Prima Facie Records

Rediscovering Liszt (PFCD284) £12.50/£17.50

A MusicWeb International Recording of the Month
Connor Fogel, piano

1. Ouverture de l’opéra Guillaume Tell de Rossini, S552 [12:05]
2. Réminiscences de Lucia di Lammermoor de Donizetti, S397 [05:48]
3. Réminiscences de “Don Juan” de Mozart – Grande fantaisie, S418 [16:45]
4. Ave Maria (Ellens dritter Gesang) Mélodie de Schubert, S557d [07:20]
5. La sérénade (Ständchen, Leise flehen) Mélodie de Schubert, S559a [06:00]
6. Le roi des aulnes (Erlkönig) Mélodie de Schubert, S557a [04:35]
7. La serenata e l’orgia – Grande fantaisie sur des motifs des Soirées musicales de Rossini, S422i [11:47]
8. Grand galop chromatique, S219 [04:12]

Total Time [68:37]

About this Album

From his early public appearances during the mid 1830s, to a performance in June 1840 which Liszt would title “Recitals at the Pianoforte” (the first use of the term; recital), to his final appearance as a touring virtuoso in October 1847 (retiring from the platform at just 35), Liszt performed well over 1000 concerts throughout most of Europe, bringing hysteria, frenzy and elation to audiences wherever he went. The international pandemic of “Lisztomania” swept across the world, seeing audiences screaming, ladies fainting, and Liszt’s gloves, cigar butts and even coffee dregs being pocketed for personal collections.

Modern documentation and cataloguing of these concerts is surprisingly sparse, and it is my hope that this recording will shed more light on what exactly made Liszt’s recitals so impactful, giving an informed and authentic impression of how Liszt may have played, with both musical style and programmes reconstructed. Wherever possible the first version of each piece is performed, most of which are seldom heard today and some of which have never been recorded. Also included are as many authentic variants and alternative cadenzas as possible — during Liszt’s time such moments were often spontaneously improvised by the performer — these seldom heard variations are included here to create the feel of improvisation. Along with the historical practices of unnotated arpeggiation, asynchrony of melody and accompaniment, and modification of rhythm and tempo, I believe this recording reignites the sound of an all but extinct style of pianism.
Connor Fogel, 2026

Reviews

"This is one of the most exciting and original all-Liszt discs I’ve heard in years. The entire concept of resurrecting Liszt’s original concert programming and playing the works in a historically informed manner is quite unique... The recorded sound is beautiful and captures the vintage Bösendorfer in its full glory. This is a release I would return to again, and again. Bravo!" Michael Kaykov, MusicWeb International

"Some thrillingly combustible pianism" Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio 3 Record Review.

Credits

Amanuensis: Tomek Pieczora
Engineer: Steve Plews
Producers: Connor Fogel & Steve Plews
Product Design: Simon Crosby Buttle
Mastering: Phil Hardman
Photos: Anthony Cheng
Cover art: James Minari, 1841 pen & ink drawing for The Times during Liszt’s 1841 visit to London
Recorded 28 - 29 July 2025, St Elizabeth’s Church, Manchester, on a 1922 Bösendorfer grand piano

This recording was generously funded by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Research Fund

Video

Connor Fogel discusses Liszt's piano recitals, the focus of 'Rediscovering Liszt':

Connor Fogel studied piano at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and gained a Master’s degree in Musical Direction from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He currently enjoys a varied career as a concert pianist, musicologist, and musical director for theatre.

Connor has been the recipient of several prizes and awards including 2nd prize in the 2019 International Liszt Society Piano Competition and the 2016 Musical Director Award from The Worshipful Company of Musicians, of which Connor was made a Freeman in 2022. In 2026 Connor was granted Freedom of the City of London. He has written numerous articles on historically informed performance for The Liszt Society and has spoken at several music conferences internationally, as well as performing regularly in recitals, concerts, theatrical shows and cabarets throughout the UK and internationally.

Connor is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and was previously the Andrew Lloyd Webber Associate Musical Director of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. As well as RWCMD, Mountview and CSSD, he also teaches at The Royal Academy of Music, ArtsEd and Italia Conti.

As a musical director, his theatrical credits include The Phantom of The Opera (West End & World Tour), The BFG (Royal Shakespeare Company, Chichester, Singapore) Scissorhandz (Southwark Playhouse), Chicago (International Tour), Hello, Dolly! (London Palladium), Ben & Imo (Royal Shakespeare Company, Orange Tree London), The King and I (UK Tour), Flowers for Mrs. Harris (Riverside Studios), Polly & Esther (Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Sherman Theatre), Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare Company UK Tour), Les Misérables (UK & Ireland Tour), Queerway (Wales Millennium Centre and UK Tour), Cinderella (Queen’s Theatre Barnstaple, Gatehouse Stafford), Topsie’s Crystal Balls (UK Tour), The Soprano Behind the Screen (UK Tour), As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Measure for Measure (Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican, UK, US and Asian Tour), Queen of the Mist (Charing Cross Theatre, Jack Studio Theatre), and Sweet Charity (Nottingham Playhouse).

Connor’s film and television credits include the Harry Enfield film The Contract and BAFTA award winning ITV1 drama The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jeffries.