‘1847: LISZT IN ISTANBUL’: pianist Zeynep Ucbasaran

High Romantic piano works and transcriptions make up the latest album from Turkish-American pianist Zeynep Ucbasaran, to be released early in 2021 by Divine Art Records.  The year 1847 saw Franz Liszt arrive in Istanbul (then still called Constantinople) to spend six weeks in the Ottoman capital. Liszt created much interest with the public and in the Sultan of the Ottoman Court, Abdul Medjid, for whom he performed twice.  The Erard company shipped over ‘ a beautiful piano with seven octaves’ for Liszt to play.  One of the pieces that Liszt played in the Court was his brilliant paraphrase on a march by Giuseppe Donizetti for the Sultan. Donizetti was the Sultan’s Chef d’Orchestre and the brother of the more famous Gaetano.

Zeynep Ucbasaran celebrates this creative time in her home country’s capital with a program of Liszt works and pieces by Chopin and Weber, which Liszt performed during his visit.  The pianist, who now lives and works in California, is making her debut solo album for Divine Art, having featured in both duos and trios recently: with Sergio Gallo in another program of mainly mainstream works (“Liszt to Milhaud”, Divine Art DDA 25208) and with Gallo and Miguel Chavaldas in “The Three-Piano Project” on Divine Art DDA 25207.

LISZT IN ISTANBUL (DDA 25213)

• Franz Liszt :
  • Magyar Dalok (Hungarian Melodies), S. 242 
  • Introduction et Polonaise de l’opéra I Puritani de Bellini, S. 391
  • Réminiscences de Lucia de Lammermoor de Donizetti, S. 397
  • Grande Paraphrase de la Marche de Giuseppe Donizetti, composé pour sa Majesté le Sultan Abdul Medjid-Khan, S. 403
  • Erlkönig (after Schubert), S.558
• Frédéric Chopin :
  • Mazurka in B minor, Op. 33 No. 4
• Carl Maria von Weber:
  • Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65