Vittorio Bresciani Liszt Schubert Song Transcriptions

Valentina Lisitsa records Liszt’s most technically challenging work, the “unplayable” La Contrabandista, conceived by Liszt as a spectacular recital encore. Seldom recorded, this work is a true virtuosic challenge for any pianist.

Franz Liszt was without doubt one of the greatest (if not The Greatest) pianists of all time, as well as an innovating and visionary composer, in one word…a Genius!

Box set containing a compilation of works by various composers in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Liszt. As well as the tracks listed it also includes 'Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, 'Pathétique'', 'Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, 'Moonlight'' and 'Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, 'Appassionata'' by Ludwig van Beethoven, 'Preludios, Op. 80' by Joaquin Turina, etc…

Pianist Margaret Fingerhut presents a collection of encore-like pieces that explore the way in which composers have transformed the piano, in essence a percussion instrument, into one that can sing. A highly personal album, it has come about after a recent period of injuries threatened Fingerhut’s own ‘song’ – her ability to play the piano.

Transcriptions of chamber works to orchestral works have been interesting asides for composers for a long time - whether the transcription are alterations of a composer's own songs or chamber works to full orchestral size or those of other composers for which the transcriber had a particular affinity. Stokowski's transcriptions of Bach's works are probably the most familiar to audiences. The two transcriptions on this recording are the creations Gustav Mahler and his election to transcribe the quartets of Beethoven and Schubert is not surprising: Mahler 'transcribed' many of his own songs into movements or portions of movements for his own symphonies. Listening to Mahler's transcriptions of these two well known quartets - Franz Schubert's String Quartet in D Minor 'Death and the Maiden' and Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet in F Minor 'Serioso' - provides insight into both the orginal compositions and the orchestration concepts of Gustav Mahler. The themes of these two works would naturally appeal to Mahler's somber nature. Mahler naturally extends the tonal sound of each of these transcriptions by using the full string orchestra and in both works it is readily apparent that his compositional techniques within string sections are ever present.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt's birth, virtuoso pianist Lang Lang has selected some of the composer's most characteristic pieces for his 2011 Sony release, Liszt: My Piano Hero…