Franz Liszt

Khatia Buniatishvili’s debut album is devoted to Franz Liszt in whose music she seeks and finds her idea of musical completeness and pianistic perfection. The repertoire places a focus on the Faust theme: Liszt’s third Liebestraum was inspired by Goethe’s Faust and the Mephisto Waltz was inspired by Nikolaus Lenau’s Faust poem. The centerpiece of the recording, the Sonata in B Minor, is technically one of the most demanding works ever written for piano and is followed by Liszt’s first Mephisto Waltz (The Dance in the Village Inn). La lugubre gondola ends with a whole-tone scale and the note G sharp, leading into the key of the last piece on the recording, Liszt’s arrangement of Bach’s transfiguring Prelude and Fugue in A Minor.