Franz Liszt - “The Musician of the Future”

As an embodiment of the Romantic ideal of the artist, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a brilliant musician and a captivating man, a smart cosmopolitan and a devoted patriot, a celebrated star and a generous giver. He was born Hungarian, in a small Hungarian village called Doborján (today called Raiding, and a part of Austria). His father was a farm manager in the employ of the Princes Esterházy. The young Liszt had miraculous talent; as a pianist, he was frequently invited to perform in the aristocratic salons of Vienna and Paris. Although he was not accepted by the Conservatoire, the most famous maestros of his age, Czerny and Salieri polished his skills.

He had an amazing career: taking Paganini, “the devil's violinist” as a role model, Liszt became a virtuoso of the piano. He toured the continent from London to St. Petersburg. It was Liszt who institutionalized concerts before a larger public. An openhearted musician, at his concerts he played the works of his contemporaries, with as much enthusiasm as his own brilliant and daring pieces to popularise them. (His legendary paraphrases, parts from Verdi, Bellini and Gounod operas, paraphrases of Lieds by Schubert and Schumann served the same purpose.) Later, having accepted the invitation of the Weimar court, he became head of the ducal orchestra. As a conductor he did a great service to his contemporaries; he conducted the orchestra at opening nights of new symphonic pieces and operas, endorsing new trends with his own reputation.

His oeuvre as a composer enriched primarily piano literature, although his influence on other genres from operas (Don Sanche was written by 15-year-old Liszt) through ecclesiastical music (masses and oratorios) to symphonic pieces (he created the new genre of the symphonic poem) and vocal music was equally great. He was a daring innovator, duly deserving the title of “musician of the future”. Nevertheless, he had to endure a lot of strong criticism from his conservative judges and those who envied him. In terms of achievement in the world of music, he was a precursor of the 20^th century, a genuine and modern musician to this day. As for his achievements in teaching, Liszt created the great European tradition of piano school, as represented worldwide by his disciples, the students of the Academy of Music in Budapest, also established by the Maestro.

Mária Kerényi

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The Symphonic Poems of Franz Liszt

Prometheus

“Suffering and glorification! The concentration of the basic idea of this very realistic myth demanded the use of stormy, passionate expression. Its musical character is thus the voice of desperation, which, as a result of proud, defiant perseverance, finally becomes victorious.” It was Liszt himself who summed up thus the basic idea of his symphonic poem about Prometheus. Anyone who can detect a similarity between this work and Tasso is probably right. The conditions of the creation of both works are also similar. This time also the commemoration of a poet who had lived in Weimar gave occasion for composition. The statue of Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) was unveiled in 1850. The ceremony was followed by a theatrical performance of Herder's drama, Prometheus freed from his chains. Liszt composed choruses for certain parts of the drama and also an overture. A slightly transformed version of this later became an independent symphonic poem.


Mazeppa

The history of the composition of Mazeppa is especially complicated. The most important motifs of its musical material first appeared in an etude for the piano, which Liszt wrote at the age of fifteen, when he was still unfamiliar with the works of Victor Hugo and Byron. It was during the third arrangement of the etude that the title referring to the legend of the Cossack captain tied to his horse and the dedication to Hugo appeared at the top of the scores. The orchestral piece is the further transformation of this etude. The composer made the most significant changes in the final part, where he tried to make the triumph of Mazeppa, who had survived his tribulations and become a sort of popular leader, even more effective by employing the theme of a former choral work of his.

Mazeppa, or more precisely: Ivan Stepanovich Mazeppa, did in fact exist. He was a Ukranian nobleman who lived from 1644 to 1709. Contrary to the romantic story, he must have been a true adventurer. Having survived the punishment imposed on him after an adulterous affair by the husband of the seduced lady, he spent his remaining days as a kind of informer and schemer who was willing to spy on his own relatives in the hope of a reward. He didn't deserve to be made immortal by Hugo, Byron and Liszt.


Tasso, lamento e trionfo

Ferenc Liszt didn't like Goethe's poetry. The Goethe cult of Weimar irritated him. In one of his letters he wrote to the prince of Wittgenstein that “every subject connected to Goethe was dangerous” to him. Still, at times he braved this danger. He composed songs to lines of Goethe's verses and his greatest orchestral work was inspired by Goethe's Faust. Also, he agreed immediately when asked to compose an overture for Tasso, Goethe's drama, on the 100th anniversary of the great poet's birth. It is true that he proved to be quite cunning on that occasion, for in fact it was not Goethe's play which inspired his imagination, but much rather Byron's poem, Tasso's lament, or to be more precise, the fate, suffering and finally the posthumous recognition, “belated triumph” of Torquato Tasso, the Renaissance poet, author of Jerusalem Liberated, who was locked up in a madhouse. Liszt gave the sub-title “Lamento e trionfo” to his symphonic poem when the first variation was performed in 1849. Although one would expect a piece composed of two parts on the basis of the sub-title, the composition can, in fact, be divided into three major parts. In between the slow, lamenting introduction in C minor and the triumphant finale in C major, there is a longer Quasi menuetto. Liszt creates an organic unity between the parts primarily by evoking the same basic theme over and over again in many different variations. The tune itself is not his own invention, but one he heard from gondoliers in Venice, who, to his greatest amazement and joy, sang the first lines of Jerusalem Liberated to this melody in the 1830's.


Les Préludes

Les Préludes, perhaps the most popular of Liszt's symphonic poems, was first heard in concert in 1854 in Weimar. However, the history of its origin goes back a decade. In 1844, Liszt met the poet Joseph Autran in Marseille. Autran greeted the composer in a poem and wrote enthusiastically about him. Liszt was greatly moved and following a banquet one evening, he asked for a pencil and note paper and immediately set Autran's poem (dedicated to him) to music. Some time later, he set three other poems to music as well and gave them the title The Four Elements. Soon after, he composed an overture to the cycle. From this, after several arrangements and re-orchestrations, the final version was created, as it is known today, to which the composer, struck by a sudden inspiration, joined Alphonse de Lamartine's philosophical poem Les Préludes about the meaning of life, giving the impression that it was this slightly high-flown poem that had inspired him. The composition is built on two basic themes, the second one can first be heard after quite a lengthy introduction, in the 70th bar. Analysts usually differentiate four major form phases, the third being pastorale-like, ethereal music, while the fourth is a victorious march.

Sándor Kovács


This recording was an exceptional challenge, as we recorded nearly the same programme as János Ferencsik had done long ago. For us he was one of the greatest Hungarian musicians of the past fifty years, so it was a hard task to find out what else we could add to the former record, and how else these pieces could be interpreted. Apart from reaching the perfect acoustic experience we tried to save the vividness of the performance, and starting from the tradition, we made an effort to create a new quality.

Zsolt Hamar

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Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

The history of the National Philharmonics goes back 75 years. The Orchestra of the Capital, headed by conductor Dezső Bor, was founded in 1923 and can be considered the ancestor of today’s ensemble. In the beginning its members weren’t professional musicians but amateurs, civil servants who loved music. The Budapest Concert Orchestra was founded in 1930. Its members were all young, professional musicians. Rehearsals were directed by Nándor Zsolt, but the concerts were usually conducted by guest conductors. Their first public performance was conducted by none other than the famous Bruno Walter.

In 1939, the Directorate of the capital of Budapest decreed that the Orchestra of the Capital should be expanded. In practice, the realization of this decree was as follows: from then on, the majority of the musicians of the Budapest Concert Orchestra performed with the Orchestra of the Capital (and consequently, the Concert Orchestra soon broke up).

After the war, Ferenc Fricsay and László Somogyi were appointed to head the ensemble. Otto Klemperer also conducted the musicians quite often. In 1952, after significant reorganization, the orchestra, which by then had 90 members, was named the Hungarian State Concert Orchestra and János Ferencsik was appointed at its head. Ferencsik remained leader of the orchestra until his death in 1984. During these three decades, the ensemble travelled all around the world, presented and performed the works of several Hungarian composers and received famous guest conductors and soloists each year. In 1963, for example, Igor Stravinsky, who was visiting Budapest, conducted the orchestra. Ernest Ansermet, Zubin Mehta and Claudio Abbado are just a few of the most famous artists to perform with the orchestra.

In 1987, after a short, transitory period following the death of János Ferencsik, members of the orchestra invited Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro, winner of the Hungarian Television’s 1^st International Conductors’ Competition, to be their leader. The Kobayashi era was a time of great successes and many wonderful tours for the ensemble. The connection with Kobayashi exists to this day, for the Japanese master is the honorary president of the orchestra. The next change in the life of the orchestra took place in the autumn of 1997, when Zoltán Kocsis accepted the appointment of artistic leader and Zsolt Hamar became first permanent conductor. Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro was elected honorary chief conductor of the orchestra. From 1^st January 1998 the ensemble has adopted a new name, and now appears on stage as the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra.


Zsolt Hamar

Zsolt Hamar, conductor, was born in 1968. He began playing the piano at the age of six, then studied composition as a pupil of István Fekete Győr at the Béla Bartók Conservatory. At the Academy of Music he studied composition with Professor Emil Petrovics and in his final years he also took up conducting. His professors were Ervin Lukács and Tamás Gál. He got his degree in 1995. In the same year, he won Second Prize in the Hungarian Television’s International Conductors’ Competition and won the Public’s Award as well. In 1996, in the Conductors’ Competition organized in Cadaques, Spain, he came second once again. In 1997, however, he was awarded First Prize at the Portuguese Radio’s International Conductors’ Competition. From 1995, he worked with Tamás Vásáry for a year and conducted the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio and Television. In October 1996, he was Sir Yehudi Menuhin’s partner in conducting the Gala Concert of the World Music Day.

From 1996 to 1998 he was assistant professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. He has been engaged to conduct the Budapest Philharmonic Society, the MATÁV Hungarian Symphonic Orchestra, the Hungarian State Opera and the Csokonai Theatre of Debrecen. In the autumn of 1997, on the recommendation of Zoltán Kocsis, the musical director, he was appointed First Permanent Conductor of the National Philharmonics (formerly the Hungarian State Concert Orchestra).

In January 1998 he appeared for the first time at the head of the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin and in May 1998 he conducted the Weiner Kammerorchester at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, then at the invitation of Dr. Hans Landesmann, he was able to study Verdi’s opera, Don Carlos with Lorin Maazel at the Salzburg Music Festival. In June, at the invitation of Sigmund Krause, he conducted the Polish Radio’s Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw.