Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, completed in 1853, is one of the pinnacles of the piano repertoire. A vast, one-movement work fusing all manner of dazzling musical ideas and themes—ranging from Chopin-esque passion to demonic fury—it’s also the perfect vehicle for British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor’s prodigious technique and musical artistry. Grosvenor’s magnificent, dramatic performance is the mainstay of this album, but the rest of his program is just as compelling. Here, in a fascinating and unexpected Lisztian journey, Grosvenor showcases different sides to the composer’s genius, including two astonishing paraphrases of music by Schubert and Bellini. “I wanted to display Liszt as the original composer but also as a transcriber,” Grosvenor tells Apple Music. “He was very generous in the way that he supported other composers, introducing their works to the larger public through his transcriptions.” But there’s a personal nature to this album, too, reflected in the tenderness of much of its music, including the closing Schubert Ave Maria. And there’s reason for that heart. “My grandfather was a huge fan of Liszt,” says Grosvenor. “He was an amateur pianist and taught my mother the piano, who then taught me. Sadly, he died at the beginning of 2020. I thought that an album of Liszt would be an appropriate and fitting tribute to him.” Here, Grosvenor guides us through each piece on this captivating album. Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178 “This sonata is a glorious piece filled with wonderful pianistic effects and the most extraordinary spirituality and lyricism. It’s unique in the way that Liszt constructed it—a one-movement work based on a couple of ideas that are transformed throughout, such as the demonic theme in the first page that turns into a ravishingly lyrical melody. It’s a piece of very vivid characters and considerable drama. The challenge is to bring out all the emotions and colors while creating a convincing narrative thread.” Berceuse, S. 174 “It’s interesting to hear this piece after the Sonata, because the Sonata kind of dissipates—the final note is like awakening from a dreamworld. The “Berceuse” takes us back to that world again with its vague beginning. Throughout, there are sections that are dark and brooding and impassioned, alongside ones that are pure filigree and lyricism. It builds to an ecstatic climax before a wonderful descent as it dies away towards the end. It’s a wonderful piece and a little overlooked.” Années de pèlerinage II, S. 161 “These three pieces are all based on sonnets by the 14th-century poet Petrarch. Each one presents a different kind of vision of love. Sonnet 123 is reverential while the second one, 104, is kind of explosive—it’s much more of an impassioned work. Later in his life, Liszt rejected the virtuoso hat and went back to simplicity, and you can see where that comes from in pieces like this. But they’re still filled with fire and emotion and passion, and they’re perfect musical paintings of the poems that he selected.” Réminiscences de Norma, S. 394 (After Bellini) “The way Liszt writes for the piano here is fantastic. He basically summarizes the opera, but the way he puts it together is really as much Liszt as it is Bellini. He creates his own masterpiece from it while lovingly presenting Bellini’s melodies, which are great and one of the reasons this transcription is so incredible. But it’s phenomenally difficult. In a live performance, you can get away with more in terms of inaccuracies and mistakes in the moment. For a recording, you need the accuracy, but also a fire that brings the music alive.” Ave Maria, S. 558/12 (After Schubert, D. 839) “Here’s an example of Liszt being a loving, generous, supportive composer. His transcriptions helped to renew interest in Schubert songs at a time where they were perhaps falling out of favor or being forgotten. So there was a noble purpose behind them. The problem with the piano is that it doesn’t sustain—the notes decay. It’s essentially a percussive instrument. So a lot of Liszt’s transcriptions, especially the songs, use elaborate accompaniments to help sustain the melody. I think he’s very inventive in the way he does that here.”