Ulf Wallin & Roland Pontinen - Liszt: Works for Violin & Piano (2015)

With this recording of a selection of Franz Liszt's music for violin and piano, Ulf Wallin and Roland Pöntinen aim at expanding our understanding of a composer who in fact wrote in a variety of genres, and whose style, especially in the later works, evolved in a manner that was far ahead of its time. Liszt composed his first music for violin and piano as early as 1832, and returned to this instrumental combination throughout his life, writing La lugubre gondola as late as 188283. Some of the pieces are re-workings of earlier compositions, for instance the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12, originally for piano solo but equally if not more passionate and dramatic in this version for violin and piano. In the early Grand Duo concertant pure virtuosity and the joy of playing are to the fore, but in the late works Liszt takes us on a journey into his own innermost soul, with all its doubts, contradictions and abysses.


Fine recordings of all Liszt's major works in this form. --Gramophone, Aug'15

Performances by this Swedish duo are superlative. Wallin offers a stream of full-throttled, gloss-free tone, brilliant in the Grand Duo, and searchingly expressive elsewhere, with beautifully alert and supportive accompaniments from Pontinen. Performance **** Recording ***** --BBC Music Magazine,Sept'15