We all have our
blind spots. One of mine has always been the piano sonata in B minor
of Franz Liszt. Over the decades, I have listened to it
advocated by Martha Argerich, Sviatoslav Richter, Georges Cziffra,
Lazar Berman, Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, and now, today, by my
much-favoured Yuja Wang. It is a work that never does anything
for me. I can listen with pleasure to works such as the sonatas and chamber works
of Guillaume Lekeu, or Albéric Magnard. But Liszt's
sonata (and most of Liszt's piano works, including the concertos),
leave me cold. Liszt's works for violin and piano I can enjoy.
Liszt's songs I can enjoy. But for the rest: we go our separate ways.
For the piano sonata, given the advocates above, Herr Liszt cannot
claim I have not given his work a fair hearing, over a long period of
time.
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