Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, 1st year, Switzerland, S160/R10

Literary as much as musical, dreamlike yet never careworn by the ups and downs of his long years of travel throughout Europe as a concert artiste, Franz Liszt's vision of nature is in large measure the pursuit of an ideal of liberty through the arousal of feelings and passions, and, at the same time, the search for balance, for straightforward happiness in the chimney-corner. Liszt was careful to indicate those literary works that had inspired his compositions, thus giving a clearer indication of his emotional intentions. For Liszt, the strongest expression of the romantic character had been placed by nature in sounds themselves, for in addition to hearing them, one feels them. The pianist Michiko Tsuda, a specialist of the romantic piano, presents a superb recital of the master.