On this new recording we get to hear the following music performed by Nelson Freire:
Grieg:
Lyric Pieces Op. 43: No. 2 – Lonely Wanderer
Lyric Pieces Op. 43: No. 4 – Little bird
Lyric Pieces Op. 12: No. 5 – Folk Tune
Lyric Pieces Op. 12: No. 6 – Norwegian
Lyric Pieces Op. 54: No. 1 – Butterfly
Liszt:
Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 5 in E minor ‘Héroïde-élégiaque’
Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 10 in E major ‘Preludio’
Saint-Saëns:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, with the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ádám Fischer conducting
Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto with Nelson Freire under the baton of Ádám Fischer – not many pianists are able to accomplish the stylistic and technical challenges of this concerto, demanding complete precision in fingering and leaps, as well as perfect command of the sxore.
Nelson Freire masters this work with quiet assurance and, at times, a twinkle in his eye. He is completely committed and happy to take risks, and always congenially accompanied by Ádám Fischer.
Twenty years previously, the Brazilian pianist (then aged 22) had made his German radio debut with a recital program which he recorded at the RIAS’s Lankwitz studio in Berlin. In Grieg’s Lyric Pieces and the Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos 5 and 10 by Liszt, as well as his Polonaise in E major, Freire not only demonstrated his pianistic skills, but also what was already at that stage his extraordinary touch and stylistic confidence.
Here is Mr. Freire in Grieg’s Piano Concerto:
