The young pianist Louis Schwizgebel joins us from Switzerland to perform Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E major. 'He produced a lovely lyrical dance, ballet-like, caressing the strings with the keyboard hammers yet maintaining crystal clear separation in the notes in even the most fleeting runs.' (Bachtrack, April 2017)
Sándor Veress (1907-1992), is one of the most important members of the generation of Hungarian composers who followed Bartók; he was an experimental and inventive composer who, like Bartók, had to leave his homeland. And, just like Bartók, Veress was born in Transylvannia. Threnos was written in 1945 in memory of Bartók, shortly after the composer's death.
As most schoolchildren know (at least in Hungary), Franz Liszt began his musical career as a pianist, and it was in this guise that he made his name throughout Europe before becoming a composer. Liszt's piano concertos are the finest examples of the confluence of the two sides of his talent, as he both wrote and performed these works. Liszt put the first rough sketches of what would become his E major piano concerto down on paper in his youth around the year 1830, though he only began to elaborate the composition in more detail in his Weimar period. He worked on the piece with great professional care and self-criticism, writing no fewer than five variations over time. The premiere eventually took place in Weimar on 17 February 1855: Liszt played the piano solo himself with Berlioz, who was visiting the city, as conductor. The four movements of the piece merge into one unified whole.
Liszt strived to show everything in his music: the worlds of nature, poetry, history, faith and philosophy. His ambition to express everything through music led him to Faust and the creation of one of his most important and influential pieces of music, the Faust Symphony.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic