Liszt's nearly 30 minutes long Sonata in b minor is one of the great master pieces of the piano repertory from the 19th century and has already been recorded by many pianists. The unique thing about this recording of Russian piano virtuoso Alexei Orlowetsky is the use of a magnificient 1889 Erard Grand Piano, the type of instrument that Liszt himself owned and on which he composed this imposing work. The haunting Csardas Macabre is very seldom heard on records and Liszt's transcription of Bach's Prelude and Fugue (originally for organ) shows Orlowetsky's beautiful and very controlled piano technique. The Norma Fantasy, technically considered to be one of the most difficult pieces Liszt wrote, is heard here not only perfectly played to perfection, but also in one of the most rousing performances ever.
Alexei Orlowetsky was born In St. Petersburg (the former Leningrad) In 1959, his father being an engineer and his mother a physician. After receiving a special primary training from Z.B. Hohlova at the music school of the Leningrad Conservatory, he studied piano at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory with Professor G. Sokolov, composition with Y. Falik and conducting with I.A. Mussin. Nowadays Alexei Orlowetsky is himself a Professor of piano at this Conservatory. He performed with orchestras and in recitals all over the Soviet Union and in Poland. In 1989 he won the second prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition In Utrecht, and in July 1990 he was awarded First prize at the 7th International Piano Competition in Valencia, Spain.
If you would open any biography of Franz Liszt, you would probably mostly read about his disquiet life as a piano virtuoso, his passionate love life, and the return to his catholic roots at the end of his life. Although all of this might be true, it only scratches the surface of his comprehensive musical personality. Liszt was a pianist, conductor, teacher and organiser, but above all he was a composer of a voluminous, capricious body of work. Even though his piano works formed his core business, he gave rise to the symphonic poem, got rid of the organ's stuffy appearance, and reinvigorated the oratorio. Moreover, with his piano transciptions of Bach's organ works and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, he was an advocate of both old and new music.
Together with his son-in-law Richard Wagner, he was in the forefront of the Romantic movement and anticipated the musical revolutions of the early 20th century with his new composition techniques.
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