Arto Satukangas - Franz Liszt: Piano Works (SACD)
- Product Code: ABCD 303
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Piano Works
Arto Satukangas piano
Romantic Franz Liszt
Steinway Artist Arto Satukangas’s new album features brilliant interpretations of selected works for piano by Franz Liszt. The album features Polonaise No. 2 in E-flat major, Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude from the collection Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses, Rhapsodie Espagnole, Les jeux d’eaux à la villa d’Este from the collection Années de Pèlerinage, Troisième année, Réminiscences de Don Juan by Mozart, and Liebestraum No. 3.
The Polonaise in E major is said to exemplify everything that made Liszt a world-famous composer-pianist and a crowd-pleaser. Antti Häyrynen writes of the work: “The Polonaise in E major is a self-assured showpiece whose virtuosic rhetoric (Allegro pomposo con brio) piles up into a sparkling glaze over martial rhythms and poetic digressions. The interlude in A minor, with its solitary cadences, brings fateful tones to the music, which the triumphant recapitulation overpowers with even more dazzling bravura. The only thing Liszt left unscored were the resounding ovations."*)
Liebestraum No. 3 has become Liszt’s signature tune—or, indeed, a passionate battle cry: O lieb', so lang du lieben kannst! (O love, as long as you can love!)
Arto Satukangas attracted exceptional attention when, at the age of 17, he won first prize at the Maj Lind Piano Competition in Helsinki in 1979. This victory launched Satukangas’s career, which has elevated him to the forefront of Finnish pianists on the international stage. His debut performance in the United States took place at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 1994, where he returned to great acclaim in 2008. During this visit to New York, he was selected as a Steinway Artist.
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Sparkling Pianism
"Arto Satukangas performs Franz Liszt’s piano compositions masterfully. The runs flow with a light, sparkling quality. His sense of timing is profound and deeply internalized; the music breathes and wanders restlessly... The track order on the recording is well chosen.
Arto Satukangas’s recording is a wonderful dive into the 19th century, an era that combined spirit and virtuoso piano playing in a way that will never be repeated."
Miika Lauriala / YLE Uudet levyt
FORMAT: SACD
