Krystian Zimerman, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa - Franz Liszt - Konzerte für Klavier und Orchester / Totentanz (1988)

This well recorded disc from 1987 delivers truly exciting performances of all three works in typically crisp manner by Zimerman. Ozawa and the Boston orchestra give excellent support.

The emphasis here is on excitement largely created by fast speeds delivered with clarity. The more gentler parts of all three works are played with due regard to sensitivity but there is no denying that in these recordings these works are seen as primarily as virtuoso display works and that is what we are given.

There are other ways of playing the music of course. Equally virtuoso performances of the concertos but with added weight and more swagger can be experienced on the venerable Katchen disc/s. Those are the ones I grew up with and they still thrill especially in the remastered versions. From the same vintage and also well remastered are the famous recordings from Byron Janis on Mercury and the barnstorming Richter accounts on Philips, best heard in the 50 Great Recordings series. More recently there is a more lyrical but strong set of three performances by Nebolsin on Naxos. There is a pianist to watch and I would recommend his Chopin concertos too.

Zimerman provides an excellent roller-coaster display version of these works which will thrill most. For more weight I would recommend Katchen, Janis and Richter but be careful to get the much improved 24 bit remastered copies. Nebolsin brings a satisfyingly musical approach to these works with less emphasis on sheer display. All of these discs offer good quality and satisfaction in their different ways. Hardened collectors will probably want them all if not acquired already!