Ravel Reflections not only presents an impressive artistic statement from Anton Gerzenberg, but also a kind of musical self-portrait: the young pianist proves himself to be an interpreter with analytical acumen, playful wit, and a captivating virtuosity that always remains committed to expression. His playing combines clarity and refinement with passion and a fearless willingness to take risks-qualities that made him the winner of the 2021 Géza Anda Competition and which also characterize this album.

In 1975, coinciding with the inauguration of their new headquarters in Madrid, the Fundacion Juan March launched their Young Performers recitals, a series of presenter-led concerts for secondary-school students, performed by leading Spanish artists. In their first season, five outstanding Spanish pianists-all former fellows of the Fundacion-guided young listeners on a journey through the European piano tradition, from Mozart to Debussy. This remastering brings back to life the historical recordings of several performances from that first season. The selection included on the original 1976 LP, released under the title Conciertos para jovenes. Recital de piano romantico, constitutes a valuable documentary record of Spanish pianism, now returned to circulation following a meticulous remastering process.

Greek-Russian pianist Sasha Stychkina, born in December 2003 in Moscow into a family of musicians and filmmakers, is the youngest finalist and winner in the history of the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris in November 2019. Today she presents her first recital, recorded at the Teldex studio in Berlin under the artistic direction of her teacher, the charismatic and renowned pianist Kirill Gerstein. A decidedly varied programme-Weber, Bartok, Ravel, Chopin, Liszt-it is by turns virtuosic, dance-like and spiritual. Sasha Stychkina also introduces us to a little-known composer, Alexei Vladimirovich Stanchinsky (1888-1914), a mystical figure, considered mad - he spent a year in a psychiatric hospital - who drowned at the age of twenty-six. A student of Taneyev, encouraged by Scriabin, and introduced to Tolstoy, the composer nevertheless had a bright future ahead of him. The Five Preludes (1907-1912, published posthumously in 1928), chosen by Sasha Stychkina, are particularly evocative and visionary.

From the 1830s onward, Liszt's compositions increasingly acknowledged poetic, literary and philosophical impulses, often signaled through titles, epigraphs or extra-musical associations. This stimulus would later crystallise in his codification of the symphonic poem, but it was equally present in his keyboard music, where narrative, rhetoric and symbolism frequently replace abstract formal logic. A central expression of this aesthetic is Liszt's lifelong engagement with transcription and transformation. For him, the piano was not simply a self-contained instrument but a medium capable of absorbing the sonorities, gestures and emotional weight of voices and orchestras alike. His transcriptions were acts of interpretation rather than replication - creative reimaginings that sought the core meaning of a work and translated it into a pianistic language of heightened intensity. Choral music posed a particularly compelling challenge: the task of condensing collective utterance into the hands of a single performer allowed Liszt to explore the boundary between shared musical identity and individual contemplation. The works recorded here trace Liszt's artistic evolution from the assertive rhetoric of his early maturity to the compressed, exploratory language of his final years. Michael Kaykov's selection of repertoire brings together pieces that illuminate Liszt's habit of revisiting and reworking material across decades. Heard in this context, these works emerge not as peripheral by-products of Liszt's workshop, but as self-contained musical statements - compact, vivid, and eloquent - whose significance lies in their interconnections as much as in their distinctive voices.

Naruhiko Kawaguchi's A Journey with Beethoven presents a thoughtfully curated selection of shorter piano works and arrangements that reveal the composer's diverse character beyond the sonatas. Performed on three historical fortepianos from the Finchcocks Collection, the programme traces a musical and emotional path through bagatelles, rondos, dances, transcriptions and the Fantasy in G minor, alongside a rarely heard 1822 revision of Fur Elise. The recording highlights the evolving sound world of Beethoven's era while showcasing varied expressive styles, from wit and lyricism to introspection. Through historically informed performance, Kawaguchi offers a fresh perspective on familiar and lesser-known repertoire within a cohesive artistic narrative.

Dora Deliyska's programs are frequently dedicated to a specific theme that links the individual pieces together. At first glance, this does not appear to be the case with the present CD. Yet it would not be Dora Deliyska if there were not, in fact, a-perhaps mysterious-connection between the pieces performed. - Christian Kuhn

Internationally acclaimed concert organist Zuzana Ferjencikova, who is currently working on a complete recording of Jean Guillou's organ works for AEOLUS, can be heard on her new album "Legendes" with her own transcriptions of works by Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, and Liszt. The centerpieces are Beethoven's Grande Sonate Pathetique and Liszt's second legend of St. Francis, as well as Ferjencikova's fascinating arrangement of the aria "Tristis est anima mea" from his oratorio "Christus." The Seifert instrument used for the recording is at the heart of the numerous musical activities of "Orgelwelten Ratingen" and, thanks to it's tonal diversity, is extremely versatile. The new SACD (stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround) reproduces the sound of the instrument, distributed in several locations in the room, in all it's multidimensionality with remarkable plasticity. Die international gefragte Konzertorganistin Zuzana Ferjencikova, die bei AEOLUS an einer Gesamtaufnahme der Orgelwerke von Jean Guillou arbeitet, ist auf ihrem neuen Album "Legendes" mit ihren eignenen Transkriptionen von Werken Beethovens, Mozarts, Schumanns und Liszts zu horen. I'm Zentrum stehen dabei vor Beethovens Grande Sonate Pathetique und Liszts zweite Franziskuslegende sowie Ferjencikovas faszinierende Bearbeitung der Arie "Tristis est anima mea" aus dessen Oratorium "Christus". Das fur die Aufnahme verwendete Instrument der Firma Seifert steht i'm Zentrum der zahlreichen musikalischen Aktivitaten der "Orgelwelten Ratingen" und ist Dank seiner Klangfarbenvielfalt extrem vielseitig einsetzbar. Die neue SACD (Stereo und 5.1 Multichannel Surround) gibt den Klang des an mehreren Orten i'm Raum verteilten Instrumentes in seiner Mehrdimensionalitat außerst plastisch wieder.

The German star pianist Matthias Kirschnereitdedicates this album entirely to the piano cosmos of Richard Wagner?. Wagner himself wrote few works for solo piano, but he influenced many of his contemporaries and musical heirs with his work?. Matthias Kirschnereit presents a wide range of repertoire - Wagner: Sonata for the album M.W., Lied ohne Worte E major for Eduard Reitz, In das Album der Furstin M., Zurcher Vielliebchen Walzer, Polka, Notenbrief fur Mathilde Wesendonck, Ankunft bei den Schwarzen Schwanen; Wagner/Stradal: Schmerzen; Wagner/Rubinstein: Musikalische Bilder aus Siegfried; Liszt: Am Grabe Richard Wagners; Bizet: Premier Nocturne D Dur; Duparc: Aux etoiles; Langgaard: Stambogsblad; Bulow: Innocence; Bruckner: Erinnerung; Mendelssohn: Lied ohne Worte E Dur op.38/3?

Franz Liszt (1811-1886), though primarily known for his groundbreaking work as a pianist and composer, had an indirect but meaningful relationship with the harp. While he did not compose extensively for the instrument, he recognized it's expressive capabilities and occasionally incorporated it into his orchestral and vocal works. His appreciation for the harp's unique timbre is especially evident in pieces like the Dante Symphony and Les Preludes, where the harp adds a celestial or ethereal texture that complements his dramatic musical narratives. Liszt's circle of influence also brought him into contact with harpists of his time, and he occasionally arranged pieces that could be adapted for the harp. His transcription of Schubert's Ave Maria, for instance, has become a popular work among harpists. Though he never wrote solo harp compositions, the lyrical and arpeggiated nature of his piano writing shares similarities with harp technique, suggesting an understanding of the instrument's expressive qualities. This beautiful program presents arrangements of works by Liszt which are especially suitable for performance on the harp: Ave Maria, Schubert's Standchen, 6 Consolations, 3 Liebestraume, Angelus. The harp arrangements are by several famous harp players and composers from the end of the 19th century. Beautifully played by Anna Pasetti, one of the leading harp players of today. As a musicologist, she is the author of about 300 publications on the history of the harp and it's repertoire (including 5 monographs), but she also has numerous recordings to her credit, mostly dedicated to the unknown harp repertoire that she herself rediscovered.

With this LP, IBA is beginning to release a new series of live concert recordings from the immense sound/video archive of Idil Biret from the 1950s to 2020. On the first LP, Schumann's Fantasie Op. 17 from the New York concert at Alice Tully Hall in 1972 and Liszt's Sonata in B minor from the Paris concert at Salle Gaveau in 1978 are included. These two performances of the works were significant milestones in Biret's concert career, opening up to her the stages of the Soviet Union and East Germany.

Rome 1839, Palazzo Poli: one of Liszt's Roman concerts has gained significance in the history of music. A prominent audience of high ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries listened to Liszt's performances. Strangely enough, it was at this concert that Liszt took the risk of introducing a new type of program, as he decided for the first time to dispense with the participation of other artists and to conduct the evening entirely on his own. This was the first "solo piano recital" or, as Liszt jokingly put it: "The first of my boring musical monologues, which I now want to give everywhere in future. Le Concert c'est moi!" This album by Kateryna Titova presents live recordings as well as recordings made as part of an eponymous exhibition at the museum at Liszt's birthplace Raiding, featuring, among others, the so-called Dante Sonata, Liebestraume Nos. 2 & 3, two Paganini etudes as well as the first Mephisto Waltz.

Marches and other patriotic music frequently occupied the final place in Liszt's recitals, often emphasising the Hungarian cause, which Liszt supported. They also could have contributed to the previously mentioned mood of Lisztomania. It is therefore unsurprising that marches are to be found in Liszt's compositions and arrangements throughout his lifetime. They are represented here with works from around 1830 to 1879, all arrangements of other composers' music, which, in Liszt's hands, achieve artistic heights only found infrequently elsewhere. Given the common practice of the era for performer-composers to play their own music, Liszt could, through the inclusion of an arrangement of a well-known march, acknowledge others' music, and also pay respect to the culture of wherever the concert was taking place. In an era when recordings were not possible, piano arrangements of orchestral and vocal works were commonplace. Liszt cultivated this medium particularly successfully, creating arrangements of, for example, Beethoven symphonies and paraphrases of stage works by Russian composers such as Glinka. Arrangements heard here of marches by Beethoven, Giuseppe Donizetti, Glinka, Massenet, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Schubert and Szechenyi, indicate the breadth of Liszt's programming for his time.

Volume 68 in the Liszt Complete Piano Music series features transcriptions of dance works by illustrious colleagues such as Smetana, Weber and Raff, amongst others. The pianist on this volume, Steinway Artist Wenting Shi, has received numerous prestigious awards and accolades throughout her career.

Ronald Smith approached Nimbus at a turbulent time in the industry. His long-time recording partnership was in transition, and he would make six visits to the Nimbus studio, a peaceful space in the ballroom of the Victorian mansion at Wyastone Leys just outside Monmouth. His initial visits in February and August 1980 were concerned with core repertoire: Chopin's Etudes Op. 10 and Op. 25, his Sonata Op. 58, and the Liszt Sonata. He returned in 1983 to record Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and Busoni's transcription of Bach's Chaconne. In 1985 there were two visits: in May to record an album of popular Beethoven Sonatas, then in September to deliver Balakirev's B-flat minor Sonata and Scriabin's 'Black Mass' Sonata No. 9. A final visit in June 1986 was devoted to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The sessions in 1980 were both 'analogue', being made on reel-to-reel tape machines. We had little idea how quickly such industry-wide state-of-the-art technology would be brutally swept aside by the arrival of digital recording, and it's market counterpart, the Compact Disc. Ronald's Chopin Etudes were released on LP the following year. The LP sleeve went as far as announcing the catalogue number of the upcoming Chopin/Liszt Sonata pairing. The master was approved and ready to go. But all things 'digital' upended all sense: the record world, it's media, and followers clamoured for digital recordings of standard works. Labels rushed to satisfy the demand (Nimbus was no exception), and unreleased 'analogue' masters fell into a dark hole. Ronald Smith's later digital recordings enjoyed immediate release, but not so the Chopin/Liszt Sonatas-until now, 45 years on. © Adrian Farmer

All the works recorded here were composed between 1825 and 1835, when Mendelssohn was aged between sixteen and twenty-six. He spent much of this decade travelling, from Berlin to Paris via Weimar, then London and Scotland before work in Dusseldorf eventually led to his appointment as municipal musical director and conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig. The Piano Sonata in E major and that in B flat major, and indeed the Phantasie (subtitled Sonate ecossaise), owe some debt to Beethoven, but are also influenced by Weber, Hummel, and Moscheles (to whom the Phantasie was dedicated). The two shorter works (Scherzo à capriccio and Capriccio) perhaps show a more relaxed side of the composer, free from the constraints of sonata form. Liszt's virtuosic re-working of themes from A Midsummer Night's Dream completes the programme. Born in Manchester in 1953, Peter Donohoe studied at Chetham's School of Music for seven years, graduated in music from the University of Leeds, and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek Wyndham, and then in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. He is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility, and commanding technique.

The music that celebrates the agony of Romanticism, lives on a mysticism whose traces our materialism has rendered legendary. Around the artists of Art Nouveau (Liberty), is a proliferation of esoteric movements, in search of that link between soul and cosmic forces, which, in music, becomes sound.

The Puerto Rican pianist JESÚS MARÍA SANROMÁ (1902-1984) came to the USA to study and subsequently built his career there. He had a very wide repertoire and gave the US premieres of many contemporary works, including Ravel's G major Concerto, but was equally at home in the classics or Gershwin. He had a long association with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and their summer festival brand, the 'Pops', resulting in the series of concertos reproduced here. All are conducted by Arthur Fiedler (1894-1979), who led the 'Pops' for an astonishing 50 years from 1930. Their Gershwin Rhapsody was a huge hit, and the MacDowell and Paderewski were first recordings. We have filled out the set with Sanromá's first recording of a selection of dances by Juan Morel Campos, his 19th-century Puerto Rican fellow countryman.

The album opens with Liszt's transcriptions of two passionate and romantic works: Schumann's Widmung from the song cycle Myrthen and Isoldes Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, followed by the charming and magical Spinnerlied from Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer. Several transcriptions of Schubert's lied are featured here: the sombre Der Doppelgänger from Schwanengesang and Der Müller und der Bach (the inspiration for the album) from Die Schöne Müllerin; the soothing Frühlingsglaube and the delightful and imaginative Ständchen von Shakespeare (Horch, hoch! Die Lerch!); finally, a piece (No. 6) from Liszt's own Soirées de Vienne cycle - arrangements of Schubert's tremendous 12 Valses Nobles, D. 969. The album has a "coda": the Valse from Gounod's opera Faust, the subject of several works by Liszt. This famous virtuoso piano transcription is full of drama and excitement, with "diabolic" sections but also gentle and lyrical, at times even transcendent. Indre Petrauskaite says, "It is delightful to take the example from Liszt himself and continue to 'practise' the love for the original music while 'revisiting' these famous transcriptions.'

On 17 April 2026, Divine Art is delighted to present France Revisited, Vol. 2, the second volume of French music for piano four hands from Piano A Deux, the husband and wife team of Robert and Linda Stoodley. France Revisited, Vol.2 includes Gabriel Faure's Dolly Suite, George Onslow's Sonata No.2 in F Minor, Op 22, and the Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 by Franz Liszt, arranged for four hands by Franz Bendel with new cadenzas by Piano A Deux - this is the premiere recording. Faure's Dolly Suite is a charming set of six duets for four hands, written for the daughter of Emma Bardac, who eventually married Debussy. The Suite was often re-visited by Faure, and in 1906 was arranged for orchestra by Henri Rabaud. The piano duets were first premeired by Alfred Cortot and edouard Risler in 1898. Born in France but of English descent, George Onslow's music found approval from elites like Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn, being crowned the "French Beethoven" by his publisher and other contemporaries, although later falling out of favour. During their research into less well-known composers, Piano A Deux discovered Onslow's duet sonatas in a dusty library drawer. The Opus 7 Duo Sonata was recorded for the first volume of France Revisited and the Sonata No.2 in F Minor, Opus 22 is heard in this second volume. Given many performances by Chopin and Liszt, it is conceived on a grand scale, symphonic in structure and reflects the Beethovenian aspects of Onslow's style. Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 is probably one of the best-known solo pieces in the piano repertoire, from a composer who stands like a colossus in the pianist world, crossing geographical boundaries. Piano A Deux have taken Bendel's arrangement for four hands, adapted it and written their own cadenzas, returning the piece to it's virtuosic persona. An adventurous piano duo with a wide repertoire which includes major classical works and their original arrangements from the world of opera, film and musical theatre, Piano A Deux have performed in countries like Singapore, Italy, Germany and Finland to standing ovations. Meanwhile their concerts on cruise ships have won them a large following of seasoned concertgoers as well as new audiences who are delighted by their unique themed programs, exquisite music-making and charisma blended with humour." Novel programming presented with charm, humour and drama, combined with their original arrangements has won them many fans worldwide. Surprisingly, Robert & Linda met online, not through music. They married in 2008 and "Piano À Deux" was formed in 2010. Piano A Deux have been hailed as being worthy of taking on the mantle of longtime Divine Art recording artists Goldstone and Clemmow, a duo whose career was aborted by the untimely death of Anthony Goldstone. Their playing in 'France Revisited' Vol 1 was praised as "piano four hands... at it's very best.."

This first recording of the Eule Organ of Magdalen College, Oxford (opened in January 2023) features a wide range of music performed by Alexander Pott. From Wagner to Delius, the repertoire showcases the instrument's German Romantic heritage as well as it's suitability for English 20th-Century transcription, thanks to it's distinctive voice, colour, breadth and sensitivity.