Liszt's interest in virtuoso piano performance was rekindled after hearing the great violinist Paganini, whose technical skills he aimed to emulate.
Composition History
Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes were inspired by Nikolaus Lenau's Faust, Ein Gedicht, a work that depicts Faust embarking on a course of sin and crime ending in suicide.
Compositional Technique
The second Mephisto Waltz begins and ends with the 'diabolus in musica' — the tritone interval — which was often associated with the devil.
Compositional Technique
The first Mephisto Waltz, originally titled 'The Dance in the Village Inn,' opens with a suggestion of open violin strings before a sinister dance begins.
Performer Biography
Giuseppe Andaloro, the pianist on this album, is a winner of multiple prestigious international piano competitions, including the Bolzano Ferruccio Busoni Competition and the London World Piano Competition.
Composer Biography
Franz Liszt, born in Hungary in 1811, received early encouragement from Hungarian nobility and later moved to Vienna and Paris.
Critical Reception
Clara Schumann refused to play Liszt's Grosses Konzertsolo, criticizing its 'empty virtuosity' and suggesting only Liszt himself could do it justice.
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