Liszt’s Transcendental Études: Luu Hong Quang’s magnificent piano marathon

Prize-winning pianist Luu Hong Quang knew he was embarking on a musical and physical marathon when setting out to prepare the complete cycle of Franz Liszt’s twelve monumental Transcendental Études for performance. The notoriously challenging tone poems dispel any notion of Liszt as a purveyor of mere virtuosity. The Études require both a deep appreciation of the composer’s expressive vision and poetic genius, and a brilliant range of pianism, from dramatic passion to ethereal enchantment.

Quang delivers magnificently. From the symphonic proportions of the wild ride that is Mazeppa to enchanting lightness for the almost impossibly fleet Feux Follets and the brilliant heroism of Eroica to climactic intensity in the set’s passionate centre, Wilde Jagd, Quang is in impressive command of the piano and the music. 

Pianist Luu Hong Quang

…recorded the Transcendental Études in Liszt’s birthplace in Raiding, Austria.

Quang is currently based in New Zealand, pursuing doctoral studies under the guidance of Dr Jian Liu at the NZ School of Music in Wellington. He played the complete Transcendental Études for the first time in his hometown Hanoi, before realising his ambition to record them in Liszt’s own birthplace in Raiding, Austria. Rattle has just released this recording in an album revealing above all Quang’s thoughtful musicianship and his understanding of the broad arch of a cycle encompassing the life of its composer.

Franz Liszt Transcendental Études Luu Hong Quang(piano) Paul Carasco (production, recording and mixing) Rattle Purchase link here

This album review was first published in NZ Listener, issue 30 November, 2024.