JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)

Toccata in D major BWV 912

Choral Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland in G minor BWV 659 

Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor BWV 903

Choral Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ in F major BWV 639 (Transcription Ferruccio Busoni)

Prelude & Fugue in A minor BWV 543 (Transcription Franz Liszt)

Franz LISZT (1811-1886)

Sonnet 104 Petrarch

St Francis of Paola walking on the water (Legend No.2)

The funeral gondola No.1

Mephisto Waltz No.1

Lise de la Salle (piano)

It takes a pretty special talent to secure a record contract, and an even more remarkable one to attain CD of the Month especially if you’re still a teenager. When Lise de la Salle released her first disc of Ravel and Rachmaninov she was only 14, but the superlatives rained down. Now, at 16, she offers a programme of Bach (‘pure’ as well as courtesy of Busoni) and Liszt that demonstrates, as well as a superb technique, a really engaging musicality and vivid personality. (It is good to see that her forthcoming concert dates allow room for a little ‘living’ in between performances the treadmill will no doubt start in earnest later.) For the covermount CD, I chose the Petrarch Sonnet No 104 from the Italian year of Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage, that haunting piece that is built on the love poem ’Pace non trovo’. Originally conceived as songs, Liszt’s Petrarch settings have a concentration that never leaves you missing the words these are truly songs-without-words and Lise de la Salle responds magnificently.

Gramophone

Naïve V5006