Ok....maybe its not that funny.."Hurricane" Earl Wild. However, the great pianist will surely put a smile on your face with these Liszt arrangements from various operas. A while back, I had posted a recording with Brendel playing a similar program, though, for my taste Wild is the more expressive and liquid player.
This particular recording was a Book of the Month club special and I've not seen a reissue on CD. As I mentioned previously, the genre of opera transcriptions seems to have fallen out of favor and its really too bad. Composers like Liszt not only whetted people's tastes for the whole opera but in addition, encapsulated the choicest melodies into a digestible morsal for the novice. These are wonderful recital encores! Wild's playing here is exceptional, good taste balanced with formidable, yet flexible technique. Especially lovely is the paraphrase on Belllini's Norma.
As a filler, I have included Rachmaninoff's transcription of his Symphonic Dances for two pianists. The exceptional team of Babin and Vronsky provide a vivid and faithful account of the score though someone like Argerich tears into the piece with greater gusto (she tears into everything with elan!). Still, there aren't many recordings of the two piano arrangement so this, for me, is most welcome.
The Wild RCA disc is mono and the Seraphim Babin & Vronsky is stereo. FLAC files.
