Mariam Batsashvili pf

Warner Classics

Throughout this enterprising recital of Romantic piano masterpieces, the opulence and grandeur of Mariam Batsashvili’s performances are truly awe-inspiring.

She brings a suitably leaden air of piety to Bauer’s arrangement of Franck’s Prélude, Fugue et Variation, and in Thalberg’s outsize paraphrase on Bellini’s La sonnambula the operatic lines are made to sing and soar with glorious freedom. Her ascent to the climax of the Wagner/Liszt Liebestod is heart-stopping, while her way with Liszt’s rarely heard Valse de bravoure displays bravura with a vengeance. So too the teasing mix of duple and triple time in Chopin’s A-flat Waltz Op 42 is thrown off with apparent ease.

The final item or encore is Schubert’s ‘Kupelwieser’ Waltz in G-flat, which serves as a balm after so much heady virtuosity. Batsashvili is musicianly to the core and her rich and unforced cantabile makes it no surprise that she names Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau among her greatest loves.