Liszt: Wagner & Weber Transcriptions

Featuring

Steven Mayer
Franz Liszt

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Performer Biography

Steven Mayer is a Professor of Piano at the Manhattan School of Music, the International Keyboard Institute and Festival at Mannes, and the University of Denver Lamont School of Music.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Liszt and Richard Wagner, a German composer known for his grandiose dramatic conceptions, were associated with 'the music of the future', with Liszt virtually creating the symphonic poem.

Performer Biography

Steven Mayer, the pianist on this album, has won the Grand Prix du Disque Liszt for his recording of Liszt concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Composer Biography

Franz Liszt, born in Hungary in 1811, received early encouragement from Hungarian nobility, allowing him to study in Vienna with Czerny and meet Beethoven.

Compositional Technique

Operatic transcriptions, arrangements, paraphrases, and fantasies were a necessary part of a virtuoso performer's repertoire, and Liszt excelled in these, often treating borrowed thematic material in novel ways.

Composer Biography

Liszt's interest in virtuoso performance was rekindled after hearing the great violinist Paganini, whose technical accomplishments he then sought to emulate.