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Transcendental Etudes S. 139
Franz Liszt

Kirill Gerstein

Transcendental Etudes S. 139

Format: SACD
Label: Myrios Classics
UPC: 4260183510192
Catnr: MYR 019
Release date: 27 October 2023
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Label
Myrios Classics
UPC
4260183510192
Catalogue number
MYR 019
Release date
27 October 2023
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

Liszt‘s Transcendental Etudes are a quintessential distillation of the mid-19th century romantic project: they’re like sounding images of romanticism’s nervous system, its otherworldly experiences, and its transcendence. Most of the études, in title and content, go beyond the normal reality and depict the ghostly, visionary and the impressionistic. The musical impressionism, the depictions of the worlds beyond everyday life and the physical challenges make the cycle into one of the towering mountain peaks of piano literature. Inspired by Ferrucio Busoni’s aphorism, “Bach is the alpha and Liszt is the omega of piano playing”, last year Gerstein presented Liszt’s cycle at both Carnegie Hall and the Wigmore Hall. In London, The Observer commented: “The young Russian-American pianist tackled this staggeringly virtuosic work from memory. His technique and intellectual grasp are phenomenal”, while the New York Times observed: “[Gerstein] ended with a dazzling performance of Liszt’s 12 Transcendental Etudes, some of the most difficult music ever written for the piano... The audience seemed stunned, deliriously so...”

Artist(s)

Kirill Gerstein (piano)

Kirill Gerstein’s curiosity and versatility has led to an intense engagement with a wide range of repertoire and styles. From Bach to to Adès, his playing is distinguished by its clarity of expression, discerning intelligence and virtuosity. Gerstein’s energetic and imaginative musical personality has taken him rapidly to the top of his profession. 2016 saw Gerstein release Liszt’s 'Transcendental Études' for myrios classics which was picked by The New Yorker as one of 2016’s notable recordings. His 2015 release of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in the composer’s own final version from 1879 won an ECHO Klassik award. Based in Berlin, Kirill Gerstein appears world-wide in performances ranging from concerts with the Chicago and Boston Orchestras, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna and...
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Kirill Gerstein’s curiosity and versatility has led to an intense engagement with a wide range of repertoire and styles. From Bach to to Adès, his playing is distinguished by its clarity of expression, discerning intelligence and virtuosity. Gerstein’s energetic and imaginative musical personality has taken him rapidly to the top of his profession.
2016 saw Gerstein release Liszt’s "Transcendental Études" for myrios classics which was picked by The New Yorker as one of 2016’s notable recordings. His 2015 release of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in the composer’s own final version from 1879 won an ECHO Klassik award.
Based in Berlin, Kirill Gerstein appears world-wide in performances ranging from concerts with the Chicago and Boston Orchestras, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, London Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris, to recitals in London, Paris and New York. He is the sixth recipient of the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award which allowed him to commission new works from Timothy Andres, Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, Oliver Knussen and Brad Mehldau. Previous accolades include First Prize at the 10th Arthur Rubinstein Competition and an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Earlier recordings for myrios classics include "Imaginary Pictures", Mussorgsky’s "Pictures at an Exhibition" coupled with Schumann’s "Carnaval", named by The New York Times as one of the best recordings of 2014; two discs with Tabea Zimmerman of sonatas for viola and piano by Brahms, Schubert, Franck, Clarke and Vieuxtemps, of which the Second Volume received the “Diapason d’Or de l’année 2013”; and a recital disc of works by Schumann, Liszt and Knussen.

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Composer(s)

Franz Liszt

If you would open any biography of Franz Liszt, you would probably mostly read about his disquiet life as a piano virtuoso, his passionate love life, and the return to his catholic roots at the end of his life. Although all of this might be true, it only scratches the surface of his comprehensive musical personality. Liszt was a pianist, conductor, teacher and organiser, but above all he was a composer of a voluminous, capricious body of work. Even though his piano works formed his core business, he gave rise to the symphonic poem, got rid of the organ's stuffy appearance, and reinvigorated the oratorio. Moreover, with his piano transciptions of Bach's organ works and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, he was an...
more

If you would open any biography of Franz Liszt, you would probably mostly read about his disquiet life as a piano virtuoso, his passionate love life, and the return to his catholic roots at the end of his life. Although all of this might be true, it only scratches the surface of his comprehensive musical personality. Liszt was a pianist, conductor, teacher and organiser, but above all he was a composer of a voluminous, capricious body of work. Even though his piano works formed his core business, he gave rise to the symphonic poem, got rid of the organ's stuffy appearance, and reinvigorated the oratorio. Moreover, with his piano transciptions of Bach's organ works and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, he was an advocate of both old and new music.
Together with his son-in-law Richard Wagner, he was in the forefront of the Romantic movement and anticipated the musical revolutions of the early 20th century with his new composition techniques.


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