NI 5761

Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, Songs of Franz Liszt

The Petrarca Sonnets are known to all pianists from the Années de pčlerinage: Italie, - what is less known is that they started life as songs. Even allowing for Liszt’s undoubted originality, these songs are so extraordinary that one doubts they have any precedent. In every aspect - the merging of lieder and operatic styles, virtuosic piano accompaniments, and a vocal range rising to a high C sharp! - Liszt’s writing is at the margin of contemporary musical language. The remaining items on this CD include seldom-heard first settings of Victor Hugo and later popular songs including O lieb! and Es muss ein wunderbares sein.

NI 7932/3

Prima Voce - Lucrezia Bori (1887 - 1960) in Opera and Song

These two CDs present all the published recordings Bori made for Victor in New York from 1925-28, plus the final sessions accompanied by George Copeland in 1937. Bori, who was born in Spain but studied in Italy, made her debut in 1908 in Rome and moved swiftly to Paris (1910) and the Metropolitan, New York (1912) where she sang until 1936. Her voice was of modest size, but produced with a clear and delicate timbre, and her performances are always passionate, charming and intensely musical.