Liszt - Piano Concerto No.2 & Totentanz (S. 126)

Liszt - Piano Concerto No.2 & Totentanz (S. 126)

Zoltán Kocsis conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra of Saint-Petersburg during a concert at the Annecy Classic Festival 2014. Denis Matsuev features as soloist of the evening in Liszt’s virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2 (S. 125) and Totentanz (S. 126). The second concerto is less virtuosic than Liszt’s first, but shows far more originality in form, in which it is close to his well-known symphonic poems. The Totentanz (‘Danse Macabre’) is mainly based on Gregorian material, like the theme from ‘Dies Irae’ and conatins medieval sounding passages incorporating counterpoint. The innovative aspect of the score is the modernistic and ‘percussive’ nature of the piano part. As Liszt often did, he revised both works on multiple occasions. Matsuev closes with Shchedrin’s Elegie for solo piano.