Warner Classics: 2564698255

“Franz Liszt’s B minor sonata, written as a single vast movement, has been considered by pianists as one of the most daunting works in the repertoire for the past one hundred and fifty years, on account of its technical difficulty and musical intensity. I have frequently performed this work and I can therefore say that in in emotional terms it is impossible to remain unscathed… The silence which precedes the first note is already part of the work. Sviatoslav Richter confessed that he used to sit motionless and count inwardly up to thirty before starting, in order to create the necessary feeling of unease among the audience, thereby accentuating the dramatic, disturbing atmosphere at the beginning of the sonata” Vahan Mardirossdian