Operatic Fantasias

Carlo Grante (piano)

Altarus Records: AIR-CD9098 (1994)

Web page for Altarus Records

Cd cover image Operatic Fantasias

Duration: 53:22

Comments: Grante includes Sorabji’s Pastiche on Carmen, as well as operatic transcriptions by Busoni and Liszt.

Track listing

  • Track 2: Three Pastiches for piano Pastiche on the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen (6:48)

Reviews

  • “… Grante’s musical honesty … a lot of thought has gone into these interpretations … staggering technique … he knows very clearly how to make a melodic line sing … above all, he sees each work as a whole (giving) the music a structural strength … piano sound is as clear as a bell, allowing the listener to follow Busoni’s/Liszt’s/Sorabji’s contrapuntal adventures with ease” (CD Review)

  • “Grante, the most recently arrived of an élite of … supra-transcendental pianists … resplendent and revelatory … effortless fluency … singing elegance … digital prowess … never in doubt … sound … detailed and immediate within a spacious frame” (Fanfare)

  • “… the accompanying booklet … chiefly concerned with Sorabji(’s) writings … regret that Sorabji never undertook a full-scale operatic Fantasia on Lisztian lines, for he seemed ideally equipped to make a brilliant success of it … (he) decorates Carmen’s Habanera elaborately and Grante is fully the master of this fine-spun elegance” (Musical Opinion)