Donizetti via Liszt

Naxos's worthy complete Liszt piano music project is now in its 27th volume, which is dedicated to transcriptions of melodies from Donizetti's operas. Donizetti's punctuated lyricism--not so far from Liszt's own (think of the Consolations)--is the perfect mechanism for Liszt's dazzling shifts in mood and color; it's as though Donizetti's music were refracted through a sonic prism.

Pianist William Wolfram commands every aspect of this mercurial music--its ferocity, playfulness, soulfulness, and drama--and plays it for everything it's worth. In his hands the transcriptions sound like much more than showpieces: they attain a quality all their own, a kind of semi-improvisatory meeting of musical minds that discovers new depths in both.