Transcriptions pour piano (Volume 2)

Albumbeschreibung

Capriccio's second volume of Ferruccio Busoni's piano transcriptions covers a little of the serious work for which he became renowned, particularly his labored and fairly histrionic Grosse Fuge on Bach's theme from Art of Fugue, and several silly parlor pieces that are much less significant. One may actively dislike Busoni's bombastic fantasies on Bach and find their perpetuation by earnest pianists somewhat annoying, but at least these were serious undertakings, taken quite seriously in their day; and Busoni merits some grudging admiration for his dogged efforts to incorporate the master's work into his own. But one need not regard Busoni's minor arrangements as anything more than decorative curiosities or extravagant displays of pianistic technique. Busoni's doctored versions of pieces by Mozart, Novacek, and Offenbach are light and inconsequential, and may be sampled briefly or skipped without qualms. But the hyperactively embellished arrangement of Liszt's Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale, "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam," goes as far as can be tolerated by anyone with good taste, and perhaps should be heard just for its outrageousness. One wonders how pianist Holger Groschopp regards Busoni's excesses, and if pending volumes in his series will be as lopsidedly frivolous as this one, or more evenly balanced with serious efforts. Time will tell, but at least Capriccio has recorded Groschopp well, and makes this package sound better than the music deserves.
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