Liszt’s Totentanz is by turns hair-raising and glitteringly seductive, just as it should be. If I say that it comes across as great fun, that is no disrespect either to the piece or to its performance. ... The piano is balanced quite forward. That works especially well in the Paganini Rhapsody, because it relieves Masleev of the need to compete, enabling him instead to impart optimum clarity to passagework that sometimes gets covered in pedal. ... Which brings me to the most remarkable feature: that Masleev directs the excellent Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra (formerly the USSR State SO) from the piano. ... all concerned have achieved a chamber-like interplay that gives the album special distinction.  David Fanning