Liszt: Prelude and Fugue in a minor, BWV 543 (J.S. Bach), S. 462/1

Praised by the Los Angeles Times for his grace, eloquence and the ‘understated beauty of his tone’, Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski shot to fame after winning the London International Piano Competition in 2001. A regular concerto soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, he also enjoys a busy international career as a chamber musician, and his solo recordings have received recognition as ‘Editor’s Choice’ and ‘Debut Album’ awards from Gramophone.

With repertoire rich in nods towards a folk hinterland, Trpceski’s programme for this Wigmore Hall Live CD draws strongly on his deep immersion in national traditions of music and dance throughout his childhood. Schubert’s tuneful 16 German Dances pave the way to what is arguably the composer’s most virtuosic sonata, his ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy. Almost symphonic in scale, Trpceski’s emphatically energetic performance here unleashes an emotional outpouring.

By way of a transcription of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV543, in which the rich sonorities of the organ work are handsomely explored in an arrangement for piano, the second half of the programme focuses on Liszt. Here, Trpceski demonstrates his wide palette of tone colours with subtly sculpted phrases to explore the depths of these masterpieces.

Recent Sony Classical signing Khatia Buniatishvili is a phenomenal and acclaimed young artist, and regarded as one of the great pianists of the future. Her debut album for Sony Classical is devoted to Franz Liszt, with a focus on the Faust theme: Liszt’s third Liebestraum is characterised by the line from Goethe’s Faust: ”O stay! Thou art so fair!” and the Mephisto Waltz was inspired by an episode in Nikolaus Lenau’s Faust poem. Moreover Khatia Buniatishvili reads Faust, Marguerite and Mephisto into the themes of the centrepiece of the recording, the Sonata in B Minor – technically one of the most demanding works ever written for piano.

With bonus DVD: A Faustian Dream - A Short Film Concept by Khatia Buniatishvili

Anniversaries are just great! This year sees the bicentenary of the birth of Franz Liszt, the outstanding, heroworshipped artist, and star of the romantic 19th century. This release has given Joseph Moog the chance to present an anthology of rare transcriptions and paraphrases.

This new release in this series includes arrangements by György Kurtág for piano, four hands. The Evgeni Koroliov and Ljupka Hadigeorgieva founded their duo in 1976. Their concerts, both solo, as a duo and as chamber musicians have taken them throughout Europe and to the USA and Canada.

Liszt composed only a small number of works for the organ, but among them are two of the most impressive works in the instrument’s repertoire. These works are contained on this CD, performed on an organ that has a direct link to Liszt.

In 1855 his pupil Alexander Winterberger played the Fantasia and Fugue ‘Ad nos, ad salutarum undam’ which Liszt had dedicated to Meyerbeer on the Friederich Ladegast organ at Merseburg Cathedral. The organ in Schwerin is almost identical to the instrument at Merseburg. The other major work Liszt composed for organ is the Prelude and Fugue on the name BACH. This was dedicated to Winterberger. The Fantasia and Fugue is a huge work lasting over half an hour, with a brilliant fantasia on a theme from Meyerbeer’s ‘La Prophete’. The meditative adagio is shattered by a violent fortissimo which leads into the fugue, and the heroic conclusion.

The Prelude and Fugue on BACH also opens brilliantly with the four notes that make up the name Bach undergoing endless ingenious variations. The fugue begins with a strange section where tonality is suspended for a time, with the four note ‘name’ appearing as an ostinato under staccato chords.

The variations on ‘Weinen, Klagen’ from Bach’s Cantata no 12 was written for piano in 1860, and is remarkable for its use of chromaticism – again, tonality is under great strain.