Die Kunst der Fingerfertigkeit, for keyboard, Op. 740
Carl Czerny's 50 etudes collectively entitled The Art of Finger Dexterity are exactly what they promise: exercises to increase the agility of a pianist's hands. However, rather than the dry, workman-like performance of a few or selected etudes from the set, Francesco Libetta dared to record the entire set, and did so with a real sense of musicality. In fact, he seems to enjoy these short exercises in a way that could be deemed unnecessary, but really is what Czerny's music deserves and what he probably intended when he ...
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Carl Czerny's 50 etudes collectively entitled The Art of Finger Dexterity are exactly what they promise: exercises to increase the agility of a pianist's hands. However, rather than the dry, workman-like performance of a few or selected etudes from the set, Francesco Libetta dared to record the entire set, and did so with a real sense of musicality. In fact, he seems to enjoy these short exercises in a way that could be deemed unnecessary, but really is what Czerny's music deserves and what he probably intended when he wrote them. Czerny was a greatly admired teacher of many of the nineteenth century's piano virtuosos. Then, as now, what made a performer truly admirable was that there was something behind all the technical shock and awe, some emotion in the music that wasn't just thrown in as an afterthought. From the swallow-like speed of the first through to the last, Libetta certainly has technical agility, but he also has the maturity to give these etudes shape and color, using rubato and pedal...
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