Decca to Release Nelson Freire’s New Recording of Liszt, May 17, 2011

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“…the Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire offers a gentle reminder that decorous piano playing and interpretive depth have an irresistible power all their own.” – New York Times

2011 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of pianist-composer Franz Liszt, and Nelson Freire now offers his own recording in tribute. This very personal selection of works spans Liszt’s highly varied musical styles and also highlights a few of his lesser-known compositions. Grammy®-nominated pianist Nelson Freire continues his exclusive association with Decca with Liszt: Harmonies du Soir, available May 17, 2011.

Liszt’s reputation has fluctuated wildly (unlike that of his contemporaries such as Chopin and Schumann), and it is only in relatively recent times that his true stature has been fully realized. Though he was possibly the greatest and certainly the most charismatic of pianists, his compositions embraced many areas of music. But if his symphonic poems, Masses, oratorios and songs are often musically revolutionary, his piano music takes precedence both for its quantity and its quality. There was a time when Liszt was considered mostly a flashy showman (and indeed, audiences came to see if he had more than ten fingers), but today the situation could hardly be more different. As Nelson Freire’s wide-ranging program shows, Liszt was a true master of an ever-varying style and his works point to the future of music in numerous ways.

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