Composer: Richard Wagner
Performer: Juan Guillermo Vizcarra
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0192
Release: 2014
Size: 670 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Lohengrin
01. Free Fantasy
Tristan und Isolde
02. O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe’ und Gesang der Brangäne – Einsam wachend in der Nacht
Das Rheingold
03. Schluss der letzten Szene
Parsifal
04. Karfreitagszauber (Good Friday Spell)
Siegfried (arr. A. Stradal)
05. Schluss des letzten Aufzuges
The Czech-born pianist and writer August Stradal (1860–1930) – a student of Bruckner and disciple of Liszt – was one of the more prolific transcribers of the nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries.
He produced a vast quantity of piano music, including Liszt’s orchestral works, most of the Bruckner symphonies, a good deal of the Baroque (not least a huge amount of Bach) and much more.
These transcriptions are phenomenally difficult to play. This is the second in a series of three recordings presenting his Wagner transcriptions, cast in the best barnstorming virtuoso tradition.
Juan Guillermo Vizcarra is one of the leading Peruvian pianists of his generation, whose performances have been heard far beyond his native land. He has received numerous honours in international competitions.
MusicWeb International wrote of Vol. 1 of this series: ‘Juan Guillermo Vizcarra makes a staggeringly powerful case for these transcriptions […]. Vizcarra is especially skilled at layering the dynamics within these complex textures ensuring that the ear is guided to primary and secondary material. […] Vizcarra is beautifully poetic’.