The Canadian pianist Sheng Cai studied at the Shanghai Conservatory in his native China before settling with his parents in North America in 1999. He continued his studies at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto and the New England Conservatory in Boston, working with Anton Kuerti, Russell Sherman and Gary Graffman. His recording of Liszt’s Transcendental Études in their 1852 version and the two Concert Études of 1862 marks his debut on the ATMA label.

The 12 Études of Transcendental Execution are precisely what their title proclaims them to be, testing the mettle of their interpreters on all fronts, pianistically and musically. On first hearing, Cai’s readings strike as more successful technically than musically. Unfortunately that impression only deepens with repeated listening.

Cai is at his best in ‘Mazeppa’, a model of crisp clarity. Given that ‘Mazeppa’ exists in more versions than any of the other Études, not to mention Liszt’s treatment of the material in his seventh symphonic poem, against which one may weigh and gauge interpretative decisions, it seems a missed opportunity that the affective content of this powerful work should be so stymied. At the Lo stesso tempo (2'18"), where the left hand is entrusted with the thematic material, the melody itself goes curiously out of whack. More critically, in the extended recitative prior to the final peroration, when faced with these operatic gestures of pathos, Cai seems at a loss.

To achieve its magical effects, ‘Feux follets’ requires infinite varieties of touch, plus a highly developed capacity for pianissimo leggiero. In place of the astonishingly vivid evocation of fool’s fire we hear in performances by Chamayou, Gugnin and Trifonov, Cai gives us a finger exercise. Occasionally speed itself obtrudes, causing otherwise sound interpretative trajectories to miss their mark. The Molto vivace of the second Étude is very quick from the start, so fast in fact that in the last 23 bars of the piece, when Liszt wants acceleration for the exhilarating final sprint to the finish, there are no reserves left. Speed bedevils both the ‘Eroica’ and the tenth Étude too, pressuring and constraining the former’s breadth of utterance and imbuing No 10 with a frantic nervousness that goes far beyond the Allegro agitato molto indicated.

In the slower, more stately or lyrical Études, phrases seem lacking in shape and contour. ‘Paysage’, for instance, seems overly calm and static, robbing the sense of yearning which permeates the work. The thematic content of ‘Vision’, on the other hand, makes its grim progress in plodding steps that grow monotonous in their shapelessness.