1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante con moto
3. Scherzo :Allegro
4. Allegro – Presto

Some extraordinary playing of great clarity and dynamic drive .There were enormous sonorities too from this young man’s well oiled fingers .But there was also great beauty as he shaped the Andante with simple beauty and a sense of balance that allowed all the orchestral instruments to be heard so clearly . A tour de force of transcendental piano playing that was astonishing for his musical intelligence and architectural understanding quite apart from his fearless breathtaking piano playing .

Beethoven Symphonies S.464, are a set of nine transcriptions  for solo piano by Franz Liszt of Beethoven’s 9 Symphonies and are among the most technically demanding piano music ever written.By 1837, Liszt appears to have completed the transcriptions of the fifth,sixth and seventh symphonies , of which the fifth and sixth were published by Breitkopf & Hartel and the seventh by Tobias Haslinger .Liszt was paid 8 francs  per page by Breitkopf & Härtel, who first requested two symphonies to be transcribed. During his 1840 travels in Europe he might have given the transcribed symphonies some publicity by playing them at his concerts.With three symphonies transcribed, Liszt set aside the work for another 23 years. It was not until 1863 that Breitkopf & Härtel suggested to Liszt that he transcribe the complete set for a future publication. For this work, Liszt recycled his previous transcriptions by simplifying passages, stating that “the more intimately acquainted one becomes with Beethoven, the more one clings to certain singularities and finds that even insignificant details are not without their value”. He would note down the names of the orchestral instruments for the pianist to imitate, and also add pedal marks and fingerings for amateurs and sight readers.The full set of transcriptions were finally published in 1865 and dedicated to Hans von Bulow .The original publication of the fifth and sixth symphonies had been dedicated to the painter and amateur violinist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Beethoven La Chapelle offers an Ode to Joy

‘I love Liszt’s operatic paraphrases and I was surprised to see that he never wrote a fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen. Carmen was first performed in 1875, and Liszt was still alive and writing at that time. Did he simply neglect to write a fantasy on it? I would have liked to see how he would work the fantastic themes…’ Busoni on the other hand ‘It was of no concern to him that opera fantasies had long fallen out of fashion when he wrote his sixth and final sonatina, “Kammer-Fantasie über Carmen,” in 1920.’Fantasie after Bizet’s opera Carmen, composed in 1907 by Josef Weiss, who was one of the pupils of Franz Liszt.

These were some of the comments I found in trying to understand why Liszt had never written a paraphrase or transcription of one of the most famous operas of the day .Maybe Liszt by then had moved on from his virtuoso days and was looking more into the future and the sounds that he so prophetically could foresee.Sounds that were to be continued by his pupil Busoni who did actually write a fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen.Busoni starting at the other end of the opera from Weiss where the difference between Weiss and Busoni is the difference between a virtuoso pianist and a genius.It was so interesting to research about Weiss and also listening to his Carmen Fantasy today to be able to realise what an inspiration this had obviously been to Horowitz whose performance of his own Carmen fantasy has passed into legend.Kyoungsun played it with breathtaking virtuosity and fearless abandon scaling the heights of this Olympian work.

Kyoungsun is much more than just a note spinner as he also showed with his very delicate and ravishingly beautiful performance of Tchaikowsky’s month of May from ‘The Seasons’.

Hats off to Perivale for allowing us to hear such wizardry from this as yet unknown young musician.

Kyoungsun Park’s musical voyage commenced at Seoul National University, laying the foundation for his future brilliance. Seeking further artistic refinement, he pursued advanced studies at eminent institutions such as the Royal College of Music in London, Hochschule fur Musik und Theater München and Universität der Künste Berlin. Kyoungsun’s talent has garnered widespread recognition, with a string of notable achievements. At the Horowitz International Piano Competition Kyiv-Geneva, he claimed the 3rd Prize and Horowitz Prize. The Artur Schnabel Competition awarded him the 1st Prize, while the Munich Gasteig Music Prize honored him with both the 1st Prize and the Audience Prize. Other triumphs include the Isang Yun International Music Competition (2nd Prize), the Singapore International Piano Competition (2nd Prize), and the Windsor International Piano Competition (1st Prize).His musical uniqueness lies not only in interpreting existing works in new ways but also in his pioneering approach to exploring and interpreting new compositions. Furthermore, he established his musical identity through arranging and composing cadenzas, solidifying his artistry. Kyoungsun made his concerto debut with the Seoul National University Symphony Orchestra in the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center, performing his own jazz-inspired cadenza. He has further showcased his prowess as a soloist with the Orchester de la Suisse Romande, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2021, Kyoungsun Park achieved a significant milestone with the release of “12 Hymn Suites”. This recording showcases not only his technical prowess but also his interpretive depth and commitment to musical expression.

Josef Weiss (5 November 1864 – 1945) was a Hungarian composer and pianist .Born in Kosice he was the son of Hungarian Jewish parents Emil and Charlotte Weiss. A child prodigy, he began his career as a concert pianist at the age of 13.Like his brother, the composer Henri Bereny, he was a pupil of Liszt  at the Budapest Conservatory He then studied music composition at the Vienna Conservatory where one of his classmates and friends was Leos Janacek.After this he studied piano in Germany with Moritz Moszkowski. He began his career as a concert pianist in 1877 at the age of 13. He performed in concert halls internationally through 1924, and was particularly admired for his performances of the works of  Brahms,Chopin and Liszt the latter of whom was his teacher at the Budapest Academy. Weiss’s reputation as a pianist was marred by personal issues .Dohnanyi lamented that Weiss’s inability to control nervousness was a detriment to his playing. He considered Weiss the “greatest pianist in the world” when he was playing in low pressure concerts, but noted that in high pressure situations Weiss’s nerves made his playing “exaggerated and distorted”.In 1914 Weiss joined the faculty of the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. From 1920 to 1924 he toured widely as a concert pianist, appearing in concerts in Paris, Chicago, London, Liepzig, Budapest, Vienna, and New York City among other locations while maintaining a residence in Berlin.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7fpp0JKOlFM&feature=shared

And a live recording of part of his Carmen Fantasy

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DQ9E16yR9hA&feature=shared

With the rise of Nazi Germany Weiss fled Berlin in 1936 and made his way to the city of Kosice. Unable to take much with him beyond what he could carry in a suitcase, he had little resources and was homeless. He had a nomadic existence over the next few years, spending time first in Italy and then in Switzerland before returning to Hungary in 1939 where he settled in Budapest.

Weiss was a victim of the Holocaust and was involuntarily interned in the Budapest Ghetto  and was one of the first 80 people placed in that Nazi ghetto  in November 1944. He died in that ghetto in 1945 in unknown circumstances.