Rarities & Short Piano Works [CD]

Among Schubert's compositions are rare and overlooked works for solo piano that reflect staging posts of his short compositional life. As a boy he had studied with Salieri who almost certainly encouraged him to explore contrapuntal techniques in 1812 - the fugues and fugal expositions he wrote are testament to his secure grounding in the form. Schubert's admiration for Mozart is clear in the Fantasy in C minor, while the substantial Two Scherzi, D. 593 show early mastery. Also included is the Allegro in E major, Schubert's first, unfinished attempt at a piano sonata. Pianist Wojciech Waleczek recorded Liszt's Harmonies poétiques etreligieuses, Vol. 53 of the Complete Piano Music series on 8. 573773. Gramophone wrote: 'He is sufficiently technically equipped to allow his imagination full flight. He has a strong dramatic instinct and brings a sense of proportion when Liszt grows discursive. Perhaps most importantly, Waleczek conveys an aura of rapture to this music. '