Prima Facie is delighted to present Demonic and Divine, the eagerly-anticipated third instalment of Kenneth Hamilton’s internationally acclaimed Liszt series. The first volume, Death and Transfiguration, was a Gramophone “Best Classical Album” of 2022 (“Masterly readings…I cannot recommend this release too highly”, Jeremy Nicholas). The second, Salon and Stage, was the Guardian’s “Top Classical Recording of 2023” (“Hamilton’s ability to combine pianistic flair and technical brilliance with an acute understanding of how this music came into existence makes these performances very special indeed”, Andrew Clements).

Volume 3 shares with its predecessors Hamilton’s extraordinary passion for Liszt’s music. He has intensively studied Liszt’s often ignored interpretative advice, and immersed himself in the reminiscences and recordings of his pupils. In fact, he has himself tried to think like a latter-day Liszt student. His efforts have been encouraged by an exciting recent rediscovery in the Czech Republic: the score and manuscript collection of August Stradal, one of Liszt’s last students.