of his fellow Leschetizky students, Ignaz Friedman (Danacord), and Artur Schnabel (APR), both of whom perform Weber's original text. Moiseiwitsch's version of Liszt's Concert Étude in F Minor ("La leggierezza") deserves its legendary reputation. This transcendent reading, with the limpid delicacy and beauty of its leggierissimo playing, brings the work's title to startling life. Moiseiwitsch's dazzling virtuosity was disciplined by calm but intense musicality. He was able to make much-abused pieces such as Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3 and his Second Hungarian Rhapsody sound fresh: whether through the liquid poetry of his playing in the former or his rhythmic élan and devil-may-care good humor in the latter. Any of these performances would make this disc worth buying at full price; Naxos's super-budget price makes it irresistible.--Stephen Wigler