Liszt had first met Berlioz in Paris, before the first performance of the Symphonie fantastique in 1830 and in the following years did much to...

Liszt had first met Berlioz in Paris, before the first performance of the Symphonie fantastique in 1830 and in the following years did much to promote Berlioz’s work in transcriptions and then, in Weimar in the 1850s, in performances of original orchestral and dramatic works. Berlioz recalls their first meeting in his Memoirs: “I talked of Goethe’s Faust, which he admitted he had not read, but which he soon came to love as much as I. We felt an immediate affinity and from then onwards our friendship has grown always closer and stronger.” This new release, the 46th installment in the Complete Piano Music of Franz Liszt series, features several of his Berlioz Transcriptions, including selections from Berlioz’s most famous work, Symphonie Fantastique. Pianist Feng Bian received his Bachelor of Music degree and artist diploma from Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he studied with John Perry, and his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Peter Frankl and earned the Elizabith Parisot Prize. He is currently pursuing a doctor of musical arts degree at the USC Thornton School of Music. He has given recitals in China, Europe, and the United States, as well as having appeared as a soloist beside several major orchestras. In 2015 he was nominated for an American Pianist Award.