One of Liszts most personal and confessional piano cycles, the Harmonies poetiques et religieuses (composed between 1846 and 1851) contains two of his best-loved masterpieces the serenely contemplative Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude and the heroic elegy Funerailles. This outstanding recording makes a much-needed case for the collection as a whole, setting these well-known works in their wider spiritual context. Important works such as Pensee des morts (an extraordinarily dark meditation on the oft-visited subject of death) and Cantique damour (one of Liszts most beautifully expressive reveries) are revealed, as are rarely heard transcriptions of Liszts own sacred choral works. Steven Osborne captures the musics spiritual essence to perfection, further demonstrating his affinity with music of mystical contemplation, a quality so widely acclaimed in his superb recording of Messiaens Vingt Regards.
(two CDs for the price of one)