  Go to LAN290 - Liszt Suisse
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Guardian, March 2010
'The young Czech pianist Libor Novacek's recording of the second, Italian book of Liszt's Années de Pèlerinage brought him to everyone's attention when it appeared four years ago, and the release of his version of its earlier, more introverted Swiss companion has long felt overdue. It's been worth the wait, however. In many respects Novacek is an ideal Liszt interpreter, technically exacting yet aware that the composer's aim was not so much to push the player to his limits as to expand the piano's expressive capabilities and the descriptive and narrative possibilities of music. You're aware of a fine poetic sensibility at work here, yielding breathtaking results in the shorter pieces such as Au Lac de Wallenstadt and Pastorale. Yet Novacek also has the ability to think big when he needs to, so the larger, more discursive pieces such as Vallée d'Obermann never seem shapeless or out of control. The filler is the Consolations, in a performance of exquisite refinement, though darker and less sentimental than most.
Five Stars'
Tim Ashley International Record Review, March 2010
'Of course many attributes combine to make Novacek's Swiss Année so compellingly beautiful. His sense of pace is leisurely and alluring, making the crystal-clear waters of Lac de Wallendstadt, marked Andante placido, not only placid but a veritable balm for the agitated spirit. Liszt's evocation of an alpine storm, 'Orage', sheds its familiar guise as a piano tour de force, to emerge as the sound portrait of a genuinely terrifying natural phenomenon.
Infinite degrees of pianissimo shadings enhance the simple rusticity of the 'Pastorale' and coax the faint sound of distant bells from Geneva as though through a fog. Rhetorical aptness is again the focus in 'Vallée d'Obermann', which seems less a case study in the numbness of depression than Obermann's plaintive search for existential meaning. The most refined blend of legato and secco articulation captures the geysers and spray of 'Au bord d'un source' in a dazzling display of light and colour. As if all this were not enough, Novacek crowns his Années with the Six Consolations in exquisitely lyrical performances of the utmost sincerity.'
Patrick Rucker Evening Standard, March 2010
'Liszt is red meat for the big beasts of the piano. What makes this recital so arresting is the low-key approach that Libor Novacek takes to the Swiss episodes of Liszt’s travel diaries, as well the later, lesser known Consolations. The meditative, priestly aspect of Liszt is often eclipsed by virtuosic display. Not here, though. Softly, reflectively, Novacek portrays a deeper, introspective Liszt, seldom rising above double-forte.
Norman Lebrecht’s CD of the Week – 3 March 2010
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Norman Lebrecht
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