Sung by the instrument

Schubert, the essential note, the Lied in which a whole world is created after two chords. - Mendelssohn, grace and limpidity. - Chopin, refined elegance at its finest. Three worlds that seem so far removed from that of Franz Liszt...

When the Hungarian composer takes on the melodies of his colleagues, there is, of course, homage, but above all, Liszt's transcriptions become original works marked by the virtuoso pianist's strong personality.

Els Biesemans offers us a recording that happily revisits these famous transcriptions. In these technically demanding pages, the pianist's virtuosity never falters, and her magnificent lines are illuminated by a subtle art of rubato that never lapses into the excesses so often associated with these works. Clearly, Els Biesemans has a deep understanding of the poems on which her works are based. She simply sings them through her piano.

Playing a magnificent instrument by Liszt's contemporary Aloys Biber, the artist deploys an ideal sound, stripping away the layer of flashy glitz with which Liszt's music is often saddled. The depth and roundness of the fortepiano's timbre, and above all Els Biesemans's art of touch, bring out the sometimes intimate side of these melodies, and the sensitivity that's always just a touch away.

Most of these ultra-familiar pages must be rediscovered for this masterful, poetic and luminous read.

Winterreise. Lieder von Schubert, Mendelssohn und Chopin für das Fortepiano übertragen von Franz Liszt.
Els Biesemans, Fortepiano. genuin GEN 14322