Liszt: Unrivalled, Vol. 2 Michael Kaykov

• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886): Csárdás macabre, S.224:
• 1Liszt: Csárdás macabre, S.22406:24
• Impromptu, S.191:
• 2Liszt: Impromptu, S.19102:49
• Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 in D Minor, S.244:
• 3Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 in D Minor, S.24409:34
• Trauervorspiel und Trauermarsch, S.206:
• 4Liszt: Trauervorspiel und Trauermarsch, S.20604:43
• Mephisto Polka, S.217:
• 5Liszt: Mephisto Polka, S.21704:06
• In festo transfigurationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, S.188:
• 6Liszt: In festo transfigurationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, S.18802:21
• Toccata, S.197a:
• 7Liszt: Toccata, S.197a01:10
• Mephisto Waltz No. 3, S.216:
• 8Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 3, S.21607:46
• Sarabande und Chaconne aus dem Singspiel Almira, S.181:
• 9Liszt: Sarabande und Chaconne aus dem Singspiel Almira, S.18111:00
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, S.429:
• 10Liszt: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, S.42906:13
• Bagatelle sans tonalité, S.216a:
• 11Liszt: Bagatelle sans tonalité, S.216a02:58
• Total Runtime59:04

Info for Liszt: Unrivalled, Vol. 2

American pianist and academic Michael Kaykov follows his first Odradek release, Liszt: Unrivalled, with Unrivalled Volume 2, an album devoted to the composer's extraordinary late piano works.

Underestimated at the time, Liszt's late piano works are increasingly recognised as masterpieces of innovation, pushing the boundaries of tonality and style with a radical daring that paved the way for modernism. Each work on this album is an illustration of these remarkable developments. Highlights include the Csardas macabre which features empty sequences of fifths, almost minimalist rhythmic repetitions and chromatic undulations of pared-back melodic lines. The Impromptu, S. 191 lives up to the spontaneity of its name, while the last four of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies were composed some 30 years after the first 15 and have a completely different character, epitomising Liszt's ascetic late style.

The Funeral Prelude and Funeral March are pervaded with chromaticism, dissonant harmonies, augmented intervals and tonal ambiguity, while brevity and simplicity characterise the Mephisto Polka. The Bagatelle sans tonalite, with its extreme chromaticism and dissolution of functional harmony, heralds a new musical epoch beyond the Romantic era with which Liszt is most often associated. Michael Kaykov approaches this magnificent repertoire with sensitivity, nuance and breath-taking skill.

Michael Kaykov, piano

Michael Kaykov
American pianist and educator Dr. Michael Kaykov was born into a musical family and gave his first public performance at the age of six. At seven, he enrolled at the Special Music School of America (New York City).

He has earned his undergraduate degree from Mannes College of Music, studying with professor Jerome Rose, and Masters from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal.

In 2020, he earned his DMA at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Dr. Marc Silverman and writing his dissertation on the Scriabin Etudes under the guidance of renowned Fulbright scholar and musicologist Dr. Edward Green.

Dr. Kaykov is a professor of piano at OCLEF Inc. and is on the Harlem School of the Arts (New York City) and Virtu.Academy piano faculty.

Dr. Kaykov has performed as a soloist in USA, Europe and China. He worked closely with the late Glen Roven, two-time Emmy winning composer, lyricist, conductor and producer.

Michael's articles on Scriabin's music have been published (in English) in the International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music (IRASM, Croatian Musicological Society), and Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki (PMN, Russia). Michael Kaykov is a Steinway Educational Partner.

This album contains no booklet.