  Go to LAN278 - Liszt
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Gramophone - Editor's Choice, February 2007
'It’s always welcome to see a major musician at the start of what promises to be a terrific career….there seems something very special about this artist. It’s evident in the hushed, reflective passages, in the whole sense of a pianist who knows how a piece should go. One to watch indeed.'
James Inverne Gramophone, February 2007
'In days of yore when pianists weren't so thick on the ground (and the distinguished ones as thinly spread out as they are today), the most absorbing Liszt players for me were Claudio Arrau, Clifford Curzon and Wilhelm Kempff. Naturally, their response to the composer was far from uniform; but they didn't substitute stridency for power. There was a common desire (not always reflected on disc) for an evenness of touch at all times.
[Libor Novacek's] command of the keyboard is very impressive and he aspires to the highest interpretive ideals in this second book of which, like the first, contains some of Liszt's finest music.
This artist takes time to express his views about these masterpieces. He is not in a hurry, not even in overtly virtuoso pieces such as the Dante Sonata and the First Mephisto Waltz. There is an expansive dignity to Novacek's playing that spares them from falling into a trough of banality, as often happens. how a similar approach works at a slow tempo (basically lento) may be heard in the Petrarch Sonnet No 123 where Liszt tries to convey its spirit through numerous marks of expression. Novacek doesn't balk at observing them. nor does he balk at emotional involvement with the music; and both virtues are duplicated everywhere. The recording by Tony Faulkner doesn't get in your way. It is unobtrusively excellent - as recordings ought to be.
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Nalen Anthoni Pianist Magazine - Pianist Recommended, February 2007
'On his second disc for Landor Records, Libor Novacek performs Liszt with an exceptional poetic verve and inwardness. Hushed and reverential at the start of Sposalizio, he then re-creates a rare sense of wonder and interior magic, and whether evoking bells distantly or jubilantly chiming, his playing is ear-catchingly fresh and vital. Il penseroso’s dark-hued prophecy of Liszt’s final years is no less memorably caught, its harmonic tension and audacity made almost palpable…Novacek captures all of the smouldering intensity of No 104 and is rapturous and interior in No 123. His imaginative scope makes something very special of the Dante sonata. Textures are kept enviably transparent in even the heaviest climaxes, stillness and hyperactivity are vividly contrasted yet nothing is exaggerated. Indeed, such a clear sense of poetic perspective makes this among the finest Dante Sonatas on record. The Mephisto Waltz is no less brilliantly alert and picturesque. This lavishly presented, beautifully recorded recital strongly suggests a young pianist very much on the edge of a major international career.'
Bryce Morrison De Volkskrant, Netherlands, February 2007
'Novacek, who made his recording debut with works of Janacek and Martinu on Landor Records, has recorded a Liszt programme that outshines everything that has appeared the last few years in this field.
Few would think of fingers, keys or notes when listening to Novaceks interpretations of the Petrarca-sonnets, which are full of colours without smudginess, which sing without a trace of sanctimoniousness, and in which Novacek, above all, tries to fathom the depths of Liszt's fascination for Petrarca’s odes to love and death.
Seated in the higher heavens between Rafaël, Michelangelo, Petrarca and Dante – phenomena which almost maddened Liszt in his Italian 'Années de pèlerinage' – Liszt would most probably shout his approval. His ideal of immaterial pianism is realized here in great measure. The opening bars of Sposalizio, Liszt's impression of Rafaël's painting of the marriage of the Virgin, are a statement in themselves, right from the beginning of Novacek's CD . The poetry continues in the springing chords and octave cascades of the Dante Sonata. Even in the diabolic Mefisto Walz nr 1, perhaps added by Novacek in order to show colleagues how to keep the lyric middle parts exciting, everything sounds noble and well-formed.
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Roland de Beer International Record Review, January 2007
'The repertoire choice facing both record buyer and pianist, seeking to begin his recording career, is vast, and the competition is fierce. None the less, this new recital by Libor Novacek is exceptional, and I urge all Lisztians and also those keen to get to know some of this composer's finest piano music to hear it. Novacek has the measure of these pieces. He shows a rare combination of virtuosity and musical intelligence, so that, as they progress, we experience the Dante Sonata as the culmination of the set. Indeed, there is a oneness of conception which is impressive in Novacek's playing the whole time. After the two tone-pictures which open the set, his delightful pointing of the Andante marziale throughout the brief Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa comes as the perfect foil, and his subtle revealing of the inherent unity of the succeeding three Petrarch Sonnets makes for absorbing listening. Finally, the Dante Sonata - a grand and spacious performance, powerful yet sensitive - is utterly true to Liszt, and which, at 19 minutes (among the longest on disc), crowns Novacek's remarkable achievement. There are other felicitous details in Novacek's playing of the Italian book, which is followed by a compelling account of the First Mephisto Waltz. The recording quality is very good indeed, natural and warm. This excellent issue is strongly recommended.'
Robert Matthew-Walker Musical Opinion, January 2007
'I have yet to hear Libor Novacek in the flesh but this CD held me in my seat for the whole 73 minutes and I have played it again and again to convince myself that this is Liszt playing of the highest order by a player who concentrates on the composer's all too often ignored genius. Of course the Italian Années de Pèlerinage contains the three expressive Petrarch Sonnets and the dramatic and exciting Dante Sonata, often played separately in recitals, yet when the seven movements are presented as a whole conception of Liszt's Italian experience the overall impression is as stimulating as any epic. Even more impressive, however, is Novacek's treatment of the all too popular Mephisto Waltz, for once becoming a wonderful keyboard tone poem.
Novacek won the 2006 Landor Competition and their recording shows the quality we hope to expect in the future.
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Denby Richards Metro, December 2006
'Someone just starting out on his career is the young Czech pianist Libor Novacek – and judging from Liszt (Landor) he has a brilliant future ahead of him. His performances of the Italian suite from Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage and the Mephisto Waltz No 1 are so painterly, so full of detail and colour, and so sympathetically recorded, that they fairly leap off the disc in front of your eyes. He knows when to play the showman and when the visionary – just as an ideal Lisztian should – and the result is compelling in the extreme.'
Warwick Thompson
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