The pièce de résistance of Deutsche Grammophon’s Liszt 200th anniversary celebration is a 10-CD box that brings together five great piano virtuosos of the past in a staggeringly display of virtuosity and “old-style” pianism – quite unlike anything else on offer in Liszt Year.

The artists – Claudio Arrau, Alicia de Larrocha, Raymond Lewenthal, Benno Moiseiwitch and Egon Petri - can be regarded as Liszt’s heirs for their astounding virtuosic command, for having created a repertoire of their own, or for having studied with Liszt’s own pupils or grand-pupils. The excellent booklet essay by Jed Distler sets out the very convincing rationale behind the choices.

The box draws exclusively on recordings from the American Decca and Westminster labels, most of which have never been released on CD, and, in the case of Claudio Arrau, are now being released for the very first time.

Painstakingly restored, the recordings, from the 1950s and early 1960s, both mono and stereo, have come up wonderfully well. Arrau plays previously unreleased Beethoven (five favourite sonatas) and Chopin; De Larrocha offers pristine accounts of her core repertoire of Granados, Turina and Mompou; Lewenthal has scintillating Scriabin, an incandescent programme of Toccatas and Encores; Moiseiwitch, in his last recorded sessions (New York, 1961), ranges from Beethoven and Schumann to Mussorgsky; and Petri unfolds an unforgettable programme of Liszt and Busoni. Each artist has two CDs to display his or her powers. A summary of content is below.

PACKAGING

The capbox cover is based on one of the original Westminster LP covers, and the 32-page colour booklet replicates several of the original LP covers