Nyiregyházi Live Vol. 3 documents one of the most important recitals of Ervin Nyiregyházi’s last years, the one held on May 6, 1973, at the Old First Church (Presbyterian) in San Francisco.

In 1977 Desmar label released an album entitled Nyiregyházi Plays Liszt, which featured the riveting Old First Church performance of Liszt’s Deux légendes as well as four outstanding studio recordings made in 1974. The album effectively captured Nyiregyházi’s unique artistry with less of the technical deterioration evident in his later recordings. Nyiregyházi Plays Liszt was met with critical acclaim and garnered new audiences for him, in part due to the fascinating story of his life and dramatic return.

Though Nyiregyházi's Old First Church recital has been widely discussed and has gained legendary status among historical recording enthusiasts, the complete recording has never before been commercially released. The original reel-to-reel tape of the two live tracks (Deux légendes) in Nyiregyházi Plays Liszt, which were recorded with a portable Wollensak reel-to-reel recorder placed on the balcony, has been lost. Only the surviving recording of the entire recital was made on a portable Sony cassette recorder brought into the venue by an audience member. A copy of this cassette recording has been circulated among Nyiregyházi enthusiasts for years and a part of it was commercially released in 2007; however, unfortunately, these versions have serious technical problems that appear to have been introduced subsequent to the original recording, including the truncated opening chord of St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots, incorrect pitch, wow-flutters, and severe sound distortion throughout.

Several years ago, we obtained an earlier-generation copy of this cassette recording that does not have these problems. For this release, we have addressed many of the problems mentioned above in the remastering process while preserving the natural characteristics of this source as best we could.

The present CD—the final release of our Nyiregyházi Live trilogy, launched in 2017—is being released in 2023, which marks both the one hundred twentieth anniversary of Nyiregyházi’s birth and the fiftieth anniversary of his Old First Church recital. We are profoundly grateful to all those who have supported this trilogy, and in particular to Mattheus Smits of the International Ervin Nyiregyházi Foundation in Krommenie, The Netherlands, which administers the Nyiregyházi estate.

Disc 1

Franz Schubert: “Wanderer” Fantasy in C Major, Op. 15, D. 760
1. I, Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
2. II, Adagio
3. III, Presto
4. IV, Allegro

Franz Liszt: Deux légendes
5. No. 1, St. François d’Assise: la prédication aux oiseaux
6. No. 2, St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots

Disc 2

Frédéric Chopin
1. Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 6/No. 2
2. Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55/No. 1

Claude Debussy
3. Estampes: No. 1, “Pagodes”
4. La plus que lente

Johannes Brahms
5. Rhapsody in E-flat Major, Op. 119/No. 4

(Encores)

Theodor Leschetizky
6. Étude héroïque, Op. 48/No. 3

Schubert-Liszt
7. Schwanengesang: No. 4, “Am Meer”

Recorded: May 6, 1973 at Old First Church (Presbyterian), San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Piano: Baldwin
Producer: Tomoyuki Sawado (Sonetto Classics)
Project Advisor: Kevin Bazzana
Digital Remastering: Andrew J. Holdsworth and Tomoyuki Sawado
Original Recording: Terry McNeil

Disclaimer: The album includes noises, sound fluctuations, and audio dropouts that were present in the source material.