Liszt & Busoni: ... And That is Death (1999)

Ju-Ying Song is a piano virtuoso of titanic ability who has managed to find the time to also acquire a degree in microbiology from Stanford. This is an intelligent way to go for a prospective musician, as music itself is such an unpredictable career choice that it is good to have some measure of backup in case things don't pan out. In Song's case, however, her music-making has been adjudged in such high regard that she hasn't needed to trade in the piano for a lab coat just yet; she is a piano professor at Mannes School of ... Read More

Ju-Ying Song is a piano virtuoso of titanic ability who has managed to find the time to also acquire a degree in microbiology from Stanford. This is an intelligent way to go for a prospective musician, as music itself is such an unpredictable career choice that it is good to have some measure of backup in case things don't pan out. In Song's case, however, her music-making has been adjudged in such high regard that she hasn't needed to trade in the piano for a lab coat just yet; she is a piano professor at Mannes School of Music and still plays recitals, though this has not led to an over-busy recording career by any means. This Pro Piano release, Liszt & Busoni, is one of her best; subtitled "...and that is death," the program deals with the prominence of the grim reaper in works of these composers. Liszt's Totentanz is heard in its rarely recorded version for solo piano, and his La Lugubre Gondola II is one of several pieces that Liszt wrote inspired by witnessing the procession of Richard Wagner's... Read Less