Though Hungarian by birth, and having studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Louis Kentner, like so many
others of Jewish origin, immigrated to London in the mid 1930s, aware that central Europe was not the best place to be
at that time for someone of his race. He was to remain in London for the rest of his life, becoming very much part of
British musical life both as pianist and, later, as teacher.
His somewhat sensational London debut took place in the Aeolian Hall in October 1936 where he gave an all Liszt
recital. As a direct result he was signed up by HMV and over the next fifteen years, in addition to much other
repertoire, he made a large number of Liszt recordings which featured not only the often recorded etudes and
Hungarian Rhapsodies but also premiere recordings of many of Liszt's more important, but then less well known, larger
works. Our first APR title (APR5514) featured such unusual works as the Scherzo & March, the Berceuse and the first
Polonaise; on the current disc, in addition to a number of the well known aforementioned etudes, we find a group of
late pieces, including the bizarre Czárdás Macabre, which was only published in the year of its recording, and the
Meyerbeer/Liszt 'Les Patineurs' scherzo. This later piece is one of Liszt's most brilliant operatic transcriptions, but is
strangely little known. It is perhaps Kentner's most stunning recording and a fitting way to end this fascinating recital.