JOSHUA PIERCE

"It’s always a pleasure to hear Joshua Pierce, as we so often are privileged to enjoy the New York native’s far-ranging repertoire on MSR Classics. His artistry is particularly keen when the Romantic composers are on the menu, as is the case here in a delictible Franz Liszt program. Liszt’s passion for the seemingly incompatibe goals of high musical expression and virtuosity, together with a breathtaking economy in realizing the same, accord very well with our present artist’s own personal goals, making this a truly must-have album... In the present performance [of Concerto No.1] both soloist and conductor are right on in all the cuing points... The same interpretive passion plus adroitness continues in Concerto No. 2... Changes in mood, dynamics and keyboard touch keep pianist and conductor continually on their toes, taking our breath away in the performance by Joshua Pierce, with orchestra under the baton of the late U.S. conductor Paul Freeman... The excitement continues on CD2 with Liszt’s settings of five sensational tone poems. Starting with Rapsodie Espagnole, which offers as many sheer thrills as we might reasonably expect to experience in 15 minutes... Abrupt changes in tempi and big, clangorous chords [in Totentanz] do their work to create an atmosphere in which Pierce and Freeman are very much at home... Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Themes for Piano and Orchestra will be, for many listeners, The quintessence of Franz Liszt, incorporating music from several of his best-known Hungarian Rhapsodies. If you marvel how he could have improved on the originals, you will wonder no more after hearing this account by Pierce and Freeman which is a cut above any I had heard previously. Rich orchestral timbres and repetitions of strident materials move the music right along. (This just the sort of thing Joshua Pierce must eat for breakfast)... Finally, Liszt’s setting of Franz Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy for solo piano, in another marvelous account by Pierce makes us wonder momentarily if Liszt succeeded in improving on the original."

Phil Muse, Atlanta Audio Club [October 2024]

Acknowledged as one of the finest artists of today, award-winning pianist Joshua Pierce continues to distinguish himself as one of the leading performers of his generation as well as one of the most prolific recording artist in recent times, having recorded more than 265 works on 75 CDs for such labels as MSR Classics, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, Sony Classical, Albany, Vox, Koch International, Naxos, JVC, Pro Arte, Mode, BBC Recordings, Carlton Classics, Wergo, Varese Sarabande, PITCH, Solyd Recordings, and many others. His recordings include a wide range of works from Bach, Chopin, Respighi, Casella, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov to Bloch, Hindemith, Rachmaninoff, Strauss, Turok and Duke Ellington. This also includes the complete piano concertos of Beethoven, Brahms, Gershwin and Liszt. All of these recordings have received outstanding international recognition and awards. His collaborations and performances and many world premier recordings of the music of the important 20th century American innovator / composer, John Cage, are historical and legendary. He is recognized as the first Western artist to perform and record the music of Cage, Ives and Wyschnegradsky in post-Soviet Russia. This huge range and varied repertoire – encompassing the standard and contemporary vocabulary and rediscovered masterpieces of the past – are unique among contemporary pianists. In 1993, Pierce made an exciting debut in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1 with the Symphony Orchestra of Russia at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow which lead to further performances and recordings of Liszt’s 2nd and 3rd Piano Concertos as well as his major concert works for piano and orchestra. Apart from his recordings, Pierce maintains a very active career as a soloist and collaborative performer throughout the United States, South America, Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia. He has performed with a long list of of major orchestras including the Moscow State Philharmonic, State Symphony Orchestra of Russia, The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Czech Radio Symphony and National Symphony, Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak State Philharmonia, Slovak Radio  Symphony, Slovak State Chamber Orchestra of Zilina, the Cappella Istropolitana, The Bohuslav Philharmonic, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Italian Radio Orchestra (RAI), Mexico City Philharmonic, Jalisco Philharmonic Symphony and Sinfonica Nacional of Peru. In the United States, he has appeared with the Utah, San Antonio, Midland-Odessa and Missouri Symphony Orchestras, the Chicago Sinfonietta and Philharmonia Virtuosi, among others. He has appeared at most of New York’s major concert venues, including the 92nd St. Y, Symphony Space, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lefrak Auditorium, The Kitchen, Roulette, Steinway Hall, The DiMenna Center, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully and Carnegie Hall. He has also performed at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, Amherst International Music Festival, International Piano Festival at Williams College, Seattle Festival of Contemporary Music, Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival and at the Philips Collection. His many International performances include performances at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, The Moscow Conservatory, Barbican Centre, Royal Festival Hall, Bergen International Music Festival, Victoria Hall, Los Veranos de la Villa Festival, Rote Fabrique, ISCM Festivals, ISCM Europe-Asia 2000, Sigurjon Olaesson Museum, Festival of Russian Composers’ Union Music Series and the International Alternativa Festival in Moscow. He has performed as soloist and collaborator in all the major cities in South Korea. Highly regarded as a chamber music collaborator, he has performed with the Leontovich String Quartet, Pierce-Aomori clarinet and piano duo, Chamber Players International and with violinists Eric Friedman and Andrew Smith, and with cellist Jeffrey Solow. In the United States, he has been heard on nationally syndicated radio programs, including Morning Pro Musica (WGBH), WQXR’s First Hearing, John Schaefer’s New Sounds, NPR’s All Things Considered, Jed Distler’s Between the Keys and David Dubal’s two programs: The American Century and Reflections From the Keyboard. Pierce continues to win critical praise for his versatility, power and deeply felt  interpretations. He has had major awards and citations from such American and European publications as International Who’s Who, Downbeat, Billboard, Fono Forum, The Wire, Fanfare and Keyboard Magazine. He also won the German Music Critics Prize, France’s Diapason Award, the Grand Prize of the IBLA International Competition and was a nominee for the 23rd International Franz Liszt Grand Prix du Disque. He has received five PSC-CUNY Research Award Grants and is a Foundation Award winner from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music. He is a multiple Grammy Award Nominee and has served several years on the International Fulbright Committee. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and is the recipient of that publication’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
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  FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886)
CD1
Piano Concerto No.1 in E-Flat Major
Piano Concerto No.2 in A Major
Piano Concerto No.3 in E-Flat Major
Concerto Pathétique for Piano and Orchestra
 
CD2
Rhapsodie Espagnole for Piano and Orchestra (arr. Busoni)
Malediction for Piano and String Orchestra
Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra (1849 | 1st Version)
Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Themes for Piano and Orchestra
Wanderer Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra (Schubert | Arranged by Liszt)



MSR Classics