Contents:
Franz Liszt:
Petrarch Sonnets 47, 104, 123
Mephisto Waltz No.1
Mephisto Polka
Les funerailles
Valse oubliée No.1
Dante Sonata
Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este
Consolation No.3
Liebestraume Nos. 2 and 3
Artists:
Earl Wild piano

Recorded Date:
January 1985 in Borden Auditorium, Manhattan School of Music, New York City, piano: Baldwin
Producer:
Michael Rolland Davis
Engineer:
Kelly Higgins
Piano Technician:
Alexander Ostrovsky
Even in his 70’s, Earl Wild has maintained nearly all of his legendary mastery. He is still capable of drawing the most exquisite colors from his instrument (note the tonal shading and the sensitively woven inner lines in Jeux d’eau) and of drowning you with his torrential power (the ending of the Mephisto Waltz). More important, he has retained that control of rhythm that has made him one of our preeminent (if underappreciated) Romantic interpreters for nearly half a century: a control that allows him to stretch a phrase without losing the long-range ebb and flow of the music. Wild reamins a far more persuasive champion of Liszt than Arrau, Bolet, and Brendel – lovers of this music will certainly want to give this recording a listen.

Peter J. Rabinowitz, Fanfare, March-April 198