The LISZT200 Master Series kicked off on Jan. 27 with single- and duo-piano performances in Kenan Auditorium from UNCW music professor and recitalist Elizabeth Loparits and the Director of Cultural Arts Norman Bemelmans. “Passion and Poetry” was the first of four performances showcasing the music of romantic period composer and performer Franz Liszt as a celebration of his bicentennial. The year-long series is being hosted by the Office of Cultural Arts.

Liszt was a master pianist and composer of the romantic era who was known for stretching his instrument to its limit. The concert consisted of eight pieces composed by Liszt.

“Both pianists gave performances of technical mastery and lyrical intensity,” said UNCW music professor Barry Salwen. “One could see the difference in their character, with Bemelmans openly a virtuoso, and Lopartis leaning towards more of a lyrical temperament.”

Loparits performed renditions of “Sposalizio,” “Petrarch Sonnet 104” and “Rigoletto Paraphrase.” Bemelmans followed with a performance consisting of “Funerailles,” “Am Grabe Wagners” and “Liebestod,” from Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan und Isolde.”

“A Liszt concert is at the threshold, as far as technically speaking, of a pianist’s abilities,” said sophomore music student Karl Metzger. “The melodies in the first half of the show were really well thought out, especially Bemelmans’.”

The rousing finale of “Passion and Poetry” consisted of two duo-piano pieces. “Totentanz,” the first duet, is a dark and powerful piece that was originally written for piano and orchestra. Loparits and Bemelmans rounded out the recital with “Concerto Pathetique,” a poetic and rarely performed work.

“By the end, the listener could be bowled over with Liszt’s inspiration, with his extraordinary piano writing, exquisite lyricism, and inventive transformations” Salwen said.  “At the same time, the welter of notes and the very loose dramatic conception typified the romantic excess that was part and parcel of a good deal of Liszt’s music, and indeed of his fascinating life overall.”

The next installment of the LISZT200 series will take place on Saturday March 26 in Kenan Auditorium as Bemelmans once again takes the stage, this time with the UNC Chapel Hill Chamber Singers. The final two installments in the series will occur in the fall semester of 2011 featuring another solo performance by Bemelmans in September and a finale on Liszt’s birthday in October by the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra.