"In this second volume of "Legends of the Saints", the Orchester Wiener Akademie, under the direction of conductor and organist Martin Haselböck, continues its recording of Liszt's mystical works. During the frequent religious periods of his life, the composer turned his attention to the lives of great martyrs and saints, who provided him with an entire body of work. These works, including two previously unreleased recordings of Jeanne d'arc au bûcher, Die heilige Caecilia and the Salve Polonia from the oratorio St Stanislaus, are performed here by the Wiener Akademie and a magnificent vocal cast (Sunhae Im, Stephanie Houtzeel and Sofia Vinnik as well as Thomas Hampson), whose timbres blend with the organ, harmonium, piano and harp to reveal the inexhaustible genius of Liszt's work."

Franz Liszt’s art songs form a fascinating repertoire. His lieder served as a vehicle for his own artistic and aesthetic development, but also as inspiration for his contemporaries, who soon followed in his footsteps in composing songs for voice and orchestra.

Liszt’s predestination for sacred music doubtless stemmed from his childhood, when he had close ties to Catholicism through his father. He went on to compose many works expressing the virtues of various saints, and to those works Martin Haselböck and the Orchester Wiener Akademie are devoting a series of recordings.