On October 22. 1811 was born in Raiding, Austria, one of the greatest pianist af all time: Franz Liszt.
He is renowned througout Europe during the ninetheenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. With his revolutionary technical he influenced his forward-looking contemporary and anticipated some 20th Century ideas and trends.
Besides his career as piano virtuoso, Liszt was a prolific composer. He is best known for his piano music, but he wrote extensively for many other instruments.

In hommage to this great artists, we propose a selection of compositions for piano solo, performed by one of our leading artist: the Japanese pianist Takahiro Yoshikawa.
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Trascendental Etude No 4 in D minor, “Mazzeppa”
This Etude was ispired by Victor Hugo’s poem called Mazzeppa, the story of  Ivan Mazeppa (1639-1709): a page of the court of King John II Casimir Vasa, who seduced a Polish Countess named Theresa. The Count, on discovering the affair, punished Mazeppa by tying him to a wild horse and setting the horse free. The poem describes the dramatic condition of  the hero strapped to a horse. At the end, Mazeppa was crowned king.
Mazzeppa is considered one of the most difficult of the twelve Etudes, not only technically, bu also musically.

Années de Pèlerinage: Suisse – Au bord d’une source
This is the 4th piece of the first suite of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage: Suisse, composed between 1841 and 1854 an published in 1885.
Here is clear that Liszt has found his musical maturity, ranging from virtuosic fireworks to sincerly moving emotional statements.

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Liebesträume Notturno III S. 541 n. 3
Is one of the most popular Liszt’s piano works.
Is the third and last piece of a collection of compositions, named Liebesträume (Dreams of Love), written by Franz Liszt in 1854.

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Deuxieme Année – Italie S 161, opus composed by Franz Liszt between 1837 and 1945 and published in 1858.
Here we propose:

• Sposalizio (Marrige of the Virgin, an oil painting by Raphael, now kept at the Pinacoteca di Brera, since 1806);
• Il penseroso (The thinker, a statue created by Michelangelo for Lorenzo de Medici’s tomb, now kept in Florence, at Basilica of St. Lawrence)
• Sonetto 104 del Petrarca
• Après une Lecture de Dante (a piano work inspired by the reading of Dante Alighieri‘s most famous poem, the Divine Comedy. Today is considered one of most difficult pieces of the standard repertoire)

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Troisième année – Italie s 163, opus composed between 1867 and 1877 and published in 1883.
Here we propose:

• Aux cyprès de la Villa d’Este I: Threnodie

• Aux cyprès de la Villa d’Este II: Threnodie (the cypresses of the Villa d’Este, situated at Tivoli, near Rome, Italy)
• Les yeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este (The Fountains of Villa d’Este)