Liszt’s innovations and boundless experimentation continued until his very last works, ranging from rather minimalist to extremely saturated (and challenging) writing evoking an entire orchestral score. Even within the last decade of his life, Liszt’s output was extremely varied stylistically. He opened up a whole new world of harmony, using exotic modes and radical chord construction while embracing unaltered repeats of large sections. Echoes of his earlier bravura style can still be found in the transcriptions from this period, two of which are included in this album.
It’s fascinating to compare the third Mephisto Waltz and the very last, 19th Hungarian Rhapsody with their predecessors written decades earlier. Liszt kept up the habit of tirelessly perfecting his works, and many of these late compositions exist in multiple versions, not all published.
I selected and learned the works featured on this album in the hope that the listener discovers new facets of the composer’s genius, picking up where my previous album – Liszt: Unrivalled – left off. These lesserplayed compositions allow for greater interpretive freedom and I thoroughly enjoyed recording them.
