Ferencz Liszt

Martha Argerich was born on 5th June 1941 in Buenos Aires. Her interest in the piano showed itself when she was three. Vincenzo Scaramuzza, her teacher, impressed on her the importance of feeling and the singing lyrical line – a facet of her playing which remains immediately recognisable. At the age of eight she made her debut concert playing Beethoven’s first concerto and the following year she gave Mozart’s Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466 and Bach’s French Suite in G, BWV 816.

In 1955 her family moved to Europe so that Martha could study with Friedrich Gulda in Austria; in this she was supported by the Argentine government who gave her parents diplomatic posts in their Embassy in Vienna. She won both the Geneva Music and Ferruccio Busoni International Competitions in 1957, but it was her winning the seventh Chopin Piano competition in Warsaw that confirmed her as a major talent at the age of 24.

Her formidable technique has often been compared to that of Horowitz. She is reputed to have learnt Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit in three days having been told it was extremely difficult. Her solo career lasted for a quarter of a century during which her talent for interpreting the romantic classics, notably Chopin and Liszt, were matched by her brilliance in the 20th century masters Ravel, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Messiaen. Her decision to limit her performances to chamber music and concerto was taken, as she admitted in interviews, to her feeling of loneliness on stage alone. This has been her career path for the last 30 years and she retains the aura of one of the most brilliant of all pianists of modern generations.

She has been particularly generous in supporting the next generation of artists.

She appears regularly as a jury member at important competitions and her friends and protégées captivate audiences with exquisite performances of chamber music at her festival at Lugano. Now at the age of 70 we can salute her as the phenomenon she undoubtedly is and wish her continued success in all aspects of her life.

Martha Argerich was born on 5th June 1941 in Buenos Aires. Her interest in the piano showed itself when she was three. Vincenzo Scaramuzza, her teacher, impressed on her the importance of feeling and the singing lyrical line – a facet of her playing which remains immediately recognisable. At the age of eight she made her debut concert playing Beethoven’s first concerto and the following year she gave Mozart’s Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466 and Bach’s French Suite in G, BWV 816.

In 1955 her family moved to Europe so that Martha could study with Friedrich Gulda in Austria; in this she was supported by the Argentine government who gave her parents diplomatic posts in their Embassy in Vienna. She won both the Geneva Music and Ferruccio Busoni International Competitions in 1957, but it was her winning the seventh Chopin Piano competition in Warsaw that confirmed her as a major talent at the age of 24.

Her formidable technique has often been compared to that of Horowitz. She is reputed to have learnt Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit in three days having been told it was extremely difficult. Her solo career lasted for a quarter of a century during which her talent for interpreting the romantic classics, notably Chopin and Liszt, were matched by her brilliance in the 20th century masters Ravel, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Messiaen. Her decision to limit her performances to chamber music and concerto was taken, as she admitted in interviews, to her feeling of loneliness on stage alone. This has been her career path for the last 30 years and she retains the aura of one of the most brilliant of all pianists of modern generations.

She has been particularly generous in supporting the next generation of artists.

She appears regularly as a jury member at important competitions and her friends and protégées captivate audiences with exquisite performances of chamber music at her festival at Lugano. Now at the age of 70 we can salute her as the phenomenon she undoubtedly is and wish her continued success in all aspects of her life.

25 CD + 1 DVD

2011 marks the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt (1811-1886), whose multi-faceted career as pianist, composer, teacher, and conductor made him one of the most inspiring figures in music history. Sony Classical, home to some of the world’s greatest Liszt interpreters, marks this special occasion with the ultimate collection of piano and symphonic masterworks alongside essential chamber music, choral works, and music for organ.

Artists include Claudio Arrau, Emanuel Ax, Jorge Bolet, Alexander Brailowsky, Robert Casadesus, Van Cliburn, Barry Douglas, Philippe Entremont, Gary Graffman, Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz, William Kapell, Evgeny Kissin, Yu Kosuge, Murray Perahia, Gerhard Oppitz, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sviatoslav Richter, Arthur Rubinstein, György Sandor, Arcadi Volodos, Yukio Yokoyama, Steven Isserlis, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Eugene Ormandy, Fritz Reiner, Leopold Stokowski, and many more.

Also included is the bonus DVD "Horowitz Plays Liszt," with electrifying performances of “Soirées de Vienne,” "Valse Caprice No. 6 in A Major," "Sonetto del Petrarca No. 104 in E Major," and "Consolation No. 3 in D-flat."

30 CD + CD Rom

Comprehensive 30-CD set, representing the masterworks of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, whose Bicentenary in 2011 will generate large-scale publicity through new publications, concerts, symposiums, documentaries and CD issues.

Including 13 CD’s containing historic and live recordings by some of the greatest Liszt pianists of the last century, staggering performances of hair-raising virtuosity!

This 30CD collection contains his Faust and Dante Symphonies, Les Preludes, the Bergsymphonie, the symphonic poems, his major organ works, the Missa Solmnis, the Piano Sonata, the Petrarch Sonnets, the Transcendental Etudes, Hungarian Rhapsodies, his Wager and Verdi transcriptions, the piano concertos 1-3 including Malediction, Totentanz, de Profundis and the Fantasia on themes from Lelio by Berlioz, his orchestration of Schubert’s Wanderer fantasy, The Dante Sonata , excerpts from the Years of Pilgrimage Book 1 (Switzerland) Book 2 (Italy), Paganini Etudes and more.

Several of the major keyboard works can be heard in comparative recordings by different artists, including Gilels captured in 1949 in the Sonata. This collection will allow the listener to get to the heart of the composer, and hear the lighter more brilliant works of his early career alongside the later, complex more mystical works from the later years.

4CDs thematically compiled:

CD1 Early Studio Recordings

CD2 Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - Early Live Recordings

CD3 CBS Studio recordings and Horowitz' return to Carnegie Hall

CD4 The last decade

A dazzling selection of Liszt performances – the great virtuoso pianist of the nineteenth century interpreted by a pianist in the Russian virtuosi tradition.

Recorded between 1987 and 2003, this set contains live recordings from Carnegie Hall, New York and Suntory Hall, Tokyo.

The new Rubinstein 2CD album after the great success of "Best of Chopin by Arthur Rubinstein" with more than 10,500 units sold.

A selection of the most popular Liszt works played by the aristocrat of the piano.

This 3 CD set contains all of Liszt’s major original organ works, together with a selection of virtuoso transcriptions of Liszt’s orchestral and piano works by Camille Saint-Saëns, Max Reger, Edwin Lemare, Nicolas Kynaston, and Peter King.

Played on the magnificent Klais organ of Bath Abbey.

3 CD set at special price.

An essential collection for Liszt year!