Franz Liszt was a composer who constantly revisited and reimagined his own works, leaving behind multiple versions that reveal his evolving artistry. His 12 Grandes Études (S. 137), later transformed into the Études d’exécution transcendante (S. 139), exemplify this creative process. Originating from his earlier Étude en douze exercices (1826), these studies chart Liszt’s growth from prodigy to visionary, pushing pianistic and harmonic boundaries. Far beyond displays of technique, these Études embody a fusion of profound musical thought and extreme technical demands—one reason they remain rarely recorded. This new recording, the first ever on a historical instrument, brings fresh insight into one of Liszt’s most daring achievements.

Booklet: EN, DE, FR

Franz Schubert and Carl Czerny – two contemporaries, living in the same city, both tightly connected to Beethoven in their own way. The former ascended into glory, being regarded nowadays as one of the leading composer figures of the entire music history; the latter, albeit a highly prolific composer and very cherished pupil of Beethoven, remained in the popular recollection mostly as a teacher and creator of numerous study works of little musical value. His Grande Sonate in D minor, by far the longest out of his eleven sonatas, was written immediately after Beethoven’s death and can be regarded as an attempt to reach the realms of the latter’s Hammerklavier Sonata: with its seven movements and spectacular technical challenges, the work is a long-forgotten masterpiece which deserves its place among the great oeuvres of the 19^th century. In this recording, Aurelia Vişovan presents it to the public for the very first time on a fortepiano, alongside Schubert’s dramatic Sonata in C minor, D. 958, composed in the same year.

Booklet: EN, FR, DE

Vienna. 1803. George Bridgetower, a violinist of Afro-European descent, causes furore with his virtuosity and captivates Beethoven, who writes a devilish and magnificent sonata for him. Despite the premiere’s enormous success performed by both of them, an unfortunate comment by the violinist about one of the composer’s female friends leads to this famous sonata being finally re-dedicated to Rodolphe Kreutzer, who however would never interpret it because of its enormous difficulty.

10 years later, Beethoven composes his next and last violin sonata, dedicated to Pierre Rode, in a completely different character, enormously poetic and introverted. Written in the stage of Beethoven’s life widely associated with his “Immortal Beloved”, the sonata nevertheless retains his incomparable energy.

Described as “Fiery virtuoso” (The Strad) “the Soul Violinist” (Sankei Shinbun) or “Devil’s fiddler” (Bayerischer Rundfunk), Lina Tur Bonet joins now Aurelia Visovan, the  2019 winner of the Brugges Competition. to celebrate the german composer in these Sonatas.

Booklet: EN, FR, DE