A Liszt Portrait

A comprehensive 30-CD set, representing the masterworks of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, including 13 CDs containing historic and live recordings by some of the greatest Liszt pianists of the last century - staggering performances of hair-raising virtuosity!

This 30 CD collection contains his Faust and Dante Symphonies, Les Preludes, the Bergsymphonie, the symphonic poems, his major organ works, the Missa Solemnis, the Piano Sonata, the Petrarch Sonnets, the Transcendental Etudes, Hungarian Rhapsodies, his Wagner and Verdi transcriptions, the Piano Concertos 1-3, Malediction, Totentanz, De Profundis and the Fantasia on themes from Lelio by Berlioz, his orchestration of Schubert’s Wanderer fantasy, the Dante Sonata, excerpts from the Years of Pilgrimage Book 1 (Switzerland) and Book 2 (Italy), the Paganini Etudes . . and more.

Several of the major keyboard works can be heard in comparative recordings by different artists, including Gilels captured in 1949 in the Sonata.

This collection will allow the listener to get to the heart of the composer and to hear the lighter, more brilliant, works of his early career alongside the later, complex, more mystical works from the later years.

30 CD + CD ROM

CD 1
Faust Symphony
1 I. Faust 27’09
2 II. Gretchen 16’26
3 III. Mephistopheles 21’50
Total time: 65’38
György Korondi, tenor
Hungarian Army Male Chorus
Hungarian State Orchestra
János Ferencsik

CD 2
Dante Symphony
A symphony to Dante’s Divina Commedia
1 I. Inferno: Lento 20’47
2 II. Purgatorio: Andante con moto quasi allegretto, 19’13
tranquillo assai –
3 Magnificat 7’09
4 À la Chapelle Sixtine 23’43
Total time: 65’05
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
Hartmut Haenchen

CD 3
1 Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne (‘Bergsymphonie’) 30’24
2 Tasso: lamento e trionfo 21’22
3 Les Préludes 15’53
Total time: 67’58
Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Árpád Joó

CD 4
1 Orpheus 11’29
2 Prometheus 13’23
3 Mazeppa 15’47
4 Festklänge 19’48
Total time: 60’47
Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Árpád Joó

CD 5
1 Héroïde funèbre 24’04
2 Hungaria 22’16
3 Hamlet 14’35
Total time: 61’09
Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Árpád Joó

CD 6
1 Die Hunnenschlacht 13’52
2 Die Ideale 26’49
Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe
3 Die Wiege 6’26
4 Der Kampf ums Dasein 3’08
5 Zum Grabe: Die Wiege des zukünftigen Lebens 7’39
Total time: 58’17
Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Árpád Joó

CD 7
Two Episodes from Lenau’s Faust
1 Der nächtliche Zug 15’08
2 Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke (Mephisto Waltz I) 11’48
3 Mephisto Waltz No.2 11’35
4 Szózat und Hymnus – Fantasie 10’13
Total time: 49’05
Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Árpád Joó

CD 8
Organ Works
Prelude and Fugue on the name of BACH
1 Prelude 4’40
2 Fugue 11’40
3 Variations on ‘Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen’ 24’00
Fantasia and Fugue: ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’
4 Fantasia 25’36
5 Fugue 11’45
Total time: 77’46
Hans-Jürgen Kaiser, organ
Ladegast, organ of Dom in Schwerin, Germany

CD 9
Missa Solemnis (Graner Festival Mass)
1 I. Kyrie 7’24
2 II. Gloria 12’35
3 III. Credo 16’20
4 IV. Sanctus 5’34
5 V. Benedictus 6’33
6 VI.Agnus Dei 8’09
Total time: 56’35
Veronika Kincses, soprano, Klára Takács, contralto, György Korondi tenor, József Gregor, bass, Hungarian Radio and Television Chorus, Budapest Symphony Orchestra,
János Ferencsik

CD 10
Piano Sonata - Petrarch Sonnets - Légende No.1
1 Piano Sonata in B minor 30’44
2 Sonetto 47 del Petrarca 5’16
3 Sonetto 104 del Petrarca 6’06
4 Sonetto 123 del Petrarca 5’56
5 Légende No.1: 9’47
St. Francois d’Assise, la prédication aux oiseaux
Total time: 56’27
Yingdi Sun, piano

CD 11
Études d’exécution transcendante
1 Preludio 0’58
2 in A minor 2’06
3 Paysage 5’31
4 Mazeppa 7’28
5 Feux follets 4’06
6 Vision 5’33
7 Eroica 5’13
8 Wilde Jagd 4’54
9 Ricordanza 9’20
10 in F minor: Appassionata 4’28
11 Harmonies du soir 8’54
12 Chasse-neige 5’12
Total time: 64’00
Vladimir Ovchinnikov, piano

CD 12
Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1–9
1 No.1 in C sharp minor 13’04
2 No.2 in C sharp minor 10’45
3 No.3 in B flat 5’07
4 No.4 in E flat 5’22
5 No.5 in E minor ‘Héroïde-élégiaque’ 8’48
6 No.6 in D flat 7’13
7 No.7 in D minor 6’02
8 No.8 in F sharp minor 6’23
9 No.9 in E flat ‘Pesther Carneval’ 11’52
Total time: 74’36
Artur Pizarro, piano

CD 13
Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 10–19
1 No.10 in E major 6’09
2 No.11 in A minor 5’41
3 No.12 in C sharp minor 11’16
4 No.13 in A minor 8’52
5 No.14 in F minor 12’46
6 No.15 in A minor ‘Rákóczy March’ 6’03
7 No.16 in A minor 4’55
8 No.17 in D minor 2’41
9 No.18 in F sharp minor 2’54
10 No.19 in D minor 9’50
Total time: 71’07
Artur Pizarro, piano

CD 14
Wagner Transcriptions
1 Elsas Brautzug zum Münster 8’49
2 Elsas Traum 4’06
3 Lohengrins Verweis an Elsa 3’52
4 Festspiel und Brautlied (from Lohengrin) 9’03
5 ‘O, du mein holder Abendstern’ – Rezitativ und Romanze 7’22
(from Tannhäuser)
6 Ballade 5’40
7 Spinnerlied (from Der fliegende Holländer) 6’32
8 Wallhall (from the Ring) 6’27
9 Am stillen Herd (from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) 9’25
10 Feierlicher Marsch zum heiligen Graal (from Parsifal) 9’40
Total time: 65’34
Michele Campanella, piano

CD 15
Verdi Transcriptions
1 Ernani – Concert Paraphrase 8’30
2 ‘Salve Maria’ (from Jerusalem) 5’00
3 ‘Miserere’ (from Il trovatore) 8’14
4 Rigoletto – Concert Paraphrase 7’14
5 Don Carlo – Finale: Coro di festa e marcia funebre 7’28
6 Agnus Dei (from Messa da Requiem) 4’55
7 Reminiscences de Boccanegra 11’26
8 Aida – Danza sacra e duetto finale 11’01
Total time: 63’48
Michele Campanella, piano

CD 16
Miscellaneous Piano Transcriptions
1 Hochzeitsmarsch und Elfenreigen aus der Musik zu Shakespeares 10’43

Sommernachtstraum von Mendelssohn
2 Les Adieux: Rêverie sur un motif de l’opéra Roméo et Juliette de Gounod 9’43
3 Sonnambula de Bellini: Grande Fantaisie [sic] de Concert 15’09
4 Les Sabéennes: Berceuse de l’opéra La Reine de Saba de Gounod 5’53
5 Valse de l’opéra Faust de Gounod 11’01
6 Valse d’Adèle pour piano à la main gauche seule par le Comte Géza Zichy 3’54
7 Réminiscences de Don Juan de Mozart 18’44
Total time: 77’07
Michele Campanella, piano

CD 17
Malédiction - Grande Fantaisie symphonique - De profundis
1 Malédiction for piano & string orchestra 15’40
Grande Fantaisie symphonique on themes from Berlioz’s ‘Lelio’
2 Lento 12’19
3 Allegro vivace 7’56
4 Andantino, senza interruzione – Vivace animato 3’47
De profundis
Psaume instrumentale for piano & orchestra
5 Andante 22’00
6 Allegro moderato 4’57
7 Tempo primo – Allegro – Allegro marziale 6’41
Total time: 73’32
Louis Lortie, piano
Residentie Orchestra The Hague / George Pehlivanian

CD 18
Piano Concertos - Totentanz
Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat
1 Allegro – 5’01
2 Quasi adagio – 4’30
3 Allegretto vivace – 2’22
4 Allegro animato – 1’40
5 Allegro marziale animato 4’02
Piano Concerto No.2 in A
6 Adagio sostenuto assai – 5’08
7 Allegro agitato assai – 1’54
8 Allegro moderato – 4’55
9 Allegro deciso sempre allegro – 2’46
10 Marziale, un poco meno allegro – 3’52
11 Allegro animato 1’42
12 Totentanz 14’37
Paraphrase on ‘Dies irae’
13 Piano Concerto No.3 14’39
in E flat Op. posth.
Total time: 67’25
Nelson Freire, piano (1–12)
Dresdner Philharmonie / Michel Plasson (1–12)
Stephen Mayer, piano (13)
London Symphony Orchestra / Tamás Vásáry (13)

CD 19
Fantasias - Polonaise brillante - Concerto pathétique
1 Fantasia 10’47
on a theme from Beethoven’s ‘Ruins of Athens’
2 Polonaise brillante 9’31
after Carl Maria von Weber
3 Concerto pathétique in E minor 16’19
4 Fantasy on Hungarian Folk Tunes 14’43
Wanderer-Fantasie
for piano & orchestra, after Schubert’s Op.15 in C
5 I. Allegro con fuoco, ma non troppo 6’07
6 II. Adagio 6’43
7 III. Presto 4’31
8 IV. Allegro 3’41
Total time: 72’45
Louis Lortie, piano
Residentie Orchestra The Hague / George Pehlivanian

CD 20
Historical Performances: Sonata ‘après une lecture de Dante’ - Mephisto Waltz No.1 - Études d’execution transcendante (selection) - Rhapsodie espagnole
1 Sonata ‘après une lecture de Dante’ 16’27
2 Mephisto Waltz No.1 11’09

Études d’exécution transcendante (selection)
3 Prelude 0’45
4 Paysage 4’47
5 Feux follets 3’32
6 Vision 4’06
7 Appassionata in F minor 3’56
8 Harmonies du soir 9’39
9 Chasse neige 4’40
10 Rhapsodie espagnole 12’54
Total time: 71’59
Lazar Berman, piano

CD 21
Historical Performances: Années de pèlerinage: Switzerland (selection) - Piano Concerto No.1
Années de pèlerinage Book 1: Switzerland (selection)
1 Chappelle de Guillaume Tell 6’54
2 Au lac de Wallenstadt 2’38
3 Vallée d’Obermann 14’21
4 Le Mal du Pays 5’30
5 Les Cloches de Geneve 6’08

Piano Concerto No.1 in E flat
6 Allegro maestoso – 5’44
7 Quasi adagio – Allegretto vivace – Allegro animato – 4’49
8 Allegro marziale animato 8’12
Total time: 54’38
Lazar Berman, piano
Moscow Philharmonic Youth Orchestra / Kirill Kondrashin

CD 22
Historical Performances: Piano Sonata - Schubert Transcriptions
1 Piano Sonata in B minor 27’54
Schubert Transcriptions
2 Der Leiermann 2’34
3 Täuschung 2’20
4 Gretchen am Spinnrad’ 4’45
5 Die junge Nonne 5’38
6 Ave Maria 6’19
7 Erlkönig 5’25
Total time: 56’55
Lazar Berman, piano

CD 23
Historical Performances: Piano Sonata - Piano Works
Piano Sonata in B minor
1 Lento – 3’27
2 Grandioso – 8’09
3 Andante sostenuto – 6’51
4 Fugue, allegro energico – 5’41
5 Stretta quasi presto 4’35
Piano Sonata ‘après une lecture de Dante’
6 Andante – 1’46
7 Presto agitato – 2’47
8 Tempo I – 3’06
9 Più tosto – 5’46
10 Più mosso 2’29
11 Bagatelle sans tonalité 2’41
12 Czardas macabre 6’54
13 La lugubre gondola 6’51
14 Mephisto Waltz No.1 11’13
Total time: 72’55
Alfred Brendel, piano

CD 24
Historical Performances: Opera Transcriptions and Paraphrases
1 Lucia di Lammermoor: Sextet (Donizetti) 5’27
2 Il trovatore: Miserere (Verdi) 8’13
3 Norma Fantasy (Bellini) 15’39
4 Oberon Overture (Weber) 9’05
5 Benvenuto Cellini: Benediction & Oath (Berlioz) 7’20
6 Tannhäuser: Pilgrims’ Chorus (Wagner) 5’16
Paganini Études
7 Tremolo in G minor 4’40
8 Octave in E flat 5’49
9 La campanella in G sharp minor 5’02
10 Arpeggio in E 2’10
11 La Chasse in E 3’16
12 Variations in A minor 5’14
Total time: 77’44
Alfred Brendel, piano

CD 25
Historical Performances: Tre Sonetti di Petrarca - Venezia e Napoli - Harmonies poétiques et religieuses - Tre Sonetti di Petrarca
1 No.47 5’58
2 No.104 6’02
3 No.123 6’59
4 Venezia e Napoli – Tarantella 9’17

Harmonies poétiques et religieuses
5 Invocation 7’10
6 Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude 15’38
7 Pensées des morts 11’17
8 Funérailles 10’55
9 Cantique d’amour 6’21
Total time: 79’55
Alfred Brendel, piano

CD 26
Historical Performances: Piano Sonata - Piano Works
1 Waldesrauschen S145 No.1 4’06
2 La leggierezza – Étude de concert No.2 S144 4’37
3 Liebestraum S541 No.3 in A flat 4’22
4 Hungarian Rhapsody S244 No.12 in C sharp minor 9’37
5 Transcendental Study S139 No.10 ‘Appassionata’ 4’56
6 Piano Sonata in B minor 29’56
7 Variations on Bach’s 16’39
‘Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen’
Total time: 74’25
Evgeny Kissin, piano (1–5)
Sviatoslav Richter, piano (6)
Maria Yudina, piano (7)

CD 27
Historical Performances: Piano Sonata - Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 9 & 15 - Valse oubliée No.1
1 Piano Sonata in B minor (recording 1949) 29’08
2 Hungarian Rhapsody No.15 ‘Rákoczy March’ 4’20
3 Piano Sonata in B minor (recording 1965) 27’30
4 Hungarian Rhapsody No.9 ‘Peszter Carnaval’ 10’28
5 Valse oubliée No.1 2’29
Total time: 73’57
Emil Gilels, piano

CD 28
Historical Performances: Années de pèlerinage (selection) Schubert Transcriptions
1 Eglogue from ‘Années de pèlerinage, Year 1: Switzerland’ 2’45

Années de pèlerinage, Year 2: Italy
2 Sposalizio 8’42
3 Il Penseroso 4’31
4 Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa 2’58
5 Sonetto 123 del Petrarca 6’45

Schubert Transcriptions
6 Die Stadt 2’32
7 Die junge Nonne 4’45
8 Am Meer 4’04
9 Frühlingsglaube 3’31
10 Auf dem Wasser zu singen 4’14
11 Der Doppelgänger 4’12
12 Erlkönig 4’51
Total time: 53’55
Vladimir Sofronitzky, piano

CD 29
Historical Performances: Piano Works
1 Réminiscences de ‘Robert le Diable’: 10’02
Valse infernale (Meyerbeer)
2 Gnomenreigen 2’49
3 Mephisto Polka 3’59
4 Mephisto Waltz No.1 10’39
5 Réminiscences de ‘Don Juan’ (Mozart) 17’04
6 Waltz from ‘Faust’ (Gounod) 10’10
Total time: 55’03
Earl Wild, piano

CD 30
Historical Performances: Paraphrases and Transcriptions
1 Tannhäuser (Wagner) 17’35
2 Rigoletto (Verdi) 7’27
3 A Midsummer Night’s Dream: 9’51
Wedding March & Dance of the Fairies (Mendelssohn)
4 La Muette de Portici (Auber) 7’50
5 Grand galop chromatique 3’12
6 Valse oubliée No.1 2’49
7 Waldesrauschen 3’59
8 Les Jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este 7’17
9 Gnomenreigen 2’42
10 Valse-Impromptu 6’50
11 Hungarian Rhapsody No.19 9’48
Total time: 80’20
György Cziffra, piano