Liszt: Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works

Description

In his new album "Liszt : Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works" for Sony Classical, Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes explores the lesser-known side of the famous virtuoso Franz Liszt - sacred music that offers a more intimate portrait of the composer and his deep faith.With the renowned vocal ensemble "The Norwegian Soloists' Choir" conducted by Grete Pedersen, Andsnes has recorded Liszt's remarkable late work, Via Crucis ("The Way of the Cross") for choir and piano, combining this rarely heard piece with some of the most beautiful and beloved of Liszt's solo piano works, the Consolations, S.172.While the Via Crucis is a profound and emotionally charged musical depiction of the crucifixion of Christ, combining dramatic piano writing with religious imagery and symbolism, Liszt's Consolations are a set of six pieces for solo piano that express a sense of comfort, peace, and contemplation, often reflecting themes of loss, longing, and spiritual solace. Andsnes' album also includes two movements from Liszt's Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, a magnificent cycle of 10 movements written in 1853, inspired by poems by Alphonse de Lamartine.