The cover art for this album features 'Orphée charmant les bêtes sauvages avec sa lyre' (Orpheus charming wild beasts with his lyre), a painting by Franz von Stuck from 1891.
Composition History
Liszt's pioneering series of twelve symphonic poems came to fruition during his time as Kapellmeister at the court of the Duke of Weimar in the 1850s.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Liszt considered his twelve symphonic poems as a gigantic cycle, issuing them in versions for orchestra, two pianos, and piano duet.
Cultural Impact
Liszt's set of symphonic works, often inspired by extra-musical art, spawned a vast literature by many imitators and successors, influencing composers like Wagner and Tchaikovsky.
Performer Biography
Mattia Ometto, the other pianist on this album, studied with legendary pianists Aldo Ciccolini in Paris and Earl Wild in Palm Springs.
Performer Biography
Leslie Howard, one of the pianists on this album, holds a Guinness World Record for his 97-CD survey of the complete piano music of Franz Liszt.
Compositional Technique
The two-piano versions of Liszt's symphonic poems are not mere transcriptions; Liszt made considerable variances from the orchestral scores to create real duos.
