Pasquale Iannone: Liszt: Sonata in B minor; Rachmaninov: Six Moments Musicaux Op. 16
Da Vinci Classics

The discography of renowned Italian pianist Pasquale Iannone (b. 1961) includes two 1997 releases, one a live performance of Rachmaninov's third concerto and the second sonatas and studies by Brahms. Now, almost thirty years later, Iannone's new release couples Rachmaninov's Six Moments Musicaux with Franz Liszt's Sonata In B Minor, S.178. In being a live performance given on October 13th, 2023 at Oratorio San Filippo Neri in Torino and in augmenting those primary works with two encores, the sixty-four-minute release recaptures the thrilling excitement of the concert presentation with all of the high-wire theatrics that attended it.

A respected teacher as well as performer, Iannone has appeared throughout the world as a soloist with orchestras and as one-half of a two-pianos ensemble with his wife, Paola Bruni; on this release, however, he's on his own and clearly in no need of support from anyone. One of the more interesting things about the set has to do with duration: whereas the opening Liszt work is a towering half-hour-long odyssey, the Rachmaninov spreads its presentation across six compact vignettes; compared to the Liszt, the two encores are miniatures though hardly lacking in appeal. Issued as part of the Armonie della Sera International Concert Series, Iannone's is its seventh volume.

Written in 1853 and dedicated to Robert Schumann (in liner notes, Giuliano Marco Mattioli reports that Robert's wife Clara described the score as “mere noise”), the Sonata In B Minor unfolds in a single movement of grandiose scope and intensity; while it's but one movement, it nevertheless folds the classic multi-part sonata design into an uninterrupted form. Throughout this dramatic travelogue, passages of epic grandeur alternate with others of probing introspection as themes introduced early are revisited and transformed. Iannone's lyrical rendering of the florid and tender episodes is admirable and his execution of the furious parts impressive. Transitions are effected smoothly, and the momentum, despite the work's exhausting length, never sags. For the pianist, the work's a Mount Everest of sorts that makes incredible demands on the soloist's stamina, technical virtuosity, and expressive capacity. Iannone shows himself well-up to the challenge.

Composed quickly when a twenty-three-year-old Rachmaninov was “pressed for money and racing to meet a deadline” (Mattioli's words), Six Moments Musicaux exemplifies the creative excitement of a young composer as he builds on the Romantic tradition he inherited. Equivalent in length to the opening work, Rachmaninov's half-hour compendium contrasts with it structurally in advancing from one distinct part to another. The nocturne-like “Andantino” initiates the work with the slow and graceful unfurl of its melancholy melodies, while the subsequent “Allegretto” mesmerizes with its relentless flow of fleet-fingered runs. Expressed with an elegiac ache, the solemn “Andante Cantabile” exudes dignity and distinction, even when it briefly morphs into a funereal march. The fourth part, marked “Presto,” reinstates the torrential energy of the “Allegretto,” the “Adagio Sostenuto” seduces with lyrical serenity, and the oceanic “Maestoso” acts as a brilliant culmination and a quintessential expression of Rachmaninov grandeur.

Why the first encore, “Kupelwieser Waltz,” is credited to both Franz Schubert and Richard Strauss is fascinating unto itself. In 1826, Schubert attended a close friend's wedding and improvised a tender waltz for the newlyweds; it was never notated, however, but, living on in the memories of those who heard it, was passed down through the decades until a family descendant played it for Strauss in 1943. Captivated by its wistful allure, he wrote it down to preserve it for posterity (his transcription was published in 1970), which enabled Iannone to serve up his own entrancing treatment on this October day. But it's Paul De Schlözer who has the last word with his 1875-published Étude In A-flat Major, Op. 1 No. 2, which grants the pianist one final opportunity to call on his virtuosic abilities. Dubbed by Mattioli a “scintillating showpiece,” the material's abundant in shimmering arpeggios and rippling figures—a fitting bookend (albeit in miniature form) to the opening extravaganza.

April 2026