Search - Franz Liszt, Adrian Farmer, Dennis O'Neill :: Liszt: Tre Sonetti di Petrarca

"Dennis O?Neill is that rare thing?an exquisitely musical tenor who pays attention to the character and is capable of discerning shades of, say, anger, longing, passion, sadness?you know, the four emotions tenors are normally called upon to express." - ClassicsToday The Petrarch Sonnets are known to all pianists from the Années de pélèrinage: Italie. What is less known is that they started life as songs. Even allowing for Liszt?s undoubted originality, these songs are so extraordinary that one doubts they have any precedent. The remaining items on this CD include seldom-heard first settings of Victor Hugo and later popular songs including O lieb! and Es muß ein wunderbares sein. Dennis O?Neill is one of the world?s leading tenors and a specialist in the works of Verdi. He has enjoyed a long association with the Royal Opera House and Convent Garden, and is a very busy concert artist. Adrian Farmer, one of Britain?s finest pianists, has had a virtually unique career in that his interest in recording technology almost overtook his keyboard career. Farmer served as deputy chairman of Nimbus Technology and Engineering, possibly the only such executive who entered the field through the door of classical music performance. Adrian Farmer oversaw a number of transformations at Nimbus, from its origins as a classical label to LP manufacturing and on to CD manufacturing, and then to developer and manufacturer of mastering equipment.