Virtuosity and vitality are de rigueur in
Franz Liszt's monumental Sonata in B minor, but great performances of this work must also be coherent in form, consistent in execution, and subtle in expression.
Jerome Rose's 2004 performance on Medici Classics is technically accomplished and cannot be faulted for any lack of energy. Yet while
Rose is vigorous and dramatic in the Sonata, he seems to lose track of the work's shape, and this rigorous single-movement essay devolves into something more like a free fantasia, largely through the performer's elastic rubato and slackening of tension in the slow passages. The thematic transformations and trajectory of the work seem secondary to
Rose's flashy climaxes and poetic musings, and this performance is unsatisfying as a result of his vagueness. Because the Don Juan Fantasy and the first Mephisto Waltz are more loosely constructed than the Sonata and calculated for showiness,
Rose's pyrotechnics and spontaneous eruptions are appropriate enough. But
Rose's jaunty "name that tune" interpretation of
Liszt's medley on themes from
Mozart's Don Giovanni seems simplistic, and his over-the-top reading of the Mephisto Waltz makes it seem like an unwarranted encore at the end of a weak recital. Medici's sound quality is fine, though lacking in presence.