Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography

[Brian]

Nice, but at around $25/CD too much for my pocketbook.

You (or any interested reader) can order it from the UK for about US $40 shipped. I got mine for $30 from somewhere. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Liszt-Recordings-Fiorentino-Edition/dp/B00ACCQXKM

[San Antone]

Cziffra has been lauded in several reviews I've read, but some consider it an acquired taste.  I have found a nice box set I might get.

I am not a huge fan of Paul Lewis, his Beethoven seems middle of the road, but will give this a listen. Some of his Liszt is on Spotify.

And a set (back cover so you can see the contents)

I've seen the Ciccolini but have not listened to it. 

Orchestral stuff!  A handy collection

Yes! 

But there is a PI recording I truly like.  No surprise to see who conducts.

I have had this one for a long time and enjoy it very much also.

[San Antone]

You (or any interested reader) can order it from the UK for about US $40 shipped. I got mine for $30 from somewhere. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Liszt-Recordings-Fiorentino-Edition/dp/B00ACCQXKM

Good to know - thanks for the link.

[San Antone]

Here is a quote which highlights the problem, as I see it, for many performances of Liszt.  Professor E. J. Dent from his book on  Ferruccio Busoni:

"The greater works of Liszt, which minor pianists turn into mere displays of virtuosity because their technique is inadequate for anything beyond that, often sounded strangely easy and simple when played by Busoni.  The glittering scales and arpeggios became what Liszt intended them to be - a dimly suggested background, while the themes in massive chords or singing melodies stood out clear."

Few pianists can manage that but when they do it transforms these works into something quite different than recital showpieces.

[NJ Joe]

Raymond Lewanthal plays Hexameron. This is the best recording of Hexameron I know, both in terms of the sheer elan of the performance and the recorded sound. Hexameron has to be the most exciting and entertaining music Liszt had a hand in creating.

About 2 years ago I heard one of the Alkan pieces from this disc on the radio while driving to work. I liked it so much that I immediately bought it.  I know very little about the piano music of Liszt and even less about Alkan, but I have been captivated by these performances since day 1. Highly recommended.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

There is an entire 6 CD box set of Fiorentino's Liszt recordings - 5 early, 1 late.

[asin]B00ACCQXKM[/asin]

Yes, that'd be the way to go. All of Fiorentino's Liszt collected under one roof. But...

Nice, but at around $25/CD too much for my pocketbook.

Zowie! Just earlier today there were a few of these sets available for reasonable prices!! On AmazonUS. Wow...

Oh, well, there's always BRO. Or as Brian said, AmazonUK. The price is worth it.

[Mandryka]

Just some random responses to some of the posts.

1. For newer versions of the B minor sonata, I was most impressed by Burkhard Schliessman's.

2  For the Hungarian Rapsodies, you need to cherry pick. One good places to start is Cziffra's early recording released on Hungaroton and recorded in EMI's studios in Paris - be careful to get the right one because some of the other things he did work less well. Another pianist to try for HRs is Mykola Suk.

3. Fiorentino did some very worthwhile Liszt recordings, including some Années and a collection of late pieces. Having said that the années recording I've found the most fascinating is by Jerome Lowenthal (not to be confused with Raymond Lewenthal) partly because it's less bombastically and overwhelmingly swooningly squirmingly writhingly romantic.) Jerome Lowenthal is a great pianist for Bartok too.

4. It's nice to see someone else has discovered Raymond Lewenthal's Hexameron. Of course, Hexameron is not all by Liszt! The best bit is by Chopin.

5. Liszt's choral works can be satisfying when you're in the mood. There's Via Crucis, St Elizabeth and a Requiem.

6. One absolutely outstanding Liszt pianist is Wilhelm Kempf. Another is Annie Fischer.

[Florestan]

FWIW here is my complete Liszt collection.

1. Solo piano



2. Piano and Orchestra



3. Tone Poems



4. Symphonies



5. Oratorios



6. Violin and Piano



7. Lieder



plus Youtube downloads: Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses with Gunnar Johansen and Lieder with Hermann Prey and Alexis Weissenberg

[Karl Henning]

I need to spend some time with this 'un.

[San Antone]

FWIW here is my complete Liszt collection.

plus Youtube downloads: Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses with Gunnar Johansen and Lieder with Hermann Prey and Alexis Weissenberg

Nice!  I also found some of Gunnar Johansen YT clips - what did you think?  He recorded almost as much as Lesley Howard.   I'll look for the Hermann Prey Lieder, and I saw the Behrens disc but haven't heard it.  I just bought the three volumes from Hyperion and still still to play them. 

Your favorites among your Liszt collection?

[San Antone]

Yes, that'd be the way to go. All of Fiorentino's Liszt collected under one roof. But...

Zowie! Just earlier today there were a few of these sets available for reasonable prices!! On AmazonUS. Wow...

Oh, well, there's always BRO. Or as Brian said, AmazonUK. The price is worth it.

I am not familiar with Florentino - but here is what the Guardian had to say:

Piano Classics' collection of his Liszt recordings, mostly dating from the 1950s and 60s but with one disc including the B minor Sonata from 1997, shows what a great artist Fiorentino was. There's a wonderful sense of selfless authority and technical mastery about the playing; nothing here is overblown, and every thing is shaped with an instinctive musicality. The set ranges right through Liszt's output to a wonderful collection of the late pieces, though there are some notable omissions – there are no Transcendental Studies, and only the first, Swiss, book [my least favorite of the three] of the Années de Pèlerinage. Transfers are mostly excellent – only the disc of works with orchestra shows its age; all the playing is timeless.

Does that coincide with your (anyone's) own view?

Too bad about what is NOT included - in any event, I will try to snag a copy if I can find it rather inexpensively since his manner of playing these works sounds exactly how I prefer to hear them.

[North Star]

Apart from the ones that have been recently discussed (and I assume Argerich's PS is among those) I quite like Bavouzet's solo disc with Tristan Liebestod coupled with Kocsis' transcription of the prelude.

[San Antone]

Apart from the ones that have been recently discussed (and I assume Argerich's PS is among those) I quite like Bavouzet's solo disc with Tristan Liebestod coupled with Kocsis' transcription of the prelude.

Argerich - yes - I am pretty sure I included hers as one of my favorites of the B Minor.  Did she record it only once?

[North Star]

Argerich - yes - I am pretty sure I included hers as one of my favorites of the B Minor.  Did she record it only once?

I only know of the one recording, in any case.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I am not familiar with Florentino - but here is what the Guardian had to say:

Piano Classics' collection of his Liszt recordings, mostly dating from the 1950s and 60s but with one disc including the B minor Sonata from 1997, shows what a great artist Fiorentino was. There's a wonderful sense of selfless authority and technical mastery about the playing; nothing here is overblown, and every thing is shaped with an instinctive musicality. The set ranges right through Liszt's output to a wonderful collection of the late pieces, though there are some notable omissions – there are no Transcendental Studies, and only the first, Swiss, book [my least favorite of the three] of the Années de Pèlerinage. Transfers are mostly excellent – only the disc of works with orchestra shows its age; all the playing is timeless.

Does that coincide with your (anyone's) own view?

I'm time-crunched at the moment but, yes, I agree with every word of this description.

[Todd]

The Barton / Labe disc is really quite nice.

Pizarro is another pianist from the Liszt pedagogical line - Liszt to José Vianna da Motta to Sequeira Costa to Pizarro. 

[Karl Henning]

The Barton / Labe disc is really quite nice.

Interesting . . . as long as I have known her, she has been Rachel Barton Pine 

She also plays violin in a metal band, I understand.

[San Antone]

I'm time-crunched at the moment but, yes, I agree with every word of this description.

I went to Amazon UK and bought The Complete Liszt Recordings (Fiorentino Edition, Vol. 2) for USD 31.40 - look forward to listening.

Also, the Barton / Labe violin & piano recording is on YT

https://www.youtube.com/v/DmwOp1x8G7I

[Brian]

I am not familiar with Florentino - but here is what the Guardian had to say:

FWIW the other big Fiorentino box from Piano Classics ("The Berlin Recordings," I think) is also gold - for the most part, it's the 70+ year old pianist recording pieces which had been in his repertoire for 40-50 years, many of them from memory and in single takes. The Schumann Fantasy is my, and I think Divertimentian's, and I think Jed Distler's, and probably very many other people's, #1 pick. (Uncoincidentally, it also has the slowest slow movement at 13 minutes.)

[Florestan]

Nice!  I also found some of Gunnar Johansen YT clips - what did you think?

I´ve heard/downloaded only his Harm. Poet. & Rel. I think he does a very good job, but then again the only comparison I have is Philip Thomson.

Your favorites among your Liszt collection?

Berman´s Annees and PCs, Thomson´s HRP, Pizarro´s HR, Brendel PCs & Totentanz and Haitink´s tone poems. All the rest I either have never listened to or have listened only in the most casual way. I know, I know, it´s silly but true. I guess I should remedy that someday.