Athanor

Description

Athanor. A mysterious name that designates, in alchemy, the furnace for prolonged combustion that allows for the creation of the philosopher's stone. This matrix, a symbol of the quest for the absolute, metaphorically represents Liszt's approach. With the patience of the alchemist who seeks to perfect matter, the composer and virtuoso pianist took a long time to mature the genesis of his two piano concertos and his Totentanz: more than 20 years separate the first sketches from their publication. These three major works are each traversed by a powerfully enchanting thematic thread, and driven by a logic of transformation: the Totentanz uses the theme and variations form, while in the concertos, a unifying theme nourishes the entire musical flow through its metamorphoses. Pianist Beatrice Berrut, who already ventured onto Lisztian paths in her previous album, here testifies to Liszt's infinite invention: she interprets the first Concerto by integrating the variants noted by the composer himself on the copy of his student Hans von Bülow.