The 41st Liszt Ferenc International Grand Prix Du Disque (F. Liszt Society, Budapest)

Classics Today's "Artistic Quality Score: 10/10"

"....equaling Vladimir Horowitz’s 1965 performance for sexiness, while surpassing it for tonal warmth.....Pianophiles should be grateful that these magnificent recordings have survived and have been so expertly restored. Keyboard gold, pure and simple"
------Jed Distler

Gramophone's "Editors Choice"
"I was blown away by the humanity and soulfulness of her pianism, and by the sheer love and care that had gone into the process of rediscovery and remastering. The same amount of generosity radiates from the second volume of the series. If anything, these two discs go even further in revealing her prolific musicianship. "
------Michelle Assay

Gramophone's "Critics' Choice 2019"
"As soon as I think of other excellent recordings I have reviewed this year, hers still stands out for depth of understanding, natural poetic eloquence and pianistic finesse"
------Michelle Assay

Record Geijutsu's "Album of next-to-special recommendations"
"There were artists considered as ‘a legend’ even in the late 20th century. Norma Fisher is one of them...I was amazed at her Mephisto Waltz, where the speed and dexterity should be sufficient to prove that the pianist was top-notch. Other Liszt works were also masterfully played in every aspect. Disc 2 includes Schumann's Sonata No. 2, Debussy's three etudes, and Inventions by a forgotten Polish composer Andre Tchaikowsky — they are all worth listening to. 'Norma Fisher' is the name we should not forget."
------Jiro Hamada

”The fluid passages are incredibly dexterous and the rhythm shows its flexibility. We hear the height of her pianism through the touch without hesitation, high-level concentration, elastic phrasing ......”
------Tsutomu Nasuda

MusicWeb International
"Listening to this marvelous music, I have to wonder how I managed to miss hearing Norma Fisher as I grew up with BBC Radio 3 soaking into my eager teenage brain......I would recommend this album to any lover of fine piano playing."
------Rob Challinor

"....a devilish performance of the Mephisto Waltz No. 1...... fully projecting the diablerie and roister of the music."
"razor-sharp precision."
"both elegant and exquisitely sculpted."
------Stephen Greenbank

BBC Music Magazine

"The Liszt works on the first disc, beginning with a superb Mephisto Waltz, ......are models of musical pacing and technical virtuosity"
------Martin Cotton

International Piano
"Dumbfounding: a cocktail of jeweled pianism and bared, burning imagination, of agonizingly beautiful phrases breathing and taking wing, of timbres and emotions......"
"Reference playing"
"Vintage studio production"
--------Ates Orga

From a message for the album launch
"Many of the tracks on Norma’s BBC recordings are single takes with hardly any editing. The result is spontaneous music-making of a high order, interpretations captured on the wing, so to say, which one generally hears only in the concert hall. If I have any regrets about those halcyon years at the BBC, it is that I did not engage Norma more often."
--------Alan Walker, author of a three-volume biography of Franz Liszt

Norma Fisher, a superb piano teacher who was once considered one of the finest pianists of her generation, was forced to withdraw from the concert stage in the 1990s due to focal dystonia. Our new release Norma Fisher At The BBC Vol. 2 includes BBC broadcast recordings of her Liszt, Schumann, Debussy, and André Tchaikowsky, drawn from the BBC archive, the British Library (tape donated by Alan Walker), and Fisher's personal archive.

Disc 1 is entirely dedicated to Liszt, and Disc 2 includes Schumann's 2nd sonata with the original finale, Debussy's Études (excerpt), and André Tchaikowsky's Inventions Opus 2.

This album, which demonstrates Fisher's versatility and integrity, will be appreciated by any piano music enthusiasts. The sleeve notes (by Bryce Morrison & Tomoyuki Sawado) include Fisher's program note written for the first public concert of Inventions at the Queen Elizabeth Hall held in 1983. English & Japanese text included.

Disc 1:

1. Liszt: Mephisto-Walzer

Liszt: Années de pèlerinage, supplément aux Années de pèlerinage 2de Volume: Venezia e Napoli:
2. No. 1, Gondoliera, canzone del Cavaliere Peruchini (La biondina in gondoletta): Sample
3. No. 2, Canzone (“Nessun maggior dolore,” canzone del Gondoliere nel Otello di Rossini): Sample
4. No. 3, Tarantella da Guillaume Louis Cottrau (Presto e canzone napolitana)

Liszt: Études d’exécution transcendante:
5. No. 10 in F Minor, Allegro agitato molto
6. No. 4 in D Minor, Mazeppa

8. Schubert-Liszt: Ständchen (Serenade, after Shakespeare’s “Hark, hark! the lark”)

Disc 2:

Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22
1. I, So rasch wie möglich
2. II, Andantino
3. III, Scherzo
4. IV, Presto passionato, WoO 5 (original finale): Sample

Debussy: Douze Études
5. Book 1/No. 1, Pour les “cinq doigts”—d’après Monsieur Czerny
6. Book 2/No. 7, Pour les degrés chromatiques
7. Book 2/No. 11, Pour les arpèges composés

André Tchaikowsky: Inventions, Op. 2
8. Invention 1, Peter Feuchtwanger
9. Invention 2, Fou Ts’ong
10. Invention 3, Ilona Kabos
11. Invention 4, Robert Cornford: Sample
12. Invention 5b, Patrick Crommelynck (world premiere recording)
13. Invention 6, Stefan Askenase
14. Invention 5a, Charles and Lydia Napper
15. Invention 7, Tamás Vásáry
16. Invention 8, Sheldon and Alicia Rich
17. Invention 9, Wendy—or Beatrice?—Harthan
18. Invention 18, Michael Riddall

Disc 1: Tracks 7 and 8 and Disc 2: Tracks 5 through 7 include electromagnetic noise and audio dropout that are present in the original tapes.

Producer: Tomoyuki Sawado
Remastering: Andrew J. Holdsworth and Tomoyuki Sawado
Note: Bryce Morrison and Tomoyuki Sawado (Editor: Kevin Bazzana)
Cover: Tomoyuki Sawado (the original image: Ronald Julian)
Photographs: ©Richard Kalina unless otherwise specified
Photo inside front cover: Photographer unknown
Honorary Executive Producer: Norma Fisher
Special thanks to: Alan Walker, Jinko Yokoyama, Jun Kinoshita, and Jeremy McGahan
Manufactured by Repeat Performance Multimedia, London
All tracks ℗ 2019 BBC: Released by arrangement with the BBC studios

Related materials:

Norma Fisher Vol. 2----Gramophone, September issue, 2019

Second volume of historic Norma Fisher recordings released----Josephine Milles (International Piano, September 2nd, 2019)

Norma Fisher: A Great Pianist Rediscovered (subscription required)---Jed Distler (Classics Today)

Norma Fisher Vol. 2---Michelle Assay (Gramophone, November issue, 2019)

Gramophone's Editor's Choice----Martin Cullingford (Gramophone, November issue, 2019)

Norma Fisher At The BBC Vol. 2 ---- Rob Challinor (MusicWeb International, December 2019)

Gramophone's Critics' Choices 2019----Michelle Assay (Gramophone, December issue, 2019)

WELCOME TO THE SILVER CHOCOLATE AWARDS 2019!----Jessica Duchen (JDCMB, December 2019)

BBC Music Magazine----Martin Cotton (BBC Music Magazine, Feb issue, 2020)

International Piano---Ates Orga (May Issue, 2020)

The 41st Liszt Ferenc International Grand Prix du Disque 2020 (October 21, 2020)

Liszt Society of Budapest (Liszt Ferenc Társaság) Newsletter (October, 2020)

Norma Fisher At The BBC Vol. 2 ---- Stephen Greenbank (MusicWeb International, May 2021)

Norma Fisher: A Life in Music (Gramophone Pod Cast Interview, 2019): (Japanese Translation)

Liszt’s Venezia e Napoli: a guide to the greatest recordings---Ateş Orga (International Piano, May 2024)

“ANOTHER LIFE, ANOTHER PERSON”. NORMA FISHER’S BBC RECORDINGS ON SONETTO CLASSICS: Disc review by Ateş Orga

Some impressive new solo piano releases----Rob Cowan (below)

Promotional video