Details regarding a series of public concerts at the Royal Academy of Music  programmed specifically to challenge popular perceptions of Liszt’s personality, and the way in which his music has been performed and heard.

(All concert programmes © Olivia Sham.)

1. Liszt and the Changing Piano

8 April 2011, Piano Gallery

A concert exploring the links between Franz Liszt’s changing compositional technique and the development of the nineteenth-century piano. The performance uses the Piano Gallery’s 1840 Erard and 1920 Steinway.

Harmonies poétiques et religieuses S154 (1833-4)

Die Rose op.73 (Schubert) S556 (1833)

Apparitions S155 (1834)
I. Senza lentezza quasi allegretto
II. Vivamente
III. Fantasie sur une valse de François Schubert

Réminiscences de Norma (Bellini) S394 (1841)

*

Isolde’s Liebestod (Wagner) S447 (1867)

Elegie II S197 (1877)

Mephisto Waltz no.1 S514 (1856-61)

Harmonies poétiques et religieuses S173 (1852-3)
IV. Pensée des morts

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2. Liszt’s Songs: Unheard Words for Piano

16 June 2011, Concert Room, with Katie Bray (mezzo-soprano), Sam Furness (tenor) and Gareth John (baritone)

Combining the songs of Franz Liszt with his solo piano works can offer revealing insights on the composer and his music. The programme for this concert includes both well-known pieces and rarities, such as the Petrarch Sonnets in their various incarnations for voice and piano solo.

Tre sonetti di Petrarca (first version, 1842-6)
I. Pace non trovo no.104
III. I’ vidi in terra no.123

Die Lorelei (revised version, 1854–9)

Ich möchte hingehn (1844–56)

Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh (revised version, 1859)

Ballade no.2 in B minor (1853)

*

Années de Pèlerinage: Deuxième Année (1858)
V. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
VI. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca

Blume und Duft (1854)

Tre sonetti di Petrarca (revised version, 1864–82)
II. Pace non trovo no.104
III. I’ vidi in terra no.123

Laßt mich ruhen (1858)

Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam (1845–60)

Und wir dachten derToten (1871)

J’ai perdu ma force et ma vie (1872)

Années de Pèlerinage: Troisième Année (1877–82)
II. Aux cyprès de la Villa d’Este, thrénodie I

Des Tages laute Stimmen schweigen (1880)

Ihr Glocken von Marling (1874)

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3. A Lisztian Self-Portrait

24 January 2012, Duke’s Hall

A concert event exploring Franz Liszt’s nationalism and his religiosity as essential to his compositional style. The programme mixes some of Liszt’s familiar concert pieces with some incredible compositions rarely played, such as the Hungarian Historical Portraits, a cycle of pieces composed a year before his death.

Harmonies poétiques et religieuses S.173 (1853)
III. Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude

Années de Pèlerinage Book II – Italie S.161 (1858)
VII. Aprés une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata

*

Années de Pèlerinage Book II – Italie S.161 (1858)
II. Il Penseroso

Hungarian Rhapsody no.12 in C sharp minor S.244 (1853)

Trois odes funèbres
II. La notte S.699 (1864-6)

*

Historische ungarische Bildnisse S.205 (1885)
I. Stephan Széchényi
II. Franz Deák
III. Ladislaus Teleki
IV. Josef Eötvös
V. Michael Vörösmarty
VI. Alexander Petöfi
VII. Michael Mosonyi

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4. Liszt and the Art of Remembering

15 June 2012, Piano Gallery

Throughout his long life Liszt frequently re-composed pieces, making new decisions that corresponded to his musical and personal evolution. This event, using the Piano Gallery’s 1840 Erard and 1920 Steinway pianos, pieces together such re-compositions and places them in both a musical and instrumental context to suggest the significance of nostalgia in Liszt’s music.

Valse oubliée no.1 S.215 (1881)

Etudes pour le piano-forte en quarante-huit exercices dans tous les tons majeurs et mineurs S.136
IX. in A flat major (1826)

Petite valse favorite S.212 (1842-3)

Valse oubliée no.2 S.215 (1883)

Etudes d’exécution transcendante S.139 (1851)
IX. Ricordanza

Symphonie fantastique op.4 (Berlioz) S.470 (1833)
III. ‘Marche du supplice’

*

Liebesträum no.2 ‘Seliger tod’ S.541 (1843-50)

Valse oubliée no.3 S.215 (1883)

Etudes d’exécution transcendante S.139 (1851)
VII. Eroica
VIII. Wilde Jagd

Apparitions S.155 (1834)
I. Senza lentezza quasi allegretto

En rêve, nocturne S.207 (1885)

Valse oubliée no.4 S.215 (1884)

Schlaflos, Frage und Antwort S.203 (1883)

Trauervorspiel und Trauermarsch S.206 (1885)

Bagatelle ohne Tonart S.216 (1885)

Fünf kleine Klavierstücke
V. Sospiri! (1879)
I. (1865)

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5. Late Liszt

12 November 2012, David Josefowitz Recital Hall

In his later years Liszt produced a number of extraordinary pieces for solo piano, some of which were of such startling modernity that they would influence composers of the early twentieth century. This concert delves into this diverse and intensely personal music.

Weihnachtsbaum S.186 (1879-81)
IX. Abendglocken

Variationen über das Motiv von Bach “Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen” und des Crucifixus der H-moll Messe S.180 (1862)

Unstern! – Sinistre S.208 (1881)

Danse macabre (Saint-Saëns) S.555 (1876)

*

In festo transfigurationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi S.188 (1880)

Années de Pèlerinage: Troisième Année (1877-82)
III. Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este

Sancta Dorothea S.187 (1877)

La lugubre gondola I & II S.200 (1882-5)

Csárdás macabre S.224 (1881-2)

Resignazione S.263 (1877-81)

Trübe Wolken (Nuages gris) S.199 (1881)

Wiegenlied (Chant du berceau) S.198 (1881)

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6. Liszt’s Work

7 March 2013, Duke’s Hall

This final concert juxtaposes some of Liszt’s most iconic works to explore what makes a Lisztian masterpiece.