"Liszt-Modern", New CD Release by Mehmet Okonsar

Aug. 1, 2011 - PRLog -- On the bicentenary of Franz Liszt's birth, the Turkish born Belgian pianist released a new CD "Liszt-Modern"; an arresting selection of pieces by Franz Liszt emphasizing the Hungarian composer's most innovative and modern styles.

The CD, recorded in Turkey is internationally released through amazon.com(r) and its affiliates.

Liszt is one of the pioneering figures of the nineteenth century and his influence on piano playing as well as on composing for that instruments is amazingly persistent in our day.

Without him the piano and the piano repertoire as we know them today would be, quite simply, inconceivable. A daunting and infinitely fascinating figure he strode across the music world like a colossus and all serious musicians owe him an immeasurable debt.

This CD represents the Liszt as "modern" composer. Liszt was the most modern pianist of all times not only he revolutionized playing the piano but also the music language itself.

The selections on this CD is not just "late-works by Liszt". It attempts to feature the "modern" aspects in the Hungarian master's music through a relatively large time-span. The earliest compositions are the Two Legends and the latest ones are the Bagatelle Without Tonality and the Csardas Macabre and Obstine.

The two pieces based on Bach; the Fantasy and Fugue on the theme B-A-C-H and the Variationen uber das Motiv von Bach ("Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen") witness his deep interest in organ music and his lifelong connexion with J. S. Bach.

Taken all together this release proposes a view on Franz Liszt as one of the most groundbreaking figures of the nineteenth century music.

The Tracks:

1 Fantasie und Fuge uber das Thema B-A-C-H
2 Variationen uber das Motiv von Bach ("Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen")
3 Legendes "St. Francois d'Assise: La predication aux oiseaux"
4 Legendes "St. Francois de Paule: Marchant sur les flots"
5 Les Jeux d'Eaux a la Villa d'Este
6 Bagatelle ohne Tonart
7 Csardas Macabre
8 Csardas Obstine

All tracks of the CD are available for auditioning at: http://www.okonsar.com/Liszt-Modern.html and video recordings of two of the tracks are in the artists Youtube(r) channel: http://www.youtube.com/mokonsar. The Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B.A.C.H: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdwyGmBG-zc&feature=youtu.be and Csardas Obstine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK5bZ14nrJs&feature=youtu.be



Mehmet Okonsar, a Belgian pianist, composer, conductor and musicologist was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He studied piano, composition and orchestration at the Brussels Royal Conservatory and musicology at the Istanbul Technical University. His primary teachers were J. Cl. Vanden Eynden and Alexis Weissenberg for the piano and Madame Jacqueline Fontyn for composition. He is laureate of numerous international piano competitions including the Gina Bachauer. Besides his international concert carrier he is a prolific writer. Okonsar is an independent artist, founder of the classical music and musicology dedicated blog-site:"inventor-musicae" as well as the first classical-music video portal: classicalvideos.net. His full biography with details can be read here: http://www.okonsar.com/pianist-biography.html#long-bio

Mehmet Okonsar has an impressive discography, all titles internationally distributed. By J.S.Bach, Goldberg Variations; The Well-Tempered Klavier (complete in 3 CD set); The Art of Fugue (performed on organ and harpsichord) and The Musical Offering (performed on electronic instruments). A recital release "Live at Salt Lake City" which features Scriabin, Gabriel Faure, J. Ph. Rameau, Mozart and Liszt. An engaging collection of solo piano, free style improvisations is "Shadowy Arcade", a CD composed with pieces possessing stirring titles, in Okonsar's very own, personal musical style which is not unlike Lyle Mays.

For additional information or a sample copy please contact:
Mehmet Okonsar, mehmet@okonsar.com

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Mehmet Okonsar is a Belgian pianist, composer, conductor and musicologist. He studied at the Brussels Conserv. and at the Istanbul Techn. Univ. with J. Cl. Vanden Eynden and Alexis Weissenberg for the piano and Madame Jacqueline Fontyn for composition.