Le Piano Symphonique: Argerich, Pletnev, Levanon, Sanderling

In a Best-of the 2024 edition, Argerich starts with the performance of Bach’s Partita No.2 in C minor. The curtain then rises on virtuoso Mikhail Pletnev performing Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, an early composition with rich harmonies and emotional contrasts. The 19 year-old Yoav Levanon takes the stage to perform Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Michael Sanderling. A single chromatic theme dominates the composition and was supposedly sung to the words “Das versteht ihr alle nicht, haha!” (“You do not understand any of this, haha!”) by the composer’s son-in-law Hans von Bülow, one of the earliest interpreters of the concerto. Yoav Levanon continues his exploration of the works of Franz Liszt in the devilish Totentanz. Based on the Gregorian plainchant melody Dies irae, the Totentanz translates as a “dance of death” and reflects the composer’s dark fascination with the macabre.