🎼 Criminally Underrated
Pieces I definitely do not see discussed enough.
Chopin: Nocturne Op.55 No.2 in E-flat Major (Pogorelich)
“Chopin's most richly contrapuntal nocturne, played with some truly daring (but nevertheless persuasive) tempo fluctuations and surprising intimacy by Ivo Pogorelich.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTvfpwAGMHs
Arrau plays Liszt 'Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este' (rec.1969)
“This borders on impressionism. A number of Liszt's later works drifted towards a more interpretive style breaking from the Romantic mould to foreshadow the style of composers such as Debussy, Poulenc, and Ravel.” – @kyotokid4 “The music is not a musical depiction of the fountains there, but rather a reflection on the biblical verse “he who drinks of these waters shall have eternal life” that the fountains inspired.” – @edwardbak4459 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWN18ZoqzGs
Bach/Liszt – Prelude & Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543 ; Marta Czech
“The ending . . . sounds like the end of the world, it's terrifying!” – [r/bach] “The prelude is a massive, dramatic thing with a weighty, chromatically descending subject, made all the weightier when it is thrust into the pedals midway through the piece. A master organist can shape this into one of the most compelling of all Bach's fugue introductions. At the end of the fugue itself there is an electrifying passage of freewheeling, utterly unfugal organ virtuosity.” – Blair Johnston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAY2jfZqU8M
Beethoven: Sonata No.31 in A-flat Major (Ashkenazy)
“In none of the other 31 piano sonatas does Beethoven cover as much emotional territory: it goes from the absolute depths of despair to utter euphoria ... it is unbelievably compact given its emotional richness, and its philosophical opening idea acts as the work’s thesis statement, permeating the work, and reaching its apotheosis in its final moments.” – Jonathan Biss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eqDzMxQjx0
Honourable Mention🎖️
J.S.Bach BWV 1031 Siciliano by YunchanLim at Verbier https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1x2eke3Ecy