Franz Liszt (1811-86)

Started by Lethevich, September 28, 2008, 07:11:41 AM

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eyeresist

Oddly, Preludes and Mazeppa are supposed to be the hits, but haven't really grabbed me so far. I will have to do a survey of the recordings some day, but in the meantime some of the lesser known pieces are great. Have you heard the Two Episodes from Lenau's Faust?

Mirror Image

Quote from: eyeresist on December 16, 2011, 10:13:01 PM
Oddly, Preludes and Mazeppa are supposed to be the hits, but haven't really grabbed me so far. I will have to do a survey of the recordings some day, but in the meantime some of the lesser known pieces are great. Have you heard the Two Episodes from Lenau's Faust?

Yes and from what I remember they were good. I think I have them on that Volkov/BBC Scottish Symphony disc on Hyperion called Funeral Odes. I may be wrong, I'll have to check.

snyprrr

How did you know that I had just discovered that Liszt is who I had just come around to?

Here is a man who seems to embody some kind of a mythical life,... with magical powers and everything (including the babes! :o),... I mean, who could want more?,... he even repented at the end!! :-*

And then i look at all these photos of Lisztian pianists- some in disguise as a 'normal' man, some with the very hair proclaiming Greatness!- and I see the residue of the light that informed Liszt. And I HEAR it! :o

I was bumming because of an utter lack of interest,... it was really down to Satie, Ravel, and Liszt (with Busoni),... and I just 'strumbled' onto Liszt, having determined to go after the Late Piano Works. Though proving not to be where I'm at at the moment, they have shuttled me into the kingdom from the caboose, making me yearn for all those tinkling, twinkling delights (I need Water Music!!).

I set about to make a one sheet Works List of the piano works, and began researching recordings (as you know, I'm currently in a 'Missing Plug-In' pickle), and I've found some curiosities already: Barenboim, Friere, Katsaris, Sherman in the Etudes. I'm curious what are some of your curiosities, as opposed to the Usual Suspects (Brendel, Arrau, Wild (Wild?),...). I suppose even Howard can pop up as a First Choice in some areas (anyone have a detailed,... oh wait,...) as an 'unexpected'. Kocsis...had that back in the day...


Right now, Liszt comes to me in:

a) sets of actual sets ('Harmonies', 'Annees', 'Etudes',...)

b) recitals of fairly 'hermetic' (thematically linked) items ('Ballades' and 'Legends' together; 'Late Works')

c) more loosely organized recitals

d) the odd chicken here and there

I know I've been through this before, and I can certainly overdo it like any here can, so, I'd love to get into everyone's deepest thoughts on the subject. I'll look through the Threads.

I'll be looking for issues where every finger is making a different sound,... the odd, the wild,... I'll even check out Pogo! C'mon, kids, who makes your jaw drop? :o


Karl Henning

We have met Liszt and he is us.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

snyprrr


snyprrr

Quote from: karlhenning on May 18, 2012, 10:33:38 AM
We have met Liszt and he is us.

The seeking... the searching... the joy, the sorrow...


...It's a MAN, baby!...

snyprrr

Any particulars to any of these recitals?:

Rudy (EMI)

Andsnes (Virgin?)

Hough 1-2 (Virgin)

Duchable (Erato/Apex)

Dalberto (Denon)

Tabe (Denon)

Lipsky (Denon)

Paik (Virgin)

Browning (Delos)

L. Zimerman(sic) (DG)

...more?...

snyprrr

I need the support of the most rabid Liszt-o-maniacs. WHERE on this site can I find people who ONLY exist to COMMAND me to buy the BEST Liszt. I mean, this Thread leaves a LOT to be desired for just a plain Liszt Thread, but the Recordings Threads aren't much better. Who, who, WHO will clear these up for me?:

Volodos (Sony)
Rudy (EMI)
Andsnes (EMI)
Duchable (Erato)
Hamelin (Hyperion)
Perehia (Sony)
Cherkasky Funerailles (Nimbus)
Katsaris Waltzes (Teldec)
Watt (EMI) 2
Chui (HM)

and

Kempff (DG)
Friere (Decca)
Bolet 'Rediscovered' (RCA)


I started my current Lisztmania with the Campanella disc of Late Pieces, and have ordered the Hough 'box' on Virgin. I am more concerned with hearing different, incredible players, rather than collecting Liszt, though surely I will also be rediscovering most of this music after 20 years.

Any lost, well recorded, jaw droppers?...


There hasn't even been a discussion over Bolet vs. Arrau...


and PLEASE, what of Barenboim's Annees 1 (DG)?

mc ukrneal

Quote from: snyprrr on May 27, 2012, 11:05:05 AM
I need the support of the most rabid Liszt-o-maniacs. WHERE on this site can I find people who ONLY exist to COMMAND me to buy the BEST Liszt. I mean, this Thread leaves a LOT to be desired for just a plain Liszt Thread, but the Recordings Threads aren't much better. Who, who, WHO will clear these up for me?:

Volodos (Sony)
Rudy (EMI)
Andsnes (EMI)
Duchable (Erato)
Hamelin (Hyperion)
Perehia (Sony)
Cherkasky Funerailles (Nimbus)
Katsaris Waltzes (Teldec)
Watt (EMI) 2
Chui (HM)

and

Kempff (DG)
Friere (Decca)
Bolet 'Rediscovered' (RCA)


I started my current Lisztmania with the Campanella disc of Late Pieces, and have ordered the Hough 'box' on Virgin. I am more concerned with hearing different, incredible players, rather than collecting Liszt, though surely I will also be rediscovering most of this music after 20 years.

Any lost, well recorded, jaw droppers?...


There hasn't even been a discussion over Bolet vs. Arrau...


and PLEASE, what of Barenboim's Annees 1 (DG)?
Here a couple I like:
[asin]B0001CCXBG[/asin]
[asin]B000038I76[/asin]
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

snyprrr

Quote from: mc ukrneal on May 27, 2012, 11:25:01 AM
Here a couple I like:
[asin]B0001CCXBG[/asin]
[asin]B000038I76[/asin]

I AM having difficulty figuring out which Wild is the Wild to get! There's another cover for that Vanguard?

mc ukrneal

#330
Quote from: snyprrr on May 27, 2012, 07:08:59 PM
I AM having difficulty figuring out which Wild is the Wild to get! There's another cover for that Vanguard?
I think it was this originally...
[asin]B0000023D2[/asin]

I also like this one...
[asin]B00008V60H[/asin]

And there is this one, but I don't have it...
[asin]B000056CG1[/asin]

It can be confusing as he did a lot of Liszt over the years. There is another one called the Virtuosity of Earl Wild that looks good too (good reviews on Amazon as well).
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

snyprrr

Quote from: mc ukrneal on May 27, 2012, 11:03:50 PM
I think it was this originally...
[asin]B0000023D2[/asin]

I also like this one...
[asin]B00008V60H[/asin]

And there is this one, but I don't have it...
[asin]B000056CG1[/asin]

It can be confusing as he did a lot of Liszt over the years. There is another one called the Virtuosity of Earl Wild that looks good too (good reviews on Amazon as well).

Are you familiar with the Wild/Wilde 2cd on EMI?,... three pianists...

snyprrr

I have convinced myself I can get all the Piano Music for less than $50 (Shipping not included!!). Who's with me?

I mean, if the Howard set is 99 cds, and if we, just for the sake of argument, cut down on the word 'all' a little, I think it's quite possible. All we would really need is a few desperate vendors! ;)


Either way, I have 'tripped' into a Lisztian CDCDCD issue, and am desperately trying to back out before I hit the transcription phase of my obsession. So far, we've settled on:



nevermind,... I need a nap...


Hough VS Volodos

I got them both on the same day, and it's been quite an interesting compare. Both are fairly equal, but, in the St. Francis piece, for instance, Volodos produces plutonium cosmic guaze where Hough spins merely the finest silk. Maybe that's not fair to Hough, though, who is about the most reliable pianist out there (especially in this stuff!). It could just be the sound that each is afforded: both have curiosities, that bring out different things. Volodos is given the most awesomely thunderous bass I've ever heard in Funerailles. I was quite amazed at Volodos's choice of works: there are quite a few of the more introspective pieces here, allowing Volodos only to be perfect in a 'different' way

I think Hough edges out Hamelin in the Tarantella.

I probably shoul;d have put this in the Recordings...

mc ukrneal

Quote from: snyprrr on May 28, 2012, 08:01:57 AM
Are you familiar with the Wild/Wilde 2cd on EMI?,... three pianists...
Sorry - don't know it.
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

snyprrr

I just spent the day squinting, looking at the Hyperion 'Liszt at the Opera' cds' backside to get a grip on the 12! :o cds of paraphrases and fantasies.

As I checked further, there appears to be cds dedicated to the Verdi, Donizetti, Wagner, Bellini, and Rossini pieces. Would anyone care to educate me on the 'essentials'? I notice that most of Vols. 5-6 in the Howard Cycle are second versions and such, leaving a more manageable group of pieces.

Surely someone can point me in the right direction. It does appear that Howard is, generally, the perfect guide here, but, there are lots of other pianists such as Wehr, and the new Japanese lady (Chitoise?), as well as Hegedus on Hungaroton. What do you say?


snyprrr

#335
I'm basically coming new to this set (with a cd with no liner notes :(), so, I'm just going to Post my reactions to each. Right now, the player is not important (but, it's a MOR choice).

No.1: Obviously, this is a Long One! My first reaction is as a... piano solo,... rhapsodic! in nature,... with a certain minor key slant that I translate as 'jamming' (yes, very illiterate right now :-[). It does seem long,... sometimes I thought we were on the next one, but, no,... still, I want to hear it again. I love the tickling treble octaves!

No.2: This ones much more condensed, with the same minor key 'base' as the first piece. Ah!, so THIS? is Gypsy Music? What, going from minor tonic to the 5th is Gypsy Music? Anyhow, at one point I must admit it sounded like bordello music. Still, again, it is fun to hear.

No.3: This one is much darker than the first two, and much shorter, @6mins. This one definitely makes you want to hear it again, much richer.

No.4: Haha, this one is quite exuberant, very Tickle-Mania! There's lots of up and down the keyboard. Again, the very 'earthy' dance melody gives a very peasant village hall feeling. It's the shortest one so far.

No.5: This one starts off real nice and dark and cool, with octave bass. Very nice! This sounds like something I'd improvise. Ah!, I see it's in 'E minor', haha, of course, my favorite 'Rock' key! Well, that explains it's familiarity. Hmm, we're halfway through and it hasn't picked up speed; it's a slow one. There is something slightly macabre,... a candlelit feeling, in a grotto,... under the Opera House... well, maybe not like that. Is this where Liberace was born? :-\

I'm going to guess this is one of the Popular Ones, haha. Mmm,... those bass notes are tasty! :P

No.6: Now we're back in Dance territory, a very stately one at that! I really like the festive tone here. Hmm,... Db Major, interesting. I can see how that black key bass note makes this piece... it sounds 'four square', like a barn dance or something,... ah, here comes the sad part! :'(

And now we have rhapsodized back to a different dance feel. I do like this stuff so far, very life affirming,... and, on top of that, you can tell it's Liszt, because the actual level of virtuosity is total. So many interesting sounds!

No.7: This has an overt 'gypsy' feel, like what I might think I'd hear in the gypsy village of a Hollywood film,... maybe not, but, a certain 'peasant' quality, rustic, folklore,... the rhythm is very rhapsodic,... yes, this has a certain 'film' quality to it. D minor.,... the 'gypsy violin' key?

No.8: A nice f# minor key. How did I ever miss this? This has "Liszt Rock Star' feel all over it, haha!

snyprrr

#336
Quote from: snyprrr on June 13, 2012, 02:44:33 PM
I'm basically coming new to this set (with a cd with no liner notes :(), so, I'm just going to Post my reactions to each. Right now, the player is not important (but, it's a MOR choice).

No.1: Obviously, this is a Long One! My first reaction is as a... piano solo,... rhapsodic! in nature,... with a certain minor key slant that I translate as 'jamming' (yes, very illiterate right now :-[). It does seem long,... sometimes I thought we were on the next one, but, no,... still, I want to hear it again. I love the tickling treble octaves!

No.2: This ones much more condensed, with the same minor key 'base' as the first piece. Ah!, so THIS? is Gypsy Music? What, going from minor tonic to the 5th is Gypsy Music? Anyhow, at one point I must admit it sounded like bordello music. Still, again, it is fun to hear.

No.3: This one is much darker than the first two, and much shorter, @6mins. This one definitely makes you want to hear it again, much richer.

No.4: Haha, this one is quite exuberant, very Tickle-Mania! There's lots of up and down the keyboard. Again, the very 'earthy' dance melody gives a very peasant village hall feeling. It's the shortest one so far.

No.5: This one starts off real nice and dark and cool, with octave bass. Very nice! This sounds like something I'd improvise. Ah!, I see it's in 'E minor', haha, of course, my favorite 'Rock' key! Well, that explains it's familiarity. Hmm, we're halfway through and it hasn't picked up speed; it's a slow one. There is something slightly macabre,... a candlelit feeling, in a grotto,... under the Opera House... well, maybe not like that. Is this where Liberace was born? :-\

I'm going to guess this is one of the Popular Ones, haha. Mmm,... those bass notes are tasty! :P

No.6: Now we're back in Dance territory, a very stately one at that! I really like the festive tone here. Hmm,... Db Major, interesting. I can see how that black key bass note makes this piece... it sounds 'four square', like a barn dance or something,... ah, here comes the sad part! :'(

And now we have rhapsodized back to a different dance feel. I do like this stuff so far, very life affirming,... and, on top of that, you can tell it's Liszt, because the actual level of virtuosity is total. So many interesting sounds!

No.7: This has an overt 'gypsy' feel, like what I might think I'd hear in the gypsy village of a Hollywood film,... maybe not, but, a certain 'peasant' quality, rustic, folklore,... the rhythm is very rhapsodic,... yes, this has a certain 'film' quality to it. D minor.,... the 'gypsy violin' key?

No.8: A nice f# minor key. How did I ever miss this? This has "Liszt Rock Star' feel all over it, haha!

No.9: In the Classical key of Eb Major, a very capricious and rollicking good time with stateliness also. This is one of the longer ones. This one also has plenty of tinkling going on for most of the piece. I wonder if this is one of the Popular Ones, or is it too long perhaps?

No.10: Haha, in E Major, I expect it to burst into a barrelhouse rhythm. Perhaps the familiar key lends itself to the salon atmosphere. This one seems to have the most... uh.... 'Romantic'? feel to it? Again, the rhapsodic quality is there, and I do hear, I mean, what sounds like the kind of music Shostakovich would call 'Jewish'? I think of Bela Lugosi as the gypsy in 'The Wolfman'.

All of these pieces do exhibit an innate descriptiveness. As each piece grows on me, I am just struck by the multifaceted demeanor of all these pieces.

No.11: This one starts off with a plaintive 'O Sole Mio' type yearning. Ah, A minor! Yes, it has the descending pattern,... I think I've noodled my way through so of this in my life, haha! Then I feel we're back at the bordello, but then Liszt's 'fountain' music takes over. This one has a 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They', weary hooker feel, like a whorehouse in Louisiana? Hey, that's a compliment! ;) This is some Gothic schtuffe here; I'm thinking Fennimore Cooper... I smell something decaying around back! I can picture this being played in the American Western...

No.12: Haha, this one starts off like the famous Bach scary music! :D But I'm still feeling some of the 'Gothic' lingering from the previous one. This one is more of a minor key showpiece, Dracula/Liberace at the piano. I'd love to know what I would have thought of these back when I SHOULD have heard them. >:D

snyprrr

Quote from: snyprrr on June 13, 2012, 04:52:45 PM
No.9: In the Classical key of Eb Major, a very capricious and rollicking good time with stateliness also. This is one of the longer ones. This one also has plenty of tinkling going on for most of the piece. I wonder if this is one of the Popular Ones, or is it too long perhaps?

No.10: Haha, in E Major, I expect it to burst into a barrelhouse rhythm. Perhaps the familiar key lends itself to the salon atmosphere. This one seems to have the most... uh.... 'Romantic'? feel to it? Again, the rhapsodic quality is there, and I do hear, I mean, what sounds like the kind of music Shostakovich would call 'Jewish'? I think of Bela Lugosi as the gypsy in 'The Wolfman'.

All of these pieces do exhibit an innate descriptiveness. As each piece grows on me, I am just struck by the multifaceted demeanor of all these pieces.

No.11: This one starts off with a plaintive 'O Sole Mio' type yearning. Ah, A minor! Yes, it has the descending pattern,... I think I've noodled my way through so of this in my life, haha! Then I feel we're back at the bordello, but then Liszt's 'fountain' music takes over. This one has a 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They', weary hooker feel, like a whorehouse in Louisiana? Hey, that's a compliment! ;) This is some Gothic schtuffe here; I'm thinking Fennimore Cooper... I smell something decaying around back! I can picture this being played in the American Western...

No.12: Haha, this one starts off like the famous Bach scary music! :D But I'm still feeling some of the 'Gothic' lingering from the previous one. This one is more of a minor key showpiece, Dracula/Liberace at the piano. I'd love to know what I would have thought of these back when I SHOULD have heard them. >:D

No.13: I already know this is one of the Popular Ones, but it will be interesting to see how it stacks up to what I've heard so far. Well, it starts with what I would call the 'Transylvania' scale, or, I guess, the typical 'gypsy' scale (harmonic minor?). This one is definitely the outpouring of soul. Now it picks up with a slightly tipsy dance. I can't tell too much why this is so popular, I suppose the A minor? It's not that much different than some of them, though, there aren't too many slower ones so far. OK, it ends smashingly!

No.14: This one starts off in the darker key of f minor. I'm still feeling the barrelhouse/gypsy elements in the middle: I just seem to have heard this kind of stuff coming from the bar in the Western movie on TV? This is some earthy stuff, I'm surprised how much I like these pieces; there IS a cumulative effect going on at the same time. I'm just not tiring of hearing more. I really like how he... rhapsodically moves from one thing to the next, with witty asides along the way. This is one of the longer ones.

No.15: This one I know is famous. Well, it starts off imposingly enough! Oh, and now it is really banging along! I can immediately see why this one is famous. It sounds like a lot of fun. Liszt certainly 'invented' the deep bass run!

No.16: This one also starts off like a metal song, but settles into an a minor rumination, like a violin solo. It almost sounds as despairing as Late Liszt. It's interesting to compare these two a minor pieces side by side. Once again we visit the barrelhouse in the middle. It's amazing how this stuff reminds me of 'Gone with the Wind' Civil War era times. Well, it ends big,... I guess you can't tell where these 'rhapsodies' are going to go?

No.17: This one sounds pessimistic in its opening. It settles into a late night feel in d minor. I saw that Richter played this one. It is the shortest of the Cycle at 3mins. Haha, I keep thinking these things will settle into a quiet mood, but POW!, they all seem to explode at the end, and this one ends powerfully.

No.18: It opens moodily in f# minor. I think Liszt liked this key for that 'black key' minor key quality. It has the same kind of feel as the other f3 minor piece. It too builds to a climax, and is very short, but is much more subdued than the last piece.

No.19: Ah, finally, the last one. It starts off unassumingly in d minor. There's a nice tumble of notes early on. Again, it seems to settle into a slower rhythm, and again I hear the echoes of the whorehouse of the old west. This is one of the longer ones, and, at this point I couldn't distinguish this one from any of the other longers ones,... or, may most of them! Again, I have no notes, so I'm going blind; I wonder if this was a summing up piece? Still, it's as attractive as the rest of this wonderful program.

I'm a fan!

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

kishnevi

Just finished listening to the Harmonies Rel. et Poet.   and the Sonata played by FF Guy.  Don't  have another recording of the Harmonies to make a comparison, but the Sonata was well served, and  brought out the Beethovenian side (or maybe my imagination prompted by the six CDs worth of FFG playing Beethoven in my listening pile).

Re the Hungarian Rhapsodies--my only complete set is the one by Jando on Naxos, which took a while to grow on me, but which I like more every time I listen to it.