Intimate Musical Conversations

Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies have long been among the most popular collections of piano music. They have also long garnered a reputation for “superficial brilliance and effect”, which has influenced the way that famous pianists play the works in public. But would a performer immersed in the Liszt tradition have approached them differently? This week I'm presenting a lecture-recital that aims to promote a re-evaluation of the Hungarian Rhapsodies from this perspective: considering Liszt’s own ideas on music and virtuosity.

The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts recently launched a new research centre called "Centre for Keyboard Heritage and Performance Research" (CKHPR). The centre will be promoting a series of monthly lecture-recitals at WAAPA. This week I had lots of fun presenting an excerpt from my Master's research on the performing tradition associated with Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies. My presentation was called "Performing the Hungarian Rhapsodies in the Liszt Tradition". I played Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 10 and 11 and presented some interesting findings from my research into Liszt's approach to performance. It was a wonderful opportunity, thank you to everyone who came to support!