Liszt Sonata in B Minor S.178 - Ernst Levy (Score) 1956 Unicorn Records

An absolutely formidable interpretation of Liszt’s best and most important piece ever written, Sonata in B minor, an insanely difficult 30 minute masterpiece, with in my opinion, has the best ending for piano. This is now my favourite interpretation, behind Cziffra.

For starters, it is quite an unorthodox interpretation. It is full of lots of rubato, given the slightly slower tempo, unconventional but beautiful dynamic changes, and tons of power dinstinctly more than modern pianists. Pedaling is also different like on 20:26 contrary to how many pianist play with pedal. His Grandisioso them is brilliant, all the octaves across the whole 30 minutes are crisp and powerful. All the slow and beautiful melodic parts are perfect, with immaculate phrasing and stark musical contrasts.
For the louder parts, he is not afraid to let out extra bass and colour which I truly admire. Some notable playing parts are 15:50-16:00, 20:36, 22:20, and the presto part amd ending is magical including the dark last note. Not to mention the piano has an amazing sound.

I don’t know why Ernst Levy is such an underrated pianist. His playing is completely unique full of so much colour passion and fury. He has no reason to be controversial, unlike Mr. Nyiregyhazi. Hope more people discover him, and hope this video helps and that you enjoy!




Sheet Music from IMSLP
Recording used:    • Ernst Levy plays Liszt's Sonata in B ...   - recorded on a disk in 1956

Again, I do not own the audio (for copyright reasons)