Liszt: A Faust Symphony (version for 2 pianos)

Featuring

Jürgen Puschbeck
Marcus Ullmann
Francesco Nicolosi
Vittorio Bresciani
Franz Liszt Piano Duo
Kammerchor der Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar

Franz Liszt

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Composer Biography

As a child, Liszt took piano lessons from Carl Czerny and composition lessons from Antonio Salieri, who had also taught Beethoven and Schubert.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt, as Director of Music in Weimar, turned his attention to new forms of composition, particularly symphonic poems, to translate literary works into music.

Composition History

Liszt's "A Faust Symphony" was written in 1854, with a choral finale added three years later for its first performance in Weimar, and underwent revisions as late as 1880.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt based his "A Faust Symphony" on Goethe's poetic treatment of the Faust legend, which ends in Faust's redemption through love, unlike earlier versions that depicted a medieval Hell.

Performer Biography

The Franz Liszt Piano Duo, formed by Vittorio Bresciani and Francesco Nicolosi in 1998, aims to promote Liszt's symphonic works through the composer's own two-piano transcriptions.

Composition History

Liszt published his version of "A Faust Symphony" for two pianos in 1862, revising it in 1870, and also transcribed the second Gretchen movement for solo piano, completing it in 1874.

Composer Biography

Franz Liszt's father, Adam Liszt, was a steward for Haydn's former patrons, the Esterházy Princes, and an amateur cellist who played for Haydn and Beethoven.