Liszt & Rachmaninov Liszt Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata 13 September 2011 - - the pianist Grace Francis, who is inexplicably still on the fringe of the international concert circuit - - Having recently received Grace's remarkable debut CD of Brahms & Liszt [Quartz QTZ2071] it was a pleasure to be able to hear her live at the refurbished and newly re-opened concert hall at Bishopsgate Institute, with a good sized Monday lunchtime audience. Seeing her accuracy and tonal control served to confirm for me that her disc will seem to have owed little to digital editing. Different Liszt (for his bicentenary) from the CD - the Dante Sonata, followed by and one of my favourite works of Rachmaninov, she played everything entirely by memory and with commanding flair and sensibility. There is no "ego" exploitation, her patform manner is reserved and everything goes into the subtleties of her interpretations. Recommended Debut CD Brahms:
Variations on a theme by Paganini in A minor, Op. 35. Book 2;
Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1
Quartz QTZ2071 Peter Grahame Woolf
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