Liszt: Faust Symphony, Dante Symphony, Beethoven Symphony No.9

Featuring

Leslie Howard
Mattia Ometto
Leonora Armellini
Igor Roma
Franz Liszt
Ludwig van Beethoven

Did you know?

1/7

Performer Biography

Mattia Ometto, the other pianist on this album, studied with legendary pianists Aldo Ciccolini in Paris and Earl Wild in Palm Springs.

Recording & Production

This album features Franz Liszt's own two-piano versions of his Faust Symphony, Dante Symphony, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt's 'Dante' Symphony was originally planned as a three-movement work depicting Dante's Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, but the Paradiso movement was omitted due to Richard Wagner's advice.

Composition History

Liszt's Faust Symphony, dedicated to Hector Berlioz, was largely completed by 1857, with its two-piano version reaching its final form by 1863.

Compositional Technique

The key-scheme of Liszt's Faust Symphony, revolving around the augmented triad of C, E, and A flat, was inspired by Schubert's 'Wanderer' Fantasy and Beethoven's last three piano sonatas.

Performer Biography

Leslie Howard, one of the pianists on this album, holds an unequalled accomplishment in classical music history for the largest solo artist recording project, with 100 albums of Liszt's hitherto unrecorded pieces.