Stephen Hough - Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor; Ballades & Polonaises '2000

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Liszt: Polonaise mélancolique (No. 1) in C Minor, S. 223 No. 1
02. Liszt: Polonaise in E Major, S. 223 No. 2
03. Liszt: Ballade No. 1, S. 170 "Le chant du croisé"
04. Liszt: Ballade No. 2, S. 171
05. Liszt: Berceuse in D-Flat Major, S. 174/1
06. Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178: I. Lento assai – II.
Grandioso
07. Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178: III. Andante sostenuto
08. Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178: IVa. Allegro energico
09. Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178: IVb. Allegro energico –
Più mosso
10. Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178: V. Andante sostenuto

This is what great Liszt records are made of. A selection of his finest piano
music, with his most important piano work coupled with less well-known
masterpieces, played by a pianist who combines all the necessary fire and
virtuosity with ultra-sensitivity and refinement.

The B minor Sonata is one of the most important contributions to sonata form
since Beethoven. Written as a single, expansive movement, utilizing Liszt's
technique of thematic transformation, the Sonata is bold and forward-looking,
and integrates enormous pianistic virtuosity into a profoundly original musical
argument. Unusually for a composer who lavished poetic titles on so many of his
works, revealing his literary or pictorial source of inspiration, Liszt said
nothing about the B minor Sonata. Many believe it to be a portrayal of the
characters in Goethe's Faust, others think it represents the different facets of
Liszt's character. Truly great music can sustain a variety of interpretative
responses, and Liszt's Sonata—one of the most powerful works to come out
of the nineteenth century—is no exception.

The remaining works, although their titles are inextricably associated with
Chopin, are most striking for Liszt's daring originality. The Second Polonaise,
which was recorded by Rachmaninov, used to be a great favourite, while the
Second Ballade is one of Liszt's finest works, with a magnificent sense of
narrative drive and some of Liszt's most opulent rhetoric.

Stephen Hough needs little introduction as a Liszt pianist of extraordinary
flair, passion and intelligence.

Related artists