Liszt Piano Works

[snyprrr]

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Andsnes vs Rudy?

Katsaris?
Volodos?
Watt?
Hamelin?
Duchable?
Chui?
Nojima?
Perehia?

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[snyprrr]

Pulled the trigger on Hough and Volodos.

Suppose I should get Kempff and Friere?

[George]

Pulled the trigger on Hough and Volodos.

Suppose I should get Kempff and Friere?

I'd say cancel your orders and get all the Gekic and Arrau you can find.

[snyprrr]

I'd say cancel your orders and get all the Gekic and Arrau you can find.

Ack!

They were cheap. Yea, I'm kinda flailing here at the Liszt. So, you say Arrau > Bolet? I've seen the Gekic name, will check.

Frankly, I was hoping to, rather than collect Liszt, collect different barnstorming pianists. I do need good sound, though, that's why I didn't start off with the more classic choices (though Hough's set has really gotten high marks from, what, everyone?). That's why you see all those names in the previous Post. I'm still curious about Katsaris.

[George]

Ack!

They were cheap. Yea, I'm kinda flailing here at the Liszt. So, you say Arrau > Bolet? I've seen the Gekic name, will check.

Frankly, I was hoping to, rather than collect Liszt, collect different barnstorming pianists. I do need good sound, though, that's why I didn't start off with the more classic choices (though Hough's set has really gotten high marks from, what, everyone?). That's why you see all those names in the previous Post. I'm still curious about Katsaris.

Gekic's got great sound and that big, grand manner that suits Liszt well. Arrau finds the depth in Liszt's music. And don't forget, his teacher Krause was a student of Liszt's.

[snyprrr]

Gekic's got great sound and that big, grand manner that suits Liszt well. Arrau finds the depth in Liszt's music. And don't forget, his teacher Krause was a student of Liszt's.

So far:

Campanella 'Late Pieces' (Brilliant)
Hough 2cd (Virgin)
Volodos (Sony)
Dichter '19 Hungarian Rh.' (Philips)
Naxos Vol.1 w/Arnaldo Cohen
Friere (Decca)

I could see myself sampling more of the Naxos Cycle,... Wolfram, Gekic,... I'm trying to keep it digital,...

[Kontrapunctus]

This remastered SACD version of Cziffra's recordings of the Etudes and Rhapsodies contains some jaw-dropping virtuosity. If you want depth, perhaps look elsewhere, but if you want pianistic thrills, then this is it...and at a bargain price, too!



http://www.amazon.com/Hungarian-Rhapsodies-6-Liszt/dp/B0079J27G0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338738842&sr=8-1

[71 dB]

I have been overlooking Liszt for some reasons (I think it's because his output is so unilaterally solo piano music).

I borrowed an Arrau disc from a friend containing Sonata in B minor and some other works. I'm somewhat impressed. Liszt's piano music sounds a combination of Chopin and Elgar to me (I remember reading that Elgar was influenced by Liszt. This seems to be true).

This Arrau performance is called monumental. Unfortunately the Philips disc is OOP and VERY expensive. 

There is always Jenö Jandó on Naxos but nobody calls his reading monumental...

[Karl Henning]

There is always Jenö Jandó on Naxos but nobody calls his reading monumental...

Well, I have his two discs of the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and those are excellent.

[71 dB]

Well, I have his two discs of the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and those are excellent.

Monumental > excellent ?

Thanks for the info Karl. Maybe I get the newer Naxos recording of the Sonata. The first one is said to suffer from bad sound (not so rare problem of the earliest Naxos releases).

[Karl Henning]

Monumental > excellent ?

I'm not certain that monumental is the adjective by which any account of the Rhapsodies will stand or fall, Poju.

[71 dB]

I'm not certain that monumental is the adjective by which any account of the Rhapsodies will stand or fall, Poju.

I guess you're right about that...

[snyprrr]

Well, I have his two discs of the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and those are excellent.

They seem to get the highest marks for 'normality', considering that Campanella, Szidon, and Cziffra apparently 'do' things. I could tell simply from the samples that Szidon 'does' things,... Jando sounded the most natural. I got the Dichter on Philips on a lark, not having heard a note (it was cheaper,... and, as we know, THAT's how to tell if an album is Great&Monumental!!).

I'm seeing all kinds of first choices in the Naxos here: Wolfram, Gekic, Cohen,...

Cohen, btw, has a second cd of Liszt on the Carlton Classics label, recorded waaay back in the early 90s!


I'm absolutely convinced by the Hough 2cd on Virgin: the man is truly in the pocket here. I can't stop listening to his Lugubre Gondola II. Volodos, too, makes me forget Liszt and just hear.

[Brian]

They seem to get the highest marks for 'normality', considering that Campanella, Szidon, and Cziffra apparently 'do' things. I could tell simply from the samples that Szidon 'does' things,... Jando sounded the most natural. I got the Dichter on Philips on a lark, not having heard a note (it was cheaper,... and, as we know, THAT's how to tell if an album is Great&Monumental!!).

I'm seeing all kinds of first choices in the Naxos here: Wolfram, Gekic, Cohen,...

Jando DOES improvise in bits of the Hungarian Rhapsodies, and he does add in his own spin at times. Szidon was my first set of the Rhapsodies, but ultimately they're my least favorite, for their sour feel, not very tasteful improvisations, and imho poor piano sound... I really like Misha Dichter on Philips, now very cheaply reissued on Newton. He is THE pianist for 'normality' - he strictly obeys the scores and reveals that even when you 'play it straight,' Liszt's own markings and intentions mean that there's nothing boring or foursquare about it.

Still, when I crave one of the rhapsodies, I usually turn to Jando first. Almost certainly my favorite Jando recordings ever.

Arnaldo Cohen's BIS sonata is fantastic. Anyone want to persuade me to try F-F Guy?

[Karl Henning]

. . . Szidon was my first set of the Rhapsodies, but ultimately they're my least favorite, for their sour feel, not very tasteful improvisations, and imho poor piano sound...

You seem, Brian, to have "lived with" this set more, and to have given it a much fairer shake, than I. But I got to essentially the same result, only (as Treebeard would say) hastily.

[Brian]

You seem, Brian, to have "lived with" this set more, and to have given it a much fairer shake, than I. But I got to essentially the same result, only (as Treebeard would say) hastily.

My parents owned it, so it was the only Hungarian Rhapsody game in town as a kid/teen.

[mc ukrneal]

My parents owned it, so it was the only Hungarian Rhapsody game in town as a kid/teen.

Besides Tom and Jerry I hope!

[snyprrr]

I was just comparing, and noticed that most everyone plays the 'Benediction de Dieu...' at @17mins., with some as quick as @15. Well, Kun-Woo Paik comes in at a venerating 22.5mins! I don't know about you, but I like this piece milked, and, frankly, he keeps the tempo very nice and steady. No one else even bothers; why, I don't know.

I frankly have nothing bad to say about the other versions I was comparing at the time, but I do wonder how a 15min. performance might sound. I was looking through what's available, and, the field isn't as big as one might expect. I would have stuck with Hough, but Paik's reading is obviously special. The sound in both is very very nice, and I can't think of too many other one-offs (Duchable on Erato is one), so, what do you think? Elsewhere, since I was comparing Hough and Paik, Paik seems to edge out Hough in delicacy in the famous 'Les jeux d'eau...', but it could just be the piano image in each. Paik ultra cheap recital (I got it for a penny) is really one of the sleeper Liszt recitals. He certainly nails every piece in a particular way, and his fortissimos illicit oohs and aahs.

[not edward]

Agreed that Paik's recital is an unexpected treasure; the slow tempo of the Benediction works very well to me.

As for the Hungarian Rhapsodies, I don't think that there's anything objectionable about tampering with the score so long as it's stylistically appropriate. It's in the nature of the works, and that's why an over-the-top rendition such as Cziffra's works very well. (Alfred Brendel once wrote of reclaiming the Hungarian Rhapsodies from the purely virtuoso; I'd prefer to reclaim them from the cerebral.)

I see Giovanni Bellucci has recorded them recently; this might be interesting stuff as he has both the chops and the flair for them.