Franz Liszt
Liszt was the only contemporary whose music Richard Wagner gratefully acknowledged as an influence upon his own. His lasting fame was an alchemy of extraordinary digital ability -- the greatest in the history of keyboard playing -- an unmatched instinct for showmanship, and one of the most progressive musical imaginations of his time. Hailed by some as a visionary, reviled by others as a symbol of empty Romantic excess, Franz Liszt wrote his name across music history in a truly inimitable manner.
From his youth, Liszt demonstrated a natural facility at the keyboard that placed him among the top performing prodigies of his day. Though contemporary accounts describe his improvisational skill as dazzling, his talent as a composer emerged only in his adulthood. Still, he was at the age of eleven the youngest contributor to publisher Anton Diabelli's famous variation commissioning project, best remembered as the inspiration for Beethoven's final piano masterpiece. An oft-repeated anecdote -- first recounted by Liszt himself decades later, and possibly fanciful -- has Beethoven attending a recital given by the youngster and bestowing a kiss of benediction upon him.
Though already a veteran of the stage by his teens, Liszt recognized the necessity of further musical tuition. He studied for a time with Czerny and Salieri in Vienna, and later sought acceptance to the Paris Conservatory. When he was turned down there -- foreigners were not then admitted -- he instead studied privately with Anton Reicha. Ultimately, his Hungarian origins proved a great asset to his career, enhancing his aura of mystery and exoticism and inspiring an extensive body of works, none more famous than the Hungarian Rhapsodies (1846-1885).
Liszt soon became a prominent figure in Parisian society, his romantic entanglements providing much material for gossip. Still, not even the juiciest accounts of his amorous exploits could compete with the stories about his wizardry at the keyboard. Inspired by the superhuman technique -- and, indeed, diabolical stage presence -- of the violinist Paganini, Liszt set out to translate these qualities to the piano. As his career as a touring performer, conductor, and teacher burgeoned, he began to devote an increasing amount of time to composition. He wrote most of his hundreds of original piano works for his own use; accordingly, they are frequently characterized by technical demands that push performers -- and in Liszt's own day, the instrument itself -- to their limits. The "transcendence" of his Transcendental Etudes (1851), for example, is not a reference to the writings of Emerson and Thoreau, but an indication of the works' level of difficulty. Liszt was well into his thirties before he mastered the rudiments of orchestration -- works like the Piano Concerto No. 1 (1849) were orchestrated by talented students -- but made up for lost time in the production of two "literary" symphonies (Faust, 1854-1857, and Dante, 1855-1856) and a series of orchestral essays (including Les préludes, 1848-1854) that marks the genesis of the tone poem as a distinct genre.
After a lifetime of near-constant sensation, Liszt settled down somewhat in his later years. In his final decade he joined the Catholic Church and devoted much of his creative effort to the production of sacred works. The complexion of his music darkened; the flash that had characterized his previous efforts gave way to a peculiar introspection, manifested in strikingly original, forward-looking efforts like Nuages gris (1881). Liszt died in Bayreuth, Germany, on July 31, 1886, having outlived Wagner, his son-in-law and greatest creative beneficiary.
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"Visions" PIANO WORKS
Classical - Released by Arts Productions Ltd. on 28 Mar 2011
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BALLADE - Classics Favourites for Relaxing and Dreaming
Symphonic Music - Released by Naxos on 1 Jun 1998
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Liszt: Grandes études de Paganini, S.141
Franz Liszt, Niagara Falls Piano Classic Philharmonic
Classical - Released by Pastel Records Canada on 1 Feb 2024
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Liszt: All Time Greatest Moments
Academy Of St. Christopher Orchestra
Classical - Released by Big Eye on 1 Jan 2008
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Liszt Autumn Study Vibes
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 24 Oct 2020
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Liszt: Years of Pilgrimage
Classical - Released by Nimbus Alliance on 1 Jul 2012
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Dmitri Alexeyev Plays Liszt
Classical - Released by JSC Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica on 23 Apr 1992
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Josef Hofmann Concert
Classical - Released by Legacy International on 24 Sep 2013
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Alfred Brendel - Liszt Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2010
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A Classical Occasion
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 14 Nov 2023
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Classical Romance with Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, Cristina Ortiz, Artur Pizarro
Lounge - Released by PMI Collins Classics on 1 Feb 2019
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Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies
London Symphony Orchestra, Antal Doráti
Classical - Released by OBX Records on 23 Feb 2015
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Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Max Loy
Symphonic Music - Released by Maestro on 1 Jan 1988
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Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième année: Italie (Piano Érard 1879)
Classical - Released by Diapason on 30 Oct 2020
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Gilels Plays Liszt Concerto No. 1 and Chopin Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on 29 Nov 2006
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Printemps. Piano Evocations from the Golden Age
Peter Phillips, Theodor Leschetizky, Sergeï Bortkiewicz, Benjamin Godard, Rudolf Friml, Franz Liszt
Classical - Released by Novus Promusica on 10 Nov 2023
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Josef Hofmann And Ignacy Jan Paderewski Play Lizst
Josef Hofmann, Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Classical - Released by Everest Records on 30 Aug 1968
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Franz Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor; Mephisto Waltz No. 1; La Campanella
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 8 Oct 1999
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Chopin, Liszt, Debussy: Etudes
Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 19 Jun 2021
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Die Sauer-Orgel der Thomaskirche zu Leipzig
Ullrich Böhme, Max Reger, Eugène Gigout, Franz Liszt, César Franck, Marcel Dupré
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on 20 Mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Liszt Recital Jorge Bolet Pianist Sonata in B Minor, Funérailles & Mephisto Waltz
Classical - Released by Everest Records on 29 Jul 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo