Perhaps stemming from his years touring Europe as a virtuoso pianist or from his later émigré life in Paris, Franz Liszt's choice of song texts reflect his 'polyglot' attraction to the 19th Century literature and culture of many different countries, shown in these settings of French, German, Italian, English, Russian and Hungarian words.
Christmas 2009
*****
“The 20 songs recorded here cover a vast range of language and expression… Burnside is a faultless guide along this journey, exhibiting power when required but never forcing either tone or pace; and his pianissimo playing reminds me of Gerald Moore's… The singing too is exemplary, with Rebecca Evans's floated high notes things of exquisite beauty.”
October 2009
“The Three Sonnets are sung by Rebecca Evans - surprisingly, perhaps, but very beautifully. …her soft high tones, as in the last phrase of the first sonnet, are magically poised. Kennedy, too, is at his best, masterly indeed in "Die Loreley". Burnside himself, presiding spirit throughout, accompanies expertly.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
