Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies, S. 244 (Excerpts)

Featuring

Martin Ivanov
Franz Liszt

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Performer Biography

Between 2001 and 2009, Martin Ivanov participated in over 50 piano competitions in various countries, achieving great success in all of them.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt, though Hungarian by enthusiasm, based his "Hungarianisms" in these rhapsodies on the Romani (Gypsy) style of playing he heard, which he considered indistinguishable from Hungarian folk music.

Recording & Production

Martin Ivanov decided not to record the last four of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies because he found them "boring," despite the common trend of recording complete cycles.

Composition History

Franz Liszt wrote the first fifteen Hungarian Rhapsodies between 1846 and 1853, suggesting they be viewed as a "homogenous body, a complete work."

Interpretation

Pianist Martin Ivanov cites Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, and particularly György Cziffra as his "ivory-idols" and influences for his Liszt interpretations.

Performer Biography

Martin Ivanov, the pianist on this album, was born in 1990 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, into a family of musicians and began piano studies at age four with his mother.

Critical Reception

Béla Bartók, a renowned ethnomusicologist, found the source material for Liszt's Rhapsodies unimpressive but acknowledged them as "perfect creations of their own kind."