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Site review by akiralx June 20, 2006
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
A fine SACD of Schubert and Liszt, played in a very spontaneous manner, very much of the grand Eastern European style. The Wanderer is given a first rate reading, not overtly reverential as Schubert often is, in fact the performance is quite Lisztian in feeling.
Similarly the major work by that composer, the Dante Sonata, is equally fine. Borac is perhaps more attuned to Liszt than Schubert and all of the shorter works here are done extremely well.
Sonically, this isn't quite state of the art. The booklet claims her other Enescu SACDs have received rave reviews for their sound quality - which surprises me a little if they sound like this. In stereo (the only layer I can listen to, via a Stax earspeaker system) the piano sounds rich and full, with a tremendous bass. All very good but the acoustic is a slight problem - it sounds large, and reverberation often threatens to become a problem, but never quite does. But there is no clangour as on inferior recordings in empty venues. I suspect this may be a recording which sounds better in multichannel, and which hasn't mixed down to stereo quite as successfully as some others.
I shouldn't make too much of the very slight sonic deficiences as really this sounds pleasing (I'm happy to give this 4 stars) and the performances are very fine. But maybe sample before you buy if possible.
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Copyright © 2006 Alex Leach and SA-CD.net
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Site review by Polly Nomial June 11, 2006
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
This disc is an interlude, if you will, between the current two volumes of Luiza Borac's Enescu series for Avie. Just as the Enescu discs are rightly famed, this is no less wonderful and for many might be more so, as it marries beautiful excerpts from Liszt's Annees de pelerinage with Schubert's miraculous Wanderer Fantasy.
In the Schubert, the tempi are perfectly judged by Borac and her articulation, which the Liszt confirms, is absolutely of the first rank of piano playing. The musicality is also a joy to behold, with no narcisisstic phrasing. Nor is there any hint of blandness - a difficult balance to obtain but Borac has found it here! The tone of the superb Steinway model D is also crystal clear and Borac imbues a beautifully delicate timbre for the Schubert. I find myself wanting to return to this wonderful music when played as well as this - surely the sign of a great performance.
The Liszt is no less successful, with a broadening of the tonal resources of the Steinway and an appropriately more romantic approach to the music. Throughout the highly varied excerpts chosen, Borac clearly identifies the musical line and "sings" these most convincingly. One wishes that at some stage in the not too distant future that she might be persuaded to offer the complete Annees de pelerinage such is the distinction and Lisztian musicianship on display here - at no time is one aware that Borac is aware of the possibility of playing to the gallery, this is simply a true recital which one wishes would never end. As all good things do, however, this recital comes to an end over the dazzling watery textures of Les jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este. Like the Schubert, I want to replay this music over and over again...
The recording also, could hardly be bettered. It is a triumphant example of the piano on disc and a real demonstration of what this instrument can sound like in the hands of a true master of the keyboard if given a sympathetic engineering team, altough it must be said that the MCH layer provides a state of "naturalness" that is most believable when compared to the stereo layer.
I cannot recommend this disc too highly for any fans of Liszt, the piano or Borac.
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Copyright © 2006 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
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