LISZT: SONATA IN B MINOR; “SONETTI DEL...

LISZT: SONATA IN B MINOR; “SONETTI DEL PETRARCA,” NOS. 47, 104 AND 128; “APRES UNE LECTURE DU DANTE.” John Browning, piano. Delos compact disc D/CD 3022. LISZT: SONATA IN B MINOR; “DEUX LEGENDES”; “BENEDICTION DE DIEU DANS LA SOLITUDE.” Francois-Rene Duchable, piano. RCA/Erato compact disc ECD 88091. Before the age of the CD, the piano gave recording engineers more problems than any other instrument. It was impossible to capture the full range of the instrument from sharp, quick percussive sounds to soft, lingering, sustained notes. With the CD’s broad dynamic range, it is the piano that has benefited the most. These recordings demonstrate the point. Liszt pushed the piano all over the place in his only sonata for piano--from bombast to tenderness. Both pianists are up to the challenge technically and both tend to emphasize structure and drama. The result is two cohesive performances, thoughtful and touching. The sound emphasizes each pianist’s attempt at clarity; no clanging here, just music. The Erato CD contains more than an hour of music, but it is the Delos CD that uses the full CD potential--it boasts nearly 72 minutes of music.