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In the history of music, many are the noteworthy composers who long remained neglected and unrecognized, or whose œuvre has been reduced to misleading clichés. Lyapunov counts among them. Her pianistic virtuosity and inspired playing make us the living witnesses of the transcendental experience so dear to Liszt: they encourage elevation. Let us listen unbiased to a work that remains one of the prodigious cycles of piano literature.

Alim Beisembayev, winner of the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition, makes his album debut on Warner Classics with solo works by Liszt, including seven of the ambitious Études d'exécution transcendante. Born in Kazakhstan and trained primarily in the UK, Beisembayev has been praised by leading critics for the spellbinding polish and maturity of his playing. “The Transcendental Études of Liszt are amongst the most challenging piano works ever written by any composer,” he says. “Frequently described as tone poems, these inspirational works take the étude to a new level … Since early childhood, I had been inspired by performances of these works by legendary pianists such as Cziffra, Richter and Kissin, never dreaming that I would one day be performing them myself…