logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2023
59m 9s

Exploring the music of Liszt

Gramophone
About this episode

This week's Gramophone Podcast explores the life and works of Liszt, with a particular focus on his piano music. Editor Martin Cullingford is joined by Gramophone writer and expert on both Liszt and the piano, Jeremy Nicholas to discuss the composer's greatest works, and their greatest recordings. Visit Gramophone's website for details of the featured excerpts. 

Up next
Jul 4
Music and conversation: 500 episodes of the Gramophone Podcast
Earlier this year the Gramophone Podcast passed 1 million downloads. Now we’ve reached another milestone: our 500th episode. Launched before podcasting’s current popularity, the series steadily built a following, which grew substantially once we adopted a weekly schedule and set ... Show More
38m 20s
Jun 27
Orchestra of the Year 2025: exploring this year's nominees
Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford speaks to James Jolly about the 2025 Orchestra of the Year nominated orchestras, discussing the impact each of them has made to recordings and the wider musical landscape To vote for Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year 2025, head to gramophon ... Show More
33m 19s
Jun 20
Conductor John Andrews on recording The Seal Woman
Conductor John Andrews joins Hattie Butterworth to speak about the debut recording of Sir Granville Bantock and Marjory Kennedy-Fraser’s folk opera, The Seal Woman. They explore the folk song collecting of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, as well as Andrews’s commitment to uncovering less ... Show More
42m 10s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2022
Franz Liszt: Hungarian pianist and painter in sound
A proud Hungarian by birth, Franz Liszt was a pioneer both in his piano playing and in his compositions. He was also the nearest thing to a rock star that classical music had in the 19th century. Fans would reportedly swarm over him, try and grab his gloves, even smoke his discar ... Show More
40m 29s
Sep 2015
Lisztomania
Franz Liszt was a pianist, a composer and a conductor, and basically the first rock star who drove fans into fits of swooning and screaming. Some fans even stole the detritus of his life (unfinished coffee, broken piano strings) to carry with them. Read the show notes here. Learn ... Show More
33m 42s
Feb 2019
Episode 2: The Liszt Factor
Franz Liszt was music’s first true rock star, baby. Join David Walliams as he enrols in Liszt’s school of cool, and discovers what it really means to rock, old school. Each episode is also accompanied by a playlist in Apple Music – you can find those here: https://itunes.apple.co ... Show More
19m 25s
Dec 2022
Relaxing Piano Playlist Series 3 Episode 9
Feeling tired? Need to unwind? Then how about some gentle, soothing piano music? Welcome to the Episode 9 of the third Series of Relaxing Piano Playlist! In this themed episode, I perform for you a number of piano arrangements from original works by composers including Bach, Moza ... Show More
35m 59s
Nov 2023
Rule Breakers: Gesualdo, Beethoven and Stravinsky
Which three composers tore up the rule book and changed music forever? Joanna and Stephen begin this episode with the cold-blooded murderer, Carlo Gesualdo - a dreadful man who composed sacred music. Known for plundering the depths of emotion in his madrigals, Gesualdo's 'word-pa ... Show More
33m 27s
Jun 2009
Liszt: (Wilde Jagd - Arthur's Chase) Transcendental Etude No. 8 - Etudes d'exécution transcendante, S.139 No. 8
This Etude is comes from a set of Etudes that Liszt originally composed in his youth, but later revised to become 12 of the most technically challenging works for the piano. This is the eighth in the set. The etudes were composed in 1851 and published the following year. They wer ... Show More
6m 29s
Jun 2009
Liszt: Excerpts from Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C Sharp
This is the piece of music made famous by Bugs Bunny! One of the all-time favorite classical piano works - Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. I only recorded excerpts from this piece for two reasons. First, because I used this as an audition piece for a talent competition for whic ... Show More
2m 35s
Dec 2007
Liszt: (Evening Harmonies) Transcendental Etude No. 11
This recording is a live performance given at a solo recital in January of 2003. The recording was made on a nine-foot concert grand piano in a small recital hall. This Etude was the first of Liszt's transcendental Etudes that I studied. I fell in love with the harmonies and chor ... Show More
9m 49s