Press Reviews

ResMusica ( Nicolas Mesnier-Nature- 11 Mars 2013) Rating : 5/5 – A Emporter

An intelligent work that comes out of everyday life intended for informed Lisztians..

Diapason (Laurent Marcinik - Avril 2013) Rating : 4 Diapasons

Sense of story, thrifty pedal, richness of the sound paste and intelligent characterization of the different shots.

  An artist to follow.

Fanfare (Jerry Dubins- July 2013)

Horvath’s playing is simply jaw-dropping. His dynamic range knows no bounds—you won’t believe it’s possible for one pianist playing one piano to make sounds like this—and there are moments where you’d swear that Horvath has to have more than 10 fingers. But he’s by no means all glitz and no substance. He penetrates and illuminates the quiet, contemplative passages with the intensity of a highly focused beam of light.

Urgently recommended.

Philadelphia Citypaper (Peter Burwasser- 26 decembre 2013) #7 Top 10 classical albums of 2013  

 it is a quietly powerful masterpiece. French pianist Horvath makes it sing.

Fanfare (Colin Clarke- July 2013)

This disc offers a unique contribution to the discography: more, it is a musical triumph.

Audiophile Audition ( Gary Lemco- 03 Juin 2013) Rating : ★★★★ Rifle with wonder and mystery

Pianist Nicolas Horvath realizes Liszt’s monumental Christus oratorio as an eight-movement cycle of religious devotion and keyboard wizardry, always in epic proportions. 

La Lettre du Musicien (Juin 2013 n°434)  

Nicolas Horvath: an oratorio at your fingertips"

A particularly coherent recording that does justice to this inspired music that Liszt considered one of the heights of his art

Changez de disque - France Musique (Emilie Munera - 03 Avril 2013) 

Bold choice, very interesting made by this young pianist, three pieces remained unpublished. Not the easiest Liszt, maybe more for the initiated. And this is the opportunity to discover Nicolas Horvath.

Gabriel Tacchino 

I find your recording magnificent, I am very impressed by your interpretation and all that it must have given you as work.

Fanfare (Peter Burwasser - September 2013)

Mysteriously bewitching

Radio Notre Dame (Delphine Freyssinet - Mars 2013) Disque du mois

an exciting discovery

To be recommended 

Lexnews (Mars 2013) 

Nicolas Horvath, brilliant pianist particularly inspired by the music of Liszt and noticed by the great Leslie Howard, tackled this monumental work, for our greatest pleasure, because it is not always easy, even with art of Liszt, to give as much intensity to a transcription of 70 minutes in comparison with the three hours of the work for orchestra that one has in memory listening to this disc... And yet the result is striking, because the pianist manages to breathe new life into a chiseled narration of nuances, where each tableau amazes the ear as much as the imagination. Nicolas Horvath surprises with this great maturity which allows him to insist on precious moments such as this Song of the Shepherds at the Crèche worthy of the most beautiful evocations of Lorenzo Costa in Italian Renaissance painting or this majestic Tu es Petrus. And what about this very strong passage Tristis est anima, a pain evoked by the repeated grave chords, with accents that prefigure Liszt's last works (Gray Clouds, Unstern…).

On-Mag (Yvette Laval- 14 Mars 2013 ) Rating : 5/5 

In the end, just as Karl Valentin said that every play must tell the story of the theater, so this "Christus" for piano turns out to be, at the same time as an oratorio on Christ, an oratorio on the history of liturgical music. And Nicolas Horvath saw it well. The consistency of this CD is obvious.

Musical Toronto (John Terauds - 13 juin 2013) Nicolas Horvath’s brave journey through Franz Liszt’s Christus

Monégasque pianist Nicolas Horvath is building a career out of making sense of the difficult — be it new music or the later works of Liszt. In his début album issued on the Éditions Hortus label, Horvath does a double-Liszt with the composer’s own piano-solo transcription of his massive oratorio Christus, published in 1872. These transcriptions essentially meld choral and instrumental parts into plenty of work for 10 fingers. There are gorgeous moments when Liszt reaches back to the simplicity of plainchant. There also are extravagant dramatic outbursts with crashing chords and and virtuosic runs. But the bulk of the music is a quilt of meek-and-mild episodes sprung from the composer’s fertile imagination — more noodling than drama. Horvath approaches the music with breathtaking dexterity and gives it momentum wherever he can find some. Here is a pianist with a powerful sense of where his interpretation needs to go. 

L’Éducation Musicale (Patrice Imbaud - Avril 2013)

Superb interpretation by Nicolas Horvath who knows how to leave room for the music, never sinking into a vain and unspecified virtuosity, exalting by his playing all the facets of this complex score, a real initiatory journey. Alternately orchestral or confident, his piano, always just and expressive, knows how to respect silences and articulations to give this work all its beauty, sometimes arid, and its transcendence. A rare and essential record for all lovers of Franz Liszt.

Piano Addict – Great find 

Utmisol (Danielle Anex-Cabanis - Mars 2013) Christus – poème symphonique pour piano 

Nicolas Horvath, whose commitment to contemporary music in which he excels is well known, brings up a new dimension of his talent here through a game of great richness. It alternates softness and subtlety with broader sound effects requiring exceptional technical mastery, because the work is complex, so much Liszt loaded it with a deep message, a kind of synthesis of all that is essential for him. Perhaps even if six songs are absent, this condensed version has a greater depth, because the music is more refined. Either way, it's a great recording.

Larkreviews (Février 2013) 

Christus is rarely heard in its oratorio form, and this arrangement of eight movements for piano is even rarer. However it draws on Liszt’s lifetime of experience as both composer and believer to bring a subtlety and conviction which in other works can appear bombastic. The simplicity of Pastorale , the might of the Foundation of the Church and the unexpected gentle warmth of the Easter Hymn all seem more persuasive in piano version than the full choral epic. 

L'1nvisible (Mai 2013)

In this wonderful CD, all the sweetness of Liszt's piano makes us penetrate through the senses into the mystery of the life of Christ. Let yourself go: it goes straight from the ears to the heart... The soul is lifted by the emotion that emerges from this symphonic poem. Faith also penetrates through beauty.

Piano Bleu : 

Record of the week

Francis Benoît Cousté (Mars 2013)

Of this monumental symphonic poem in three parts, retracing the life of Christ (Christmas Oratorio, After Epiphany, Passion and Resurrection, 1862-1866), there was a version for solo piano, of which this is the world's first recording. In eight parts, this time: Introduction, Pastoral, Song of the Shepherds at the Crib, March of the Magi, The Foundation of the Church, The Miracle, Tristis est anima mea, O Filii et Filiæ. Thank you to the excellent pianist Nicolas Horvath for restoring these pages of high spirituality to us. Without the ordinary "effects of the sleeve", proper - in Liszt - to so many of his colleagues...

Music Broadway World (14 Mai 2013) 

French pianist Nicolas Horvath is heard in his recording debut with this fascinating solo piano version of Liszt's monumental oratorio Christus. 

Église de Beauvais – Revue Diocésaine (Jacques Yvert - Juillet - aout 2013) 

Nicolas Horvath, a young pianist with exceptional talent, succeeds in reproducing the austerity desired by the composer for this religious fresco. This recording of Liszt's Christus will undoubtedly remain one of the best interpretations of this work.

Paulinus (Christoph Vratz - 21 Avril 2013) 

Oratorio for 20 fingers

In this purely instrumental version, the oratorio naturally sounds slimmer, more transparent, more transcendent.

Classical-Modern Music Review blogsite (Grego Applegate Edwards - 31 Juillet 2013) 

The end experience is quite moving and orchestral in breadth and expanse. Nicolas Horvath handles the music with all the versatility, sensitivity, passion and technical heroics the music requires. It's most definitely a revelation to hear the complete eight-part piano version performed in its entirety. And Horvath triumphs in so doing! Definitely recommended, for all Lisztians, solo piano aficionados and those who want to experience the bridging of romanticism into modernism. Fabulous! 

L'Hébdo-Le Comtadin ( Philippe Gut - 17 Octobre 2013) Cd coup de cœur: Christus

It is a transcription for the piano of eight of the fourteen pieces of this oratorio that can be heard under the fingers of a marvelous dexterity of Nicolas Horvath who has a thorough knowledge of the piano works of Liszt. (...) A singular work, with sumptuous sounds, admirably rendered by an exceptional pianist.

Fanfare (Radu A. Lelutiu)

Horvath’s pianism is spectacular. While you might not know it from hearing the disc, these transcriptions are at times diabolically difficult to play, so much so that they make many of the Transcendental Etudes sound like a proverbial walk in the park. Horvath overcomes Liszt’s obstacles with almost superhuman ease, although it is clear at times that the fearsome demands of the score are pushing the limits of what is humanly achievable behind a keyboard. What’s more, Horvath almost makes you forget that an orchestra and platoon of singers are missing. To be sure, some of the movements (e.g., “The Three Magi” and “The Miracle”) work better as piano pieces than others, but all are worthwhile hearing. The quality of the recorded sound is very fine, although somewhat dry. Highly recommended. 

Ckcu Radio (David Dalle - December 25th, 2014)

extraordinary music of Franz Liszt in a unique performance by pianist Nicolas Horvath. One of the pinnacles of Liszt's art.

The result is an extremely moving, spiritual meditation