Can Cakmur - Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert: Schwanengesang

Franz Liszt�s arrangement of Schubert�s Schwanengesang is very much his own work: while it very clearly retains the musical meaning of the original it also provides a vision of Liszt�s understanding of what lies beyond the black dots on paper. In the young Turkish pianist Can �akmur�s words, Liszt�s �songs without words� are �striking, horrifying, grand, intimate, full of life and yet often as pale as death. The marvel of what a single instrument can attain plays an integral role in all these pieces.� Published posthumously, Schwanengesang is a collection of songs that Schubert may have intended to be grouped together, but if so he never provided a definitive order. In his arrangement, Liszt adopted an order of his own, and �akmur takes the same liberty, seeking �to arrive at a sequence which presents not a storyline but an emotional journey. The Liszt arrangement was first published in 1840, twelve years after Schubert�s death, and �akmur contrasts it here with the much later �forgotten� waltzes, Quatre Valses oubli�es. As most of Liszt�s late music they are elusive, and �akmur describes them as �possibly wistful, sardonic or melancholic � or perhaps all at once.� Winner of the 2018 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, Can �akmur released his d�but disc in 2019, receiving praise for his technical prowess and sensibility alike � qualities that come well in hand for his new Liszt recital.