Lazar Berman and Peter Maag aim for maximum vulgarity in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1–not necessarily a bad thing in this blatantly self-aggrandizing work. In the first movement Berman’s playing teems with aggressive phrasing and grandiose gesturing, while Maag lays on the orchestral rhetoric pretty heavily. Things cool off a bit in the remainder, with Berman finding genuine poetry in the slow movement, then offering some spectacularly rapid finger-work in the finale.
Berman is out of the picture for the rest of the program, leaving Maag to present his own Lisztian credentials. His Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is a taunting, giddy affair with vibrant playing by the Orchestra Sinfonica RAI di Torino. Liszt’s overlong Héroïde funèbre comes off surprisingly well thanks to Maag’s smoothly flowing phrasing–his refusal to belabor the music’s funereal aspect is especially admirable. Instead, Maag heightens the music’s dramatic contrasts, offering soothing gentleness in the lyrical sections while playing the climaxes for all their worth. There are more refined alternatives–Haitink’s stoic (and far less exciting) reading for one–but Maag’s performance makes this hulking piece surprisingly enjoyable. The 1970s recordings are mostly well balanced but are subject to limited dynamics and occasional distortion. Nonetheless Liszt devotees won’t want to miss these red-hot, live performances.
