It is probably clear to anyone who has ever approached the etudes of Chopin or Liszt that piano technique means more than solitarily practicing Czerny on the piano. However, that the tonal palette of the piano can also explode in all directions in etudes is strongly demonstrated by Stefan Wirth on ‘Etudes and Studies’, his GENUIN debut CD: the dynamic and musically differentiated powerhouses stem from Szymanowski, Ligeti and Ives, as well as Wirth himself, which in their diversity, conciseness and wit make people forget their original purpose. Not for lounge lizards and the weak at heart...
