Valerie Tryon surveys Liszt's piano music in all its various forms on these two discs, with an emphasis on his transcriptions and paraphrases. When it comes to the virtuosic works of Liszt, the recordings by male pianists far outnumber those by female pianists, just because of the physical strength needed to play the more bombastic passages effectively. However, Tryon holds her own exceptionally well here, having no problem handling the more difficult sections. She very handily plays the rippling runs and ornaments of the ...
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Valerie Tryon surveys Liszt's piano music in all its various forms on these two discs, with an emphasis on his transcriptions and paraphrases. When it comes to the virtuosic works of Liszt, the recordings by male pianists far outnumber those by female pianists, just because of the physical strength needed to play the more bombastic passages effectively. However, Tryon holds her own exceptionally well here, having no problem handling the more difficult sections. She very handily plays the rippling runs and ornaments of the Gnomenreigen, while Funerailles is heroic, even in its more solemn moments, and has thrilling, rousing climaxes at the end. She is sure of herself and the music, from the Hungarian Rhapsodies to the simpler Albumblätter. And while she plays with great feeling, she does not indulge in theatrics. Tryon has such a sympathy for Liszt's works, it would have been nice if this album included a couple of his later, more introspective works. ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi
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