Topic: Franz Liszt (1811-86)

[snyprrr]

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.

I got Dichter on Philips. I gotta say, it's a corker! The sound, of course, has the Philips 'mark', and Dichter is scintillating. Cheep cheep!!

[nico1616]

In the 15 years that I listen to classical music, only one Liszt recording was regularly on my playlist: the Berman/Giulini DG piano concertos.
Thanks to the Karajan 60's box, I am now finally discovering some orchestral works. Mazeppa is certainly great and makes me wanting more

[Lisztianwagner]

Thanks to the Karajan 60's box, I am now finally discovering some orchestral works. Mazeppa is certainly great and makes me wanting more

Really glad to hear that, Liszt's orchestral works are absolutely outstanding! Besides Mazeppa, Karajan also recorded Les preludes and Tasso, Lamento e trionfo, I think the first one should be included in the 1960s set box.

[nico1616]

Really glad to hear that, Liszt's orchestral works are absolutely outstanding! Besides Mazeppa, Karajan also recorded Les preludes and Tasso, Lamento e trionfo, I think the first one should be included in the 1960s set box.

Les preludes is indeed included, so I may be in for another nice surprise

[Lisztianwagner]

Les preludes is indeed included, so I may be in for another nice surprise

Great, I hope you will appreciate Les Preludes, as well as the other Liszt's orchestral piece included.

[snyprrr]

I have just about reached the end of my Lisztomania. So far, I've got 12 cds, all with different pianists (except Howard twice) and have most all of the major pieces, all without the Sonata!

I gotta say that running into Liszt right now was just the thing for me. I have truly fallen in love with the man. He just IS everything one could probably want to be if one wanted to be what he was,...huh? AND... he looks the part, too!

I still can't get over how, no matter who the pianist, Liszt ALWAYS comes through,... because, well, does ANYONE write like him? The mere fact that just about every piece has the unmistakable, over the top virtuosity,... I never listen to the famous Liebstraume, but even that one has flourishes that probably dishearten many young players.

I've HEARD of disrespect for Liszt (Clara Schumann, etc.,...) but, come ON!,... WHO else is there that just seem to sweep up everything and spit it back at you in this way?


I am on the verge of buying LOTS of candles, finding a room, and turning it into my Dark Sanctuary,... where I can pretend I'M Liszt (it's still early,... haven't had enough tea yet, bwah ha ha),... or just an obsessed Lisztian.

Liszt just IS. End of story.



One of my favorite new discoveries is the Fantasy & Fugue on BACH. That is one powerful piece! And the piano version of the Totentanz makes me giddy! Ahhhh,.... so much good stuff!

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Well, and what about the Sonata, hmmm?

[snyprrr]

Well, and what about the Sonata, hmmm?

I don't know, I don't even want to hear it. I was going to list the 12 or so cds I picked recently, and I'm really pleased, and there is nary much overlap, and I got a very very wide selection because the artists all seemed to choose very personal recitals (though, the 'Gondolas' both come out on top in overlap,... meaning, I also tried to stay away from 'La Campanella', the 'Liebstraume', and such,... really, Liszt recitals are very interesting to decipher).

I did get the 'Grosses Konzertsolo', and whew!, it's definitely an Organ Symphony for Piano, haha! I'll say that I think I can smell Liszt from Busoni now,... nevermind...

'La Notte' is also the type of elegiac writing that  had been missing, along with the 'Elegies 1-2', and the like. But the more youthful stuff I like just as much, all the 'ridiculous' stuff I actually just find 'par', like i take it for granted.

But, the thing with Liszt for, and listening to all these 'devoted' souls channeling the muse, is, is that he alone has induced the 'Amadeus Giggles' in me! I guess having Guitar Heros before I had... well, it's just really retro on my part, but, still, I don't know how many guitar players hit my ears the way Liszt does.

Plus, I'm only guessing, but, I must be noticing a link between Liszt = Ravel = Xenakis,... the 'french' angle, perhaps?

[snyprrr]

As I'm coming newly again to Liszt, and picking and choosing the pieces i want to hear, I'm finding that he can be much more easy going than the barnstormers might reveal. Pieces like Waldesrauschen and Sposalizio and Au lac de Wallenstadt show us how poetic Liszt was. all the while having the chops to pull off anything that came to him, like the water fountain music.

I especially wasn't too familiar with the three Petrarch sonnets, and they seem to me to be 'Italian Rhapsodies'. So much of Liszt now sounds to me to have been Composed in a high tower, far away from the world. I can't imagine anyone not responding to a perfectly planned Liszt recital.

Perhaps others are more eloquent?

[North Star]

Snyprrr, get the Sonata. Now. Hamelin's recording is good, and never mind the overlap. Hamelin is unbelievable in the Tarantella.

[snyprrr]

Snyprrr, get the Sonata. Now. Hamelin's recording is good, and never mind the overlap. Hamelin is unbelievable in the Tarantella.

Doesn't Hough also have a Hyperion Sonata?

[North Star]

Doesn't Hough also have a Hyperion Sonata?

Yes. Also Demidenko (studio & live, AFAIK) and Howard.

[Madiel]

Okay, so I'm looking at a box of the symphonic poems...

But while looking for reviews, half the time I just find back-handed remarks about the music, not the performances.  There certainly seem to be a lot of people out there who aren't fond of many of the poems.

And as a person who isn't Liszt's biggest fan, this makes me a bit nervous.  I tend to like to hear structure in my music.

The box, by the way, is Kurt Masur. 13 symphonic poems, Dante Symphony, Faust Symphony and 2 episodes from Faust.

[eyeresist]

The box, by the way, is Kurt Masur. 13 symphonic poems, Dante Symphony, Faust Symphony and 2 episodes from Faust.

I have the Masur box and think it's excellent. He's especially worthwhile in the less known works. His approach is vigorous but basically classical - he doesn't let the music drag. Admittedly I haven't heard Haitink or Joo, but most reviews say Masur is preferable (the exception being that nut on Amazon who seems to have a personal vendetta against Masur).

[ruramikael]

As for Masur, I find the dynamics unbalanced in the symphonic poems (woodwind dominating over strings and brass in Prometheus, for instance). I have not heard his Faust, Dante and the 2 episodes.
Joo is still the best, but I have not heard Haitink in many years. For Faust, go for Dorati (especially the 1st and 2 movement). In Dante, Lopez-Cobos has the edge (Decca c/w Solti's Faust).

I will also buy a CD with Haselbock conducting symphonic poems (The Sound of Weimar), I attended two concerts in Raiding, and it was overwhelming!

/Mikael

[eyeresist]

As for Masur, I find the dynamics unbalanced in the symphonic poems (woodwind dominating over strings and brass in Prometheus, for instance).

Maybe there's something wrong with your sound system? Maybe you just dislike winds? I've just listened to that recording and it sounds fine.

[ruramikael]

Maybe there's something wrong with your sound system? Maybe you just dislike winds? I've just listened to that recording and it sounds fine.

It could be that I listened to the LP box, but it was the same with the Masur/Beroff recording of the works for piano and orchestra. Masur takes a classicist approach to romantic music. But I also suspect the sound engineer . I will give it a new try (on Youtube).
Noseda (on Chandos) is very uneven, I expected a lot from him 

/Mikael

[Madiel]

Masur takes a classicist approach to romantic music.

Given some of the remarks I've seen about Liszt's symphonic poems, this sounds to me like a recommendation!

[eyeresist]

Given some of the remarks I've seen about Liszt's symphonic poems, this sounds to me like a recommendation!

Exactly

It's important to remember that, while he was a vital influence on Late Romantic music, Liszt himself was from an earlier period. He wrote most of the tone poems in the period 1848-58. Brahms didn't finish his 1st symphony until almost 20 years later!

Anyway, it's not as though Masur plays the music without expression. He just doesn't pull it around as much as late Bernstein. He takes a few of the pieces at tempos faster than we might be used to (e.g. Faust's Gretchen, the Heroide Funebre), but only in Orpheus do I feel he's really missing anything.

[Sergeant Rock]

As for Masur, I find the dynamics unbalanced in the symphonic poems (woodwind dominating over strings and brass in Prometheus, for instance).

I just listened to Masur, Joo, Solti, Halász, and Haitink's Prometheus. I hear what you hear in Masur's Prometheus: jumbo winds that bury some brass detail. Sounds a bit artificial, like an engineer was fiddling with the controls. Haitink has the more pleasing, natural orchestral balance. On the plus side, those fast ostinato woodwind notes, amplified and very prominent in Masur's recording, drive the music forward thrillingly.

I've just listened to that recording and it sounds fine.

On its own, yes, it sounds fine. Even compared to Haitink it sounds fine but the instrumental balance is very different and, to my ears, slightly artificial. Which recording is best depends on whether one prefers winds or brass, I guess.

Sarge