Complete Piano Works Vol.31 -Bellini Operas : W.Wolfram

FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886) Complete Piano Music Vol 31

Grande Fantaisie de concert sur des motifs favoris de l’opera La Sonnambula, S393/R132
Reminiscences de Norma, S394/R133
Reminiscences des Puritains de Bellini, S390/R129
Hexameron (Morceau de concert; Grandes variations de bravoure sur la marche des Puritains de Bellini), S392/R131

William Wolfram (piano)

Recorded at Glenn Gould Studio, CBC, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 25.26 May 2009

Operatic reminiscences and fantasies were a necessary part of the repertoire of any 19th-century virtuoso pianist. Liszt excelled in these, often treating the original material in novel ways to reveal new features. Hexameron, Grandes Variations de Bravoure, comprises an introduction and statement of the March from Bellini’s I puritani (Liszt), with variations by Thalberg, Liszt, Herz, Czerny and Chopin, capped by Liszt’s spirited Finale. With this disc, William Wolfram transports us back to the heyday of the salon and the birth of the modern piano recital. ( NAXOS )