MP3 Honens Laureate Series: Liszt - CLASSICAL: Piano solo

Liszt, undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of his era, composed for the virtuosic pianist. This CD features some of Liszt's most dazzling and charismatic works.

6 MP3 Songs
CLASSICAL: Piano solo, CLASSICAL: Romantic Era



Details:
about the artist:

Marko Martin is clearly a young pianist to watch. Laureate of the 2000 Honens International Piano Competition and prize winner at the 1998 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Martin is gaining a reputation for his inspired balance between energy and lyricism, especially in the works of Brahms, Liszt and Schubert. He is equally admired for his interpretation of music of the 20th century. Born in Tallinn Estonia, Marko Martin began his musical studies at age eight. He studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and went on to work with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School in London where he received his Bachelorâs degree in Music and his Concert Recital Diploma. In recital and with orchestra he has toured Estonia, Latvia, Scandinavia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Europe and North America, and made his Wigmore Hall debut in London in 2002.

liner notes:

There is a duality to Franz Liszt and his music which cannot ultimately be separated. One admires the composer whose innovative pianism changed the instrument forever â united with the showman who more or less invented the piano recital as a showcase vehicle for a star performer. There is the musical mind capable of helping bring into being the symphonic poem, allied to the bravura âart for grand displayâ creator of noteupon- note orgies of sound based around popular melodies of the day. There was the womanizer who took the cloth, becoming Abbé Liszt later in life. And not only did all of these conflicting aspects exist in one man, they coexisted, bound so inextricably into the same being that one cannot easily separate the charlatan and ringmaster from the artist and visionary. His piano music often demonstrates this duality in much the same way â elements clearly designed to dazzle drape what can be perceived as bold and brave new ways of treating the piano as a fundamental means of artistic expression. The no-holds-barred flash of the Rigoletto Paraphrase is a prime example of Liszt the showman at his finest â and his most obvious. Based on the famous Act III quartet from Verdiâs opera, this 1859 showcase actually manages to harness the drama of the scene while still creating a dazzling pianistic showcase of cadenzas and thrilling runs. Liszt composed an early version of the Transcendental Etudes in 1826. The final version (1851, and the one now played most often) proved a groundbreaking exploration of the piano, â(it) opened new horizons for the instrument,â according to pianist/author David Dubal. Dedicated to Lisztâs teacher Carl Czerny, to this day the cycle represents a yardstick by which a virtuoso can truly measure his or her abilities in technique matched with a full range of poetic expressiveness. Chasse-neige is the last of the twelve Transcendental Etudes, and is gradually getting known as a work all on its own. It creates, at once, a mood of both beauty and desolation. One observer likened the work, the title for which translates as âSnowscapes,â as if it described the world being eventually covered by snowflakes, burying everything while the wind moans above. The Années de pèlerinage (The Years of Pilgrimage) is in three volumes. The first volume, the first âyear,â is called Switzerland. Like the two subsequent editions (Year Two: Italy and Year Three â a collection of works compiled after the first two), the set is thoroughly romantic, embracing both love of nature and a reliance upon references to romantic literature. In the music inspired by Switzerland, for example, we find depictions of many things Alpine: lakes, cowbells, remote mountain churches and alphorn. The sixth piece in the Swiss book, Vallée dâObermann, was inspired by Étienne Pivert de Senacourâs novel, and the piece is dedicated to the author. The first version of the piece was completed in 1836, and three quotes were placed by Liszt at the top of the score; two from the character of Obermann, the other a quote from Lord Byron. The overall mood is one of sadness and resignation, though punctured twice by violent outcries â a fist flung at cruel fate. An unrequited lover laments his fate as he wanders an Alpine valley. âVast consciousness of Nature everywhere, overwhelming and impenetrable,â begins one of Obermannâs quotes, âall the desires and all the deep torments that a human heart can contain, I have felt all of them.â Opinions differ on the overall quality of all ten pieces in Lisztâs Harmonie poétiques et religieuses. But nearly all agree that the two longest pieces, Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude (No. 3) and Funérailles (No. 7) are supreme achievements. At the heart of the Bénédiction is this quote, from a Lamartine poem: âWhence comes, O God, this peace that overwhelms me? Whence comes this faith with which my heart overflows?â Surely, this sentiment, both religious and romantic, spoke to the complex and contradictory nature of Lisztâs character with exquisite suitability. Pianist Leslie Howard points to the added sixth harmonies in the work as anticipating the religiously fervent music of Olivier Messiaen. After the first part, which begins in stately and reverential fashion, reaches an impassioned climax, the central slow section is utterly and attractively simple, with a repeated three-note falling motif at its heart. The third section ventures into more of the unabashed virtuosity which is always present in Lisztâs music, but it never overruns the gentle reverence. The coda is gentle and fond, bringing back references to music heard earlier in the piece. It was originally thought that at the heart of Funerailles was an homage to Chopin â with some pointing to the cascades of octaves in the left hand as being taken from Chopinâs Aflat Polonaise. However, Lisztâs inspiration lay in the many people Liszt knew personally, who were killed in the mass execution following the failure of the Hungarian revolution against Austria in 1849. Thus, the dissonances which feature in the harmonic structure can be seen as a reaction to the horror felt as Hungarian prime minister Batthyany and so many of his court were killed, while a sense of patriotic defiance and heroism is ever present as well. The wanderings that eventually resulted in the Années de pèlerinage were brought about by the need Liszt had for privacy (again, the coexisting contrast: the young, grandly public virtuoso who valued seclusion and introspection). Eloping with Countess Marie dâAgoult to Switzerland and Italy, the couple took up a study of Dante during their time away. In the fall of 1839, Liszt began sketching out a work that would be ten years in the making. But it marked an important development in his compositional technique, being one of the first pieces employing the transformation of themes. A tritone which had been used since medieval times and which was known as the diabolus in musica, is a constant feature of the âsonata.â A reference to Danteâs Inferno, this tritone unifies the work â âa Luciferian tone poem,â to quote David Dubal again â in which an everpresent sense of something diabolical combines with both grand as well as tender expressions of passion, and hints of redemption.

D.T. Baker © 2003