… Anna Kravtchenko is superb pianist who won the Busoni Prize when she was only 16. Her Liszt is magnificent, powerful, overwhelming, but also lyrical and pearly, as rarely happens with this composer, whose Sonata and Rhapsodies (here we have no. 12) can be “macho” in the extreme. Kravtchenko displays marvellous transcendental technique, and her sound is recorded magnificently. But the most charming aspect of this CD is her non-rhetorical choice of works. The Sonata and the Rhapsody are followed by some of Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert Lieder as priceless fillers: after those turbulent rapids, we are rocked in the gentle waves of a brook. While Erlkönig abounds with virtuoso exuberance, Ständchen and Liebesbotschaft take us to a realm where there are no more contests, a realm ruled only by the joys and pleasures of music of the soul. (Giordano Montecchi)