CHOPIN: Sonata No. 3 and Works by Liszt [CD de audio] Emanuel Ax and Chopin

They were the two best pianists of their time, in some ways even friends, and yet two artists as different as they could be: Frédéric Chopin, the conservative revolutionary, the heart anchored in the past, and Franz Liszt, the arch-romantic, a champion of the music of the present, already writing for future generations. As a composer, he put it himself, he "threw his spear into the infinite depths of the future." It is not evident in his music, however Chopin was an extremely introverted person, feeling uncomfortable in larger gatherings of people. Liszt, on the other hand, was highly extroverted, charming the masses and often driving them to the brink of hysteria. Chopin's repertoire as a pianist, although it also encompassed the complete Well-Tempered Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach, was relatively concise, Liszt's seemingly limitless, not least because of his more than 700 arrangements of works by other composers. However, the two also influenced each other. In this passionate, sensitive and illuminating recital, Emanuel Ax draws a fascinating portrait of one of the most ambivalent friendships in the history of music, which was probably more intense on Liszt's part than on Chopin's part. The great Piano Sonata in B flat minor is imbued with Chopin's veneration and deep understanding of Bach's works. Liszt's arrangements reflect on the one hand his veneration for the hitherto little-known Schubert and on the other hand bear witness to the composer's generous generosity, wealth of ideas and creative genius.