Liszt was the first, but pianists of later generations also journeyed through the gigantic cosmos of the Wagnerian music drama with paraphrases and transcriptions for the piano. Severin von Eckardstein has brought together the best of these on his latest SACD. The result is a fascinating look at the reception history of Wagner's music and a colossal, three-dimensional listening experience to remember.

-----

German pianist Severin von Eckardstein, playing a tonally atmospheric 1901 Steinway, evokes the world of Wagner in a rare way with this set of arrangements, conjuring candle-lit drawing rooms of the Romantic era. Highlights include Busoni’s rendition of the “Funeral March” from Götterdämmerung, pianist-conductor Zoltán Kocsis’s arrangement of the Prelude from Tristan und Isolde and, rather than Liszt’s more famous version, Moritz Moszkowski’s take on “Isolde’s Liebestod.” Best, though, are the arrangements from Parsifal, particularly the “Transformation Music” by August Stradal, an acolyte of Liszt. Also included is American composer Sidney Corbett’s ghostly treatment of Kundry motifs from Parsifal, fittingly dedicated to the late Hans Werner Henze.

– Bradley Bambarger, Listen