LDV44

VANESSAWAGNER 19 What sound did you aim for to convey the highly individual atmosphere of this repertory? I played the programme on the Steinway of the large and splendidhall of theArsenal inMetz. François Eckert, the sound engineer, and I worked in close collaboration to produce a recorded sound specially tailored for this repertory. We were looking for a full sonority, something verging almost on the sound of a cathedral. I wanted at all costs to avoid a recorded sound typical of a certain era: a direct, prosaic sound that obscures the gentleness and tenderness of Liszt’s pieces. I wanted to achieve a feeling of intimacy, meditation and solitude in the pianissimos, and a generous, pulsating amplitude in the fortissimos. This programme leads us far into the realm of introspection and personal quest, by means of an almost ecstatic experience or a kind of dialogue with oneself. That’s why these religiously inspired works also provoke profoundly human feelings: another way of playing and listening to them is to call on a form of spirituality rather than a strictly religious sentiment.