Liszt: Reminiscences de Norma (Tozer)

Liszt was a phenomenal transcriber for solo piano, as his Beethoven symphonic transcriptions show. Not all of his operatic fantasies are masterworks, but Reminiscences de Norma must rank as one of the most gorgeous in the genre ever written. On the purely technical level, as one would expect, fireworks are everywhere – hand crossing, scales, octaves, complex arpeggiation, three-handed effects, the lot. But, far more importantly, the musical decoration works beautifully with and upifts the thematic material – from the stark opening and the rumbling, stately introduction of the first theme, to the playful combination of two main themes in the final pages.

Geoffrey Tozer’s recording of Norma stands out in a field already packed with excellence. There is more melodic clarity and warmth (and more scrupulous fidelity to the score, especially in relation to pedaling) than there is in Hamelin’s performance, and more bravura and excitement than in Leslie Howard’s.