Klavierkonzert Nr. 1 Es-dur

The fact that Franz Liszt wrote two piano concertos tailored to his own abilities is nothing unusual for one who was perhaps the greatest pianist in the history of music. In the 19th century such concertos were by all means expected of every piano virtuoso as “visiting cards”. But it is astonishing that Liszt’s concertos (apart from a few sketches and ideas) were not written in his early virtuoso period in Paris, but during his Weimar years. Thus the premiere of his 1st Piano Concerto in E flat in fact only took place in 1855. The process of maturing as a composer which Liszt had undergone up to that point in his symphonic poems is evident in this concerto, with its colourful orchestration and innovative formal conception of four interlinking, motivically-interwoven movements. The 1st Piano Concerto remains a firm staple of the piano repertoire today. This Urtext edition describes the protracted genesis and revision of the concerto, examines the large number of surviving manuscript and printed sources, and offers a reliable musical text of the composer’s final version. The brilliant pianist Claire Huangci, who regularly performs Liszt’s works, has contributed the fingering.