Nelson Goerner, “Liszt” | The duty

Nelson Goerner is this 55-year-old Argentinian pianist, relatively little known here, whom we have placed at the top of our list of CDs released in 2022 for his completeIberia of Albéniz. His next CD, the 12^e recorded for the Alpha catalog, was bound to attract our attention. First comment: the program is absolutely perfect, with central works from the Lisztian pianistic repertoire. To the Sonata and to 3 Sonnetsadd the Forgotten Waltz n^o 2, The leggierezza and the 6^e Hungarian Rhapsody. Second remark: sound recording by Hugues Deschaux. On this level, the mere mention of the name is enough. And the pianist is the same as in Albéniz, with an art that mixes charcoal and scalpel. In digital precision, Goerner is a surgeon. In terms of atmosphere, it is rich, but never “pretty” or “aesthetic”, hence the reference to coal, a reminder of black, grays, shadows and lights. Concentration and density are the key words here: the record never lets go of the listener and draws them into an exhilarating whirlwind.

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