For his recording of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage Book 2, Thomas Hitzberger employs the same vintage 1873 Steingraeber piano used by Liszt just days before his death. The instrument seems in sturdy condition and holds its tuning well. Cybele’s full-bodied surround-sound engineering somewhat compensates for the piano’s limited dynamic range, yet beautifully illuminates its alluring registral differentiation. The twangy overtones resulting from the Dante Sonata’s rattling octaves resonate in a way that has nothing to do with the percussive banging we all too often hear from modern pianists on modern concert grands.
Unfortunately, much of Hitzberger’s playing lacks the sense of long line, dramatic impetus, and effortless fluidity displayed by the composer’s finest practitioners. For example, the three Petrarch pieces shapelessly alternate between choppy agitation and static slowness. In order to get to Sposalizio’s eloquently-shaped passages and well-gauged climaxes, you have to weather some prosaic dragging. The same can be said for La notte and the aforementioned Dante Sonata. But at least the pianist’s stark, bleak touch proves consistently convincing in Il Penseroso. Essentially this release will attract period-instrument buffs more than Liszt aficionados.
