Barnabás Kelemen, Gergely Bogányi – Liszt: Complete Works for Violin & Piano (2000)

This is as complete a representation as humanly possible of all the music scored for violin and piano that Franz Liszt composed, arranged, or had some creative hand in. The 17 works span Liszt's entire career, from the young composer's elegant Zwei Walzer to his experimental late period (the two Elegies and the stark, foreboding La lugubre gondola). Several compositions stem from unpublished manuscripts, such as the large-scale Grand Duo Concertante on Polish Themes and a slight elaborated version of the song "Walther von der Vogelweide", with guest tenor Attils Fekete pitching in. The Benedictus and Offertorium from the Hungarian Coronation Mass become more poignant and intimate as arranged for violin and harmonium. The virtuoso Liszt dominates both instruments in his adroit retooling of the Twelfth Hungarian Rhapsody.
My only caveat about these intelligent, sensitive, and stylish performances concerns violinist Barnabás Kelemen's tiny yet noticeable intonation slips, usually in sustained notes above the staff, octave passages, and slides that overreach their final destination. Otherwise, the engineering is first-class, and Leslie Howard's annotations are a model of scholarship and clarity. A major release for Liszt buffs. -- Jed Distler