Liszt: Sonata in B Minor; Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude

This reissue of classic 1969-1970 recordings offers indisputable proof that Arrau is one of the greatest Lisztians of them all. The centerpiece is his grandly rhetorical view of the B Minor Sonata, where his huge, bronze-tinged tone, echt-Romantic phrasing, and searching philosophizing take us where few pianists can, or dare, go. Arrau's spiritual quest matches Liszt's in a work that's often played as a series of virtuoso effects. Virtuosity is here in spades, but it's in the service of the music's meaning. The same applies to the rest of the program. Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude often comes off as dull and overlong, but Arrau has you hanging on every phrase, so full of meaning does he make it. Vallée d'Obermann becomes a fascinating exploration of keyboard color and narrative tension, and the two etudes are invested with an unsurpassed abundance of tonal color and meaningful phrasing. Liszt recitals don't come any better than this. --Dan Davis