Richard Wagner

Wagner's genius is often associated with his unique feeling for orchestration. Yet the transcriptions and paraphrases for piano solo recorded here lay bare the beauty and boldness of his harmonic language, with an evocative power unrivalled at the time. Nikolai Lugansky, at once narrator and virtuoso, immerses us in a world where the heroes of legend tell us - and with what loftiness of spirit! - of the torments and aspirations of humanity.

1. Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A: Einzug der Götter in Walhall (Arr. for Piano by Louis Brassin ; Nikolai Lugansky)

2. Wagner:Die Walküre, WWV 86B: Feuerzauber (Arr. for Piano by Louis Brassin)

3. Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D (Arr. for Piano by Nikolai Lugansky): Zu neuen Taten, teurer Helde. Liebesduett von Brünnhilde und Siegfried

4. Wagner:Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D (Arr. for Piano by Nikolai Lugansky): Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt

5. Wagner:Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D (Arr. for Piano by Nikolai Lugansky): Siegfrieds Trauermarsch

6. Wagner:Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D (Arr. for Piano by Nikolai Lugansky): Brünnhildes Schlussgesang

7. Wagner:Parsifal, WWV 111: Verwandlungsmusik ; Schluss-Szene (Arr. for Piano by Felix Mottl, Nikolai Lugansky ; Zoltán Kocsis)

8. Wagner:Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90: Isoldens Liebestod aus Tristan und Isolde, S. 447 (Arr. for Piano by Franz Liszt)