In 1999 Leslie Howard completed his 94-disc series devoted to Franz Liszt’s complete solo piano output with the proviso that previously unknown or inaccessible material may still come to light. This supplementary volume contains nearly 75 minutes’ worth of sketches, early drafts, and ephemera that surely will fascinate the ardent Lisztian. Aux anges gardiens, for example, is the second draft for what Liszt later would flesh out in greater length and detail as Angelus!, the opening piece in the Troisième année de pèlerinage. Likewise, textual differences that separate an “intermediate” version of Sunt lacrymae rerum and the first version of Sursum corda from their better-known final manifestations are not insignificant. The Zigeuner-Epos rework material from the Hungarian Rhapsodies provides simpler alternatives to their more familiar, virtuosic counterparts. However, while the term “virtuosic” may not apply to all of these pieces, I can imagine performances with more poetry, textural variety, scintillation, and palpable sense of line than is offered by Leslie Howard’s sober, dependable professionalism. As always, Howard’s annotations are informative, carefully researched, and vividly expressed.
