Recorded between 1974-6, this masterly account took even Arrau admirers by surprise when it was first released. Not only does the then 74-year-old pianist take the formidable technical hurdles into his stride, but he allows the Studies to emerge as a series of highly potent musical images. Liszt's peculiar combinations of menacing power and caprice, introspective poeticism and extrovert bravura, are presented with an instrumental mastery that is almost uniquely comprehensive. Seldom can ''Wilde jagd'' have been captured with such thrilling abandon in the recording studio and Arrau's ability to build an indestructibly permanent edifice of sonority in ''Paysage'' and ''Harmonies du soir'' reminds one of his close link with the Lisztian tradition, through his teacher, Martin Krause. It is his unselfconscious freedom in matters of phrasing and bravura that gives the set its authority. True, Arrau's emphatic snorting comes over more on this CD, but the piano sound captures the instrument's all-important over-tones with real vividness.'