This is essentially a hit and miss affair. In Il penseroso, Frederic Chiu focuses his attention on the dotted rhythm motive in the right hand but does little to shape the more interesting supporting harmonies underneath. Gondoleira also finds the right hand working overtime to propel a bottomless craft, so to speak. The Canzonetta dances not at all, lacking the lilt and swagger we expect from this little piece. Tender moments arbitrarily alternate with static, undercharacterized passages throughout the three Petrarca Sonettos. After Chiu yawns through the Dante Sonata’s introductory measures, he ditches Clark Kent’s mild-mannered suit for Superman’s cape, and shows what a fiery yet no less poetic virtuoso he can be when he surrenders to the music’s over-the-top rhetoric. The Tarantella alternates between frisky abandon (the lightning repeated notes) and heavy-handedness (the full-bodied chords). In sum, an on/off journey through Liszt’s Italy, gorgeously recorded.
