Today marks the release of Benjamin’s new album Liszt on Decca Classics and the album is already catching the eye of reviewers around the world. The New York Times recently published a substantial feature interview with Benjamin ahead of the release, calling his performance “spellbinding”.
Read the interview here.
Liszt has also been selected for Editor’s Choice in the new issue of Gramophone. Reviewer Jed Distler writes: “An ideal Liszt Sonata performance requires transcendental virtuosity, prodigious colouristic resources, a sense of drama and narrative flow and a gift for fusing both architecture and passion. Benjamin Grosvenor’s interpretation embodies these qualities and then some”.
In France, the recording has been awarded a Diapason d'Or: “Grosvenor delivers a broad and refined vision of [Liszt’s Sonata], generous and humble, powerful and refined … he climbs these summits with incredible distinction and delicacy. The Réminiscences de Norma are played with authority and stunning imagination … Like his Chopin (2020) Liszt is one of his most accomplished recordings.”
The Financial Times published an article on the album, saying: “Many piano discs these days feature a collage of short, popular tracks aimed at playlists, but not Grosvenor’s. He has kept a judicious balance between seriousness of repertoire and the virtuoso showpieces at which he is so brilliant."
Benjamin has also recorded a podcast with Tim Parry, Gramophone’s Reviews Editor, discussing his experience of performing Liszt’s music and how he approached this new album.
Listen to the podcast here.
Liszt is Benjamin’s first album since renewing his exclusive partnership with Decca Classics. The centrepiece is the composer’s Sonata in B minor, accompanied by three Petrarch Sonnets, and his fantasy on Bellini’s Norma. To bring the disc to a close, Grosvenor performs a charming transcription of Schubert’s Ave Maria.
Comments