Lazar Berman's American debut was eagerly awaited, since the fory-five year old Russian pianist had already acquired a prodigious reputation in the east, and it was received, just last month, with universal raves. The five recordings which have just been released to coincide with his ongoing tour reveal him as a pianist who has absolutely everything.

Columbia, in conjunction with Melodya, has come out with three Liszt recordings, which include the twelve Transcendental Etudes and the B-minor sonata. Only a select few--like Berman-- have the technique to soar thrugh these finger-twisters without undertaking a mortal struggle of man against piano. Berman's sheer power is almost frightening, but he can play with the most exquisite declicacy when necessary.

Deutsche Grammaphon has also jumped on the Berman bandwagon with two all-Russian releases, including Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, Prokofieff's Eighth Piano Sonata and the Six Moments Musicaux of Rachmaninoff.

In the Rachmaninoff, Berman shows most clearly his delight with his old style of playing, fluid, elastic shapes. In fact, everything Berman plays seems suffused with a romantic willingness to bend a phrase to an expressive purpose. It would be interesting to hear him take a shot at the baroque or classical composers he's avoided so far. In the small parts o the repertoire he has staked out, however--the Russian and the neo-Romantic--Berman is unsurpassed.