Release Date: 01 January 2004
Label: Hyperion Records Ltd
Packaging Type: Brilliant Case (Jewel Case size, Holds 2 CDs)
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 034571174457
Genres: Classical Solo Instrumental
Description
One of Liszt’s most personal and confessional piano cycles, the Harmonies poetiques et religieuses (composed between 1846 and 1851) contains two of his best-loved masterpieces – the serenely contemplative ‘Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude’ and the heroic elegy ‘Funerailles’. This outstanding recording makes a much-needed case for the collection as a whole, setting these well-known works in their wider spiritual context. Important works such as ‘Pensee des morts’ (an extraordinarily dark meditation on the oft-visited subject of death) and ‘Cantique d’amour’ (one of Liszt’s most beautifully expressive reveries) are revealed, as are rarely heard transcriptions of Liszt’s own sacred choral works.
Steven Osborne captures the music’s spiritual essence to perfection, further demonstrating his affinity with music of mystical contemplation, a quality so widely acclaimed in his superb recording of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards.
Tracklisting
Roberto Prosseda, London Philharmonic Orchestra / Nir Kabaretti
The Brabant Ensemble / Stephen Rice
Steven Isserlis
The Nash Ensemble
MultiPiano Ensemble, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Ivor Bolton
Marc-Andre Hamelin
Marc-Andre Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Litton
Gothic Voices / Christopher Page
F. Liszt
F. Liszt
F. Liszt
F. Liszt
F. Liszt
F. Liszt
F. Liszt
