This album may come to be viewed as a classic Janáček recital.Lars Vogt’s new solo piano release is dedicated to the piano works of Leoš...

This album may come to be viewed as a classic Janáček recital.

Lars Vogt’s new solo piano release is dedicated to the piano works of Leoš Janáček (1854–1928), one of the most original voices among the 20th century composers. This album includes three of the composer’s most well-known and most extensive solo piano works. These works by Janacek are marked by deep melancholy and passion. They manifest the composer's rich inner world through a musical language that remains to be timeless. Lars Vogt has established himself as one of the leading musicians of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition and has enjoyed a varied career for over twenty-five years. His versatility as an artist ranges from the music of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, to the romantics Schumann, Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, to contemporary works such as the Lutoslawski concerto.

REVIEW:

Pianist Lars Vogt draws the listener into the music’s inner world. Consider the two books of On an Overgrown Path. The work is a unified entity, but for Book Two, Janáček gives Italian tempo indications rather than the programmatic titles of Book One. It’s a slight shift, indicating that the Czech scenes and moods of the first book have been raised to a level that is just a bit more abstract. It’s a distinction many pianists simply plow through, but Vogt handles it masterfully. The Piano Sonata likewise has a subtle balance between inward and outward, and Vogt’s mood of uncertainty in the opening “Foreboding” movement is marvelous. That mood continues through In the Mists, where the mists are almost palpably inward as well as outward. This album may come to be viewed as a classic Janáček recital.

– AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)