Liszt: Sonate en si mineur, Sonetti di Petrarca, Valse oubliée No.2, Étude "La leggierezza", Rhapsodie hongroise No.6

Featuring

Nelson Goerner
Franz Liszt

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Composition History

Liszt's settings of Petrarch's Sonnets were inspired by his own strained relationship with Marie d'Agoult, a French countess and writer.

Critical Reception

Clara Schumann, a virtuoso pianist and wife of Robert Schumann, found Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor to be "senseless noise" and "impossible to find a clear harmonic progression."

Composition History

Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor was completed between 1852-1853 and dedicated to Robert Schumann as a belated thank you for Schumann's Fantaisie op. 17.

Composition History

Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, including No. 6, were based on 'popular' themes from anthologies and dances performed by Romany people, rather than truly folkloric music.

Critical Reception

Richard Wagner, the German composer, praised Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor as "beautiful beyond words, grand, [...] profound and noble," though he seemed to be alone in this opinion among critics.

Composition History

The Valse oubliée No. 2 (Forgotten Waltz No. 2) was composed in July 1883, during a period when Liszt was described as being "plunged into a certain despair."