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Leon McCawley Leon McCawley leapt into prominence when he won both First Prize in the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and Second FRANZ LISZT Prize in the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1993. Described as 8.570466 “a pianist of rare quality” by London’s Daily Telegraph, his recordings for Virgin/EMI and Avie Records have received many accolades including DDD Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 two “Editor’s Choice” awards in Gramophone and a Diapason d’Or. Leon McCawley has given highly acclaimed recitals at the Wigmore Hall, (Transcription for Two Pianos) Queen Elizabeth Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Prague Rudolfinum and Vienna Musikverein, among other venues. He performs frequently with many of the leading British orchestras and has performed several times at Leon McCawley • Ashley Wass the BBC Proms. He broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 in recital and with many of the BBC orchestras. Further afield he has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra among many others. Conductors he has worked with include Mark Elder, Paavo Järvi, Andrew Litton, Kurt Masur, Sakari Oramo and Simon Rattle. www.leonmccawley.com Photo by Sheila Rock Ashley Wass Described by Gramophone as possessing ‘the enviable gift to turn almost anything he plays into pure gold’, Ashley Wass is the only British pianist to have won First Prize at the London International Piano Competition and is also a former BBC New Generation Artist. He is Naxos’s first ever exclusively contracted solo artist, and his recent surveys of piano music by Bridge and Bax have been heralded as ‘unmissable’ and ‘the yardstick against which all future recordings will be judged’. He has given recitals at most of the major venues in Britain and also appeared in a gala concert COMPLETE at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Concerto performances have included collaborations with Sir Simon Rattle and the PIANO City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, MUSIC Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony and all the BBC orchestras. Ashley Wass is also much in demand as a chamber musician and has toured the United States and Europe with violinist Sarah Chang appearing C at venues such as Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall in New York. He is Artistic Director of the Lincolnshire International M Chamber Music Festival. Photo by Jack Liebeck Y VOLUME 28 K 8.570466 4 570466bk Liszt US:570034bk Hasse 15/2/08 8:37 PM Page 2

Franz Liszt (1811–1886) always to hold Beethoven in the greatest respect, a the latter’s 22nd birthday in 1855. Two Piano Transcription of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (S657/R376) reverence reflected in his activities in the cause of the The transcription for two pianos, with its careful Beethoven Monuments in Bonn and Vienna and festivals inclusion of original phrasing and occasional specifi- Nevertheless one meets here and there some artists who protest their high esteem for the classical music of Haydn, of Beethoven’s music. Among particularly treasured cation of the original instrumentation, avoids the obvious Mozart and Beethoven – but it is rather like the way that one hears sometimes in other capitals some society women possessions itemised in the will he made in 1860 were difficulties of a transcription for a single piano, partially boast of the profundities of German philosophy, of which they take good care not to have a closer knowledge. the death mask of Beethoven and the latter’s Broadwood solved there by the inclusion on extra staves of the choral – Liszt to Friedrich Wilhelm Constantin, Prince von Hohenzollern-Hechingen. Rome, 26th January 1862 piano, which after Liszt’s death was presented by Princess parts of the last movement of the symphony. The two- Carolyne and her daughter, Princess Hohenlohe, to the piano version, as published, includes the words, printed in It was with the zeal of a missionary that Franz Liszt compositions, including transcriptions of songs and National Museum in Budapest. the score, and clarifies, as in the other Beethoven championed the music of an earlier generation, and above operatic fantasies, part of the stock-in-trade of a virtuoso. In the summer of 1837, spent at the country house of symphony transcriptions of Liszt, the part-writing and all that of Beethoven, whose works he included in his Liszt’s relationship with a married woman, the Comtesse George Sand at Nohant, Liszt, accompanied there by structure of one of the great monuments of Western music. concert programmes and on whose behalf he worked over Marie d’Agoult, led to his departure from Paris for years Marie d’Agoult, had worked on his piano transcriptions In his modest preface to the later published transcriptions the years for commemorative monuments in Bonn and in of travel abroad, first to Switzerland, then back to Paris, of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, which were Liszt suggests that the poorest lithograph and the most Vienna. In a letter of 1865 he condemns in particular the before leaving for Italy, Vienna and Hungary. By 1844 published, with a transcription of Symphony No. 7 in 1840. incorrect translation still give a vague idea of the genius attitudes in Paris, where ‘sots et pitoyables jugements’ his relationship with his mistress, the mother of his three These early versions of Beethoven symphonies were later of Michelangelo, of Shakespeare, and that the piano, with are expressed about the Ninth Symphony and where there children, was at an end, but his concert activities to be revised and supplemented by trans-criptions of the its increased range, could largely reproduce all features, has been evident reluctance to accept Beethoven, even continued until 1847, the year in which his association six other symphonies, including, after some reluctance, all combinations, all figurations of the most thorough and after the changes of 1848. Born at Raiding, in Hungary, began with Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, a Polish the Choral Symphony. The single piano version of this profound musical creations, lacking only the very great in 1811, the son of Adam Liszt, a steward in the service heiress, the estranged wife of a Russian prince. The last caused Liszt some trouble, in particular the last advantages of variety of tone colours: his aim had been to of Haydn’s former patrons, the Esterházy Princes, Franz following year he settled with her in Weimar, the city of movement, which he tackled with some hesitation, perform the function of an intelligent engraver or a Liszt had early encouragement from members of the Goethe, turning his attention now to the development of eventually adding it in 1865, after the completion of the conscientious translator, able to understand the spirit of a Hungarian nobility, allowing him in 1822 to move to a newer form of orchestral music, the symphonic poem, other transcriptions. He had already, in 1851, transcribed work and to promote wider knowledge of the great Vienna, for lessons with Czerny and a famous meeting and, as always, to the revision and publication of earlier the Choral Symphony for two pianos, a version of the masters. with Beethoven, who was said, in spite of his profound compositions. work that had won the approval of Clara Schumann and deafness, to have applauded the boy’s performance and It was in 1861, at the age of fifty, that Liszt moved to Brahms, when they played it through on the occasion of Keith Anderson kissed him, the so-called Weihekuss, that seemed to Rome, following Princess Carolyne, who had settled there proclaim him as Beethoven’s heir. From Vienna Liszt a year earlier. Divorce and annulment seemed to have moved to Paris, where Cherubini refused him admission opened the way to their marriage, but they now continued to the Conservatoire. Nevertheless he was able to impress to live in separate apartments in the city. Liszt eventually audiences by his performance, now supported by the took minor orders and developed a pattern of life that Erard family, piano manufacturers whose wares he was divided his time between Weimar, where he imparted able to advertise in the concert tours on which he advice to a younger generation, Rome, where he was able embarked. In 1827 Adam Liszt died, and Franz Liszt was to pursue his religious interests, and Pest, where he now joined again by his mother in Paris, while using his returned now as a national hero. He died in 1886 in time to teach, to read and benefit from the intellectual Bayreuth, where his daughter Cosima, widow of Richard society with which he came into contact. His interest in Wagner, lived, concerned with the continued propagation virtuoso performance was renewed when he heard the of her husband’s music. great violinist Paganini, whose technical accomplish- Whatever the accuracy of Liszt’s account, fifty years ments he now set out to emulate. later, of his meeting with Beethoven in Vienna through the The years that followed brought a series of insistence of his then teacher, Czerny, he continued

8.570466 2 3 8.570466 570466bk Liszt US:570034bk Hasse 15/2/08 8:37 PM Page 2

Franz Liszt (1811–1886) always to hold Beethoven in the greatest respect, a the latter’s 22nd birthday in 1855. Two Piano Transcription of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (S657/R376) reverence reflected in his activities in the cause of the The transcription for two pianos, with its careful Beethoven Monuments in Bonn and Vienna and festivals inclusion of original phrasing and occasional specifi- Nevertheless one meets here and there some artists who protest their high esteem for the classical music of Haydn, of Beethoven’s music. Among particularly treasured cation of the original instrumentation, avoids the obvious Mozart and Beethoven – but it is rather like the way that one hears sometimes in other capitals some society women possessions itemised in the will he made in 1860 were difficulties of a transcription for a single piano, partially boast of the profundities of German philosophy, of which they take good care not to have a closer knowledge. the death mask of Beethoven and the latter’s Broadwood solved there by the inclusion on extra staves of the choral – Liszt to Friedrich Wilhelm Constantin, Prince von Hohenzollern-Hechingen. Rome, 26th January 1862 piano, which after Liszt’s death was presented by Princess parts of the last movement of the symphony. The two- Carolyne and her daughter, Princess Hohenlohe, to the piano version, as published, includes the words, printed in It was with the zeal of a missionary that Franz Liszt compositions, including transcriptions of songs and National Museum in Budapest. the score, and clarifies, as in the other Beethoven championed the music of an earlier generation, and above operatic fantasies, part of the stock-in-trade of a virtuoso. In the summer of 1837, spent at the country house of symphony transcriptions of Liszt, the part-writing and all that of Beethoven, whose works he included in his Liszt’s relationship with a married woman, the Comtesse George Sand at Nohant, Liszt, accompanied there by structure of one of the great monuments of Western music. concert programmes and on whose behalf he worked over Marie d’Agoult, led to his departure from Paris for years Marie d’Agoult, had worked on his piano transcriptions In his modest preface to the later published transcriptions the years for commemorative monuments in Bonn and in of travel abroad, first to Switzerland, then back to Paris, of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6, which were Liszt suggests that the poorest lithograph and the most Vienna. In a letter of 1865 he condemns in particular the before leaving for Italy, Vienna and Hungary. By 1844 published, with a transcription of Symphony No. 7 in 1840. incorrect translation still give a vague idea of the genius attitudes in Paris, where ‘sots et pitoyables jugements’ his relationship with his mistress, the mother of his three These early versions of Beethoven symphonies were later of Michelangelo, of Shakespeare, and that the piano, with are expressed about the Ninth Symphony and where there children, was at an end, but his concert activities to be revised and supplemented by trans-criptions of the its increased range, could largely reproduce all features, has been evident reluctance to accept Beethoven, even continued until 1847, the year in which his association six other symphonies, including, after some reluctance, all combinations, all figurations of the most thorough and after the changes of 1848. Born at Raiding, in Hungary, began with Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, a Polish the Choral Symphony. The single piano version of this profound musical creations, lacking only the very great in 1811, the son of Adam Liszt, a steward in the service heiress, the estranged wife of a Russian prince. The last caused Liszt some trouble, in particular the last advantages of variety of tone colours: his aim had been to of Haydn’s former patrons, the Esterházy Princes, Franz following year he settled with her in Weimar, the city of movement, which he tackled with some hesitation, perform the function of an intelligent engraver or a Liszt had early encouragement from members of the Goethe, turning his attention now to the development of eventually adding it in 1865, after the completion of the conscientious translator, able to understand the spirit of a Hungarian nobility, allowing him in 1822 to move to a newer form of orchestral music, the symphonic poem, other transcriptions. He had already, in 1851, transcribed work and to promote wider knowledge of the great Vienna, for lessons with Czerny and a famous meeting and, as always, to the revision and publication of earlier the Choral Symphony for two pianos, a version of the masters. with Beethoven, who was said, in spite of his profound compositions. work that had won the approval of Clara Schumann and deafness, to have applauded the boy’s performance and It was in 1861, at the age of fifty, that Liszt moved to Brahms, when they played it through on the occasion of Keith Anderson kissed him, the so-called Weihekuss, that seemed to Rome, following Princess Carolyne, who had settled there proclaim him as Beethoven’s heir. From Vienna Liszt a year earlier. Divorce and annulment seemed to have moved to Paris, where Cherubini refused him admission opened the way to their marriage, but they now continued to the Conservatoire. Nevertheless he was able to impress to live in separate apartments in the city. Liszt eventually audiences by his performance, now supported by the took minor orders and developed a pattern of life that Erard family, piano manufacturers whose wares he was divided his time between Weimar, where he imparted able to advertise in the concert tours on which he advice to a younger generation, Rome, where he was able embarked. In 1827 Adam Liszt died, and Franz Liszt was to pursue his religious interests, and Pest, where he now joined again by his mother in Paris, while using his returned now as a national hero. He died in 1886 in time to teach, to read and benefit from the intellectual Bayreuth, where his daughter Cosima, widow of Richard society with which he came into contact. His interest in Wagner, lived, concerned with the continued propagation virtuoso performance was renewed when he heard the of her husband’s music. great violinist Paganini, whose technical accomplish- Whatever the accuracy of Liszt’s account, fifty years ments he now set out to emulate. later, of his meeting with Beethoven in Vienna through the The years that followed brought a series of insistence of his then teacher, Czerny, he continued

8.570466 2 3 8.570466 570466bk Liszt US:570034bk Hasse 15/2/08 8:37 PM Page 4

Leon McCawley Leon McCawley leapt into prominence when he won both First Prize in the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and Second FRANZ LISZT Prize in the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1993. Described as 8.570466 “a pianist of rare quality” by London’s Daily Telegraph, his recordings for Virgin/EMI and Avie Records have received many accolades including DDD Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 two “Editor’s Choice” awards in Gramophone and a Diapason d’Or. Leon McCawley has given highly acclaimed recitals at the Wigmore Hall, (Transcription for Two Pianos) Queen Elizabeth Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Prague Rudolfinum and Vienna Musikverein, among other venues. He performs frequently with many of the leading British orchestras and has performed several times at Leon McCawley • Ashley Wass the BBC Proms. He broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 in recital and with many of the BBC orchestras. Further afield he has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra among many others. Conductors he has worked with include Mark Elder, Paavo Järvi, Andrew Litton, Kurt Masur, Sakari Oramo and Simon Rattle. www.leonmccawley.com Photo by Sheila Rock Ashley Wass Described by Gramophone as possessing ‘the enviable gift to turn almost anything he plays into pure gold’, Ashley Wass is the only British pianist to have won First Prize at the London International Piano Competition and is also a former BBC New Generation Artist. He is Naxos’s first ever exclusively contracted solo artist, and his recent surveys of piano music by Bridge and Bax have been heralded as ‘unmissable’ and ‘the yardstick against which all future recordings will be judged’. He has given recitals at most of the major venues in Britain and also appeared in a gala concert COMPLETE at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Concerto performances have included collaborations with Sir Simon Rattle and the PIANO City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, MUSIC Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony and all the BBC orchestras. Ashley Wass is also much in demand as a chamber musician and has toured the United States and Europe with violinist Sarah Chang appearing C at venues such as Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall in New York. He is Artistic Director of the Lincolnshire International M Chamber Music Festival. Photo by Jack Liebeck Y VOLUME 28 K 8.570466 4 NAXOS

Franz LISZT 8.570466 8.570466 (1811–1886) DDD Complete Piano Music • 28 Playing Time Transcription for Two Pianos of 61:04 LISZT PIANO MUSIC • 28 Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (Choral) (S657/R376) 1 Allegro, ma non troppo, un poco maestoso 13:40 2 Molto vivace 13:26 3 Adagio molto e cantabile – Andante moderato 12:04 Printed & Assembled in USA Disc Made in Canada Booklet notes in English Ltd. Naxos Rights International 4 Finale: Presto 21:51 www.naxos.com ൿ &

Leon McCawley, Piano 1 • Ashley Wass, Piano 2 Ꭿ 2008 LISZT PIANO MUSIC • 28

Recorded at Potton Hall, Suffolk, UK, 19–21 January 2007 C Producer: Michael Ponder • Engineer: Mike Clements • Editor: Jennifer Howells Booklet notes: Keith Anderson • Cover painting of Franz Liszt: Chai Ben-Shan

8.570466 M Subscribe to www.naxos.com today! Y Classical, Historical, Jazz & Blues, Nostalgia, Film Music, World and Contemporary Instrumental Music New releases in various genres every month • Album reviews from respected music critics Biographies of composers and artists • Plus! Access to Naxos.com podcasts K NAXOS