Fantasia

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the intensity doesn’t let up, but neither does the quality of the playing...Indebted to Bach and to Liszt, the Fantasia Contrappuntistica can be an impenetrable work. Levit’s approach is lucid... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2023, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 29th Sep 2023
Catalogue No: 19658811642
Label: Sony
Length: 1 hour 44 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

29th September 2023
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2023
International Classical Music Awards

2024

Nominated - Solo Instrument

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Usually despatched within 1 working day

Bach, J S: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV1068: Air ('Air on a G String')

Work length4:30

$1.30

$1.70

$2.00

Arr. for piano by A. Siloti
Igor Levit (piano)

Bach, J S: Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue in D minor, BWV903

Work length10:24

$2.60

$3.40

$4.00

Igor Levit (piano)

I. Fantasia

Track length5:33

$1.30

$1.70

$2.00

II. Fugue

Track length4:51

$1.30

$1.70

$2.00

Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor, S178

Work length32:22

Album only

Igor Levit (piano)

I. Lento assai - Allegro energico

Track length11:44

Album only

II. Andante sostenuto - Quasi adagio

Track length9:09

$1.30

$1.70

$2.00

III. Allegro energico

Track length11:29

Album only

Liszt: Der Doppelganger (No. 12 from Schwanengesang, S560, after Schubert)

Work length5:31

$1.30

$1.70

$2.00

Arr. for piano by Franz Liszt
Igor Levit (piano)

Berg: Klavierstück in B minor

Work length1:00

$1.30

$1.70

$2.00

Igor Levit (piano)

Berg: Piano Sonata, Op. 1

Work length12:23

Album only

Igor Levit (piano)

Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica

Work length34:07

Album only

Igor Levit (piano)

Busoni: Nuit de Noël

Work length4:30

$1.30

$1.70

$2.00

Igor Levit (piano)

About
Reviews
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About

Igor Levit’s new double album Fantasia features a wide range of works spanning a period of almost two centuries from 1720 to 1910 and showcases key compositions by Franz Liszt, Ferruccio Busoni, Johann Sebastian Bach and Alban Berg. The starting point of the four paradigmatic works featured on the double album is the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Levit has chosen Bach’s exceptional Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor and combined it with Liszt’s B minor Sonata, a highly charged piece that at the time of its composition looked far ahead into the future (which Levit is currently performing to great acclaim all over the world), together with Busoni’s Fantasia contrappuntistica, in which Busoni perpetuated the Bach tradition, and Alban Berg’s only Piano Sonata. These four major works are complemented by four shorter pieces including Alexander Siloti’s arrangement of the famous Air from Bach’s Third Orchestral Suite, Liszt’s transcription of Schubert’s song Der Doppelgänger, Busoni’s Nuit de Noël and an early piano piece in B minor by Alban Berg. The CD comes with o-card and will be released internationally by Sony Classical.

Reviews

November 2023

the intensity doesn’t let up, but neither does the quality of the playing...Indebted to Bach and to Liszt, the Fantasia Contrappuntistica can be an impenetrable work. Levit’s approach is lucid and unsentimental, at its best when guiding us through the contrapuntal forest, as Busoni pushes the possibilities of Bach’s fugue into uncharted territory. It’s a mighty achievement, and a demanding listen.

29th September 2023

the idea behind it is characteristically erudite, exploring the nature of the fantasia, its blend of freedom and rigour...Levit gives a far-ranging performance of [the Busoni], imaginative in tone colours and grandly envisioned in its ascent to the summit.

29th September 2023

Clear-eyed precision is the watchword in the Liszt, particularly in the stormier sections of the outer movements: even the densest, most virtuosic music here sounds airborne and agile..The transition from Liszt to Berg might sound like a sharp one on paper, but one of the lovely things about this album is its impression of seamlessness: both the programming itself and Levit’s ever-thoughtful approach to the material points up all manner of connections between the four featured composers.

4th October 2023

His performance of Alban Berg’s Sonata...is absolutely transformative, bringing expressive subtleties galore to a score that in some pianists’ hands can sound indigestibly dry.

The New York Times 26th October 2023

This is playing of rigorous, solemn control and, at the same time, endless seduction. Levit is always persuasive, giving even the most standard repertory the spark of revelation, and his poetic phrasing and touch convey both mysteries and immense satisfactions.

Fantasia

2 CDs

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