Arrangements for piano by Louis Brassin, Ferrucio Busoni, Zoltan Kocsis, Moritz Moskowski and Sidney Corbett.

Liszt was the first, but pianists of later generations also journeyed through the gigantic cosmos of the Wagnerian music drama with paraphrases and transcriptions for the piano. Severin von Eckardstein has brought together the best of these on his latest SACD. The result is a fascinating look at the reception history of Wagner’s music and a colossal, three dimensional listening experience to remember – thanks to 2+2+2 recording technique.

Ferruccio Busoni, who also transcribed works by Bach and Schönberg, dedicated himself to the funeral march from the Götterdämmerung. The fact that he was one of the all-time keyboard greats is reflected in his score, finely crafted down to the smallest detail, his nuanced use of all three pedals, and the infinite richness of the tone colours.

In Parsifal, Wagner has Gurnemanz sing “Here time becomes space”. How impressively the virtuoso August Stradal is able to capture the spirit of this highly complex and yet erratic music on the piano! Louis Brassin took up the task of setting five pieces from the Ring des Nibelungen, including the famous “Walkürenritt” and “Feuerzauber”. Tristan, of course, is a must: the erotic emotional fire in the intoxicatingly iridescent atmosphere of Moritz Moszkowski’s new creation is captivatingly passionate!

Severin von Eckardstein has demonstrated his top-class pianistic talent on many occasions. He presents his carefully selected Wagner transcriptions with the finest sensibility and interprets a brand-new work by the American composer Sidney Corbett – revealing completely new sides of the Bayreuth master, true to his command, “Children, create something new!”