AVIE is delighted to double welcome American pianist Russell Sherman, this time on DVD, in performances of Liszt masterpieces for the solo piano: the Transcendental Studies.
Written as studies but also following a thematic sequence – bearing in mind the public performance of these pieces – Liszt reaches new heights in the piano repertoire with these works. Liszt is the epitome of the nineteenth-century artist: wildly diversified in his interests, extravagant in both his public manner and private life, and most importantly, willing to explore even the darkest side of the human psyche. Like many artists from many centuries he was able to move into the highest spheres of society not by his personal wealth but by the sheer force of his talent. Inheriting the force of Beethoven and the lyricism of Schumann, Liszt contemplates the new technical challenges of the instrument that was, in the 19th century, becoming the centre of the concert platform, thanks to composers like Chopin, Brahms and of course Liszt himself.
With extras including interviews with conductor Craig Smith and Christopher Lydon, this DVD of Russell Sherman will surely please those interested in exploring the beauty and intensity of a great performance of these wonderful works.
‘first a fierceness of imagination that makes us rethink what we know by heart, and then a physical technique allowing the most difficult music a confident sense of order and repose’ New York Times
”…by any measure one of the truly extraordinary pianists before the public.” The New York Times
“Russell Sherman must be counted among the outstanding contemporary pianists. Sherman is an exceedingly sensitive interpreter and a great story teller at the piano. This pianist is equipped with an enormous, energy-rich breadth and electricity.” Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung
