J.S. BACH Chromatic Fantasia & Fugue · LISZT Variations on a Theme of Bach / Gerhard Oppitz | Deutsche Grammophon

This new album features a previously unreleased recital by the great German pianist Gerhard Oppitz, recorded at Munich’s Herkulessaal in 1985. A pupil of Wilhelm Kempff, Oppitz brings rare insight and commanding virtuosity to a programme spanning centuries. In Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, he explores some of the composer’s most daring harmonic writing, before turning to Liszt’s monumental Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, a vast homage that transforms Bach’s lament into Romantic transcendence. Across this remarkable performance, two musical worlds meet in playing of extraordinary depth and authority.