Ferencz Liszt

Barenboim and Boulez celebrate Liszt’s 200th birthday with gripping readings of the Concertos no. 1 in E flat major and no. 2 in A major.

After his studies in Moscow with Elisso Virsaladze Boris Berezovsky received international recognition and fame by winning the Gold Medal of the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1990. Since then he has made a world career playing with all major orchestras (Berlin, Concertgebouw, New York Philharmonic, London SO) and conductors. His recording of Liszt’s Piano Concertos and Transcendental Studies have become standards of Liszt playing: his limitless technique (indeed, transcendental) is never an end in itself, but permits him to present the structures and inner drama of these magnificent works. Formerly issued on Warner Classics.

Earl Wild’s death in 2010 was a farewell to one of the greatest pianists from the Golden Age of the Piano. His career spanned the biggest part of the 20th Century (more than 80 years), and he played with such legendary conductors as Toscanini, Reiner, Horenstein, Mitropoulos, Klemperer, Ormandy, Dorati and Solti. A dazzling virtuoso, he made the music of Liszt a central point in his repertoire. His performances of Gnomenreigen, La Leggierezza or the Mephisto Waltz were legendary. This 2-CD set offers some of the finest Liszt playing on disc. CD 1 was issued on Vanguard Classics as “The Demonic Liszt” and shows the devilish side of Liszt, the multifaceted genius. The second CD contains live recordings from different periods, red-hot performances of great brilliance and passion.

Even Emil Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter were in awe of the young Lazar Berman, who astounded the world with performances of superhuman dimensions. However his talent was long kept a locked up secret in the former Soviet Union, before he was permitted to travel abroad. His appearances in the West were sensational, resulting in concerts with von Karajan and recordings for DG. The live recordings on this 2-CD set span from 1950 to 1972 and catch him at the peak of his powers, and these were gigantic. His performance of the Sonata, Dante Sonata and especially the selection from the Transcendental Etudes shows not only his phenomenal technique but also his great sensitivity, beauty of tone (even in the biggest fortes) and innate poetry. A tribute to an exceptional Liszt player.

This is the first CD in a project titled ‘The Sound of Weimar’ which is being released to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Franz Liszt. The two works are ‘A symphony to Dante‘s Divina Commedia’ and ‘Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine’. The series will include world premier recordings of concert performances of all of Franz Liszt’s orchestral music in their original versions played on original instruments of the 19th Century. The Orchestra of The Vienna Academy is conducted by Martin Haselböck.

The renowned Austrian conductor Martin Haselböck is the musical director of Musica Angelica in Santa Monica, California, and the musical director and founder of the Vienna Academy Orchestra. He is also a professor at the University of Vienna, where he teaches organ.

Liszt’s Dante Symphony is based on Dante Alighieri's journey through Hell and Purgatory as depicted in The Divine Comedy. It was premiered in Dresden in November 1857, with Liszt himself conducting, and was unofficially dedicated to the composer's friend and future son-in-law Richard Wagner. It is a symphony with a distinct programme and is written in a high romantic style.

“The orchestral version (of A la Chapelle Sixtine) is among the most moving of Liszt’s compositions, and Haselböck offers a most beautiful performance of it. An auspicious start then to what should prove an important new series…” Gramophone, August 2011

Born in Odessa, the pianist and conductor Boris Bloch has long been regarded as one of the most important interpreters of classical and romantic piano music. Bloch’s detailed knowledge of the piano literature of the last three centuries, his familiarity with the entire history of music and its protagonists along with his stupendous pianism and above all things his strong artistic personality form the basis for the much vaunted depth of expression, the abundance of colour, the amazing stylistic originality and the incomparable “singing tone” of his playing, manifesting themselves equally in the thougtfully composed programs of his recitals.

“The 200th birthday of Franz Liszt is a welcome opportunity for me to pay a modest yet all the more loving tribute to the one who reformed piano playing, the father of our profession, the four times visionary genius as composer, pianist, conductor and teacher and to bow before him in deep gratitude and reverence.” (Boris Bloch)