Franz Liszt (1811-86)

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

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eyeresist

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on September 14, 2012, 04:46:16 AMI 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.

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.

OK, as I don't have Haitink I will take your word for that. I like winds :)

Do you have the entire Joo set, and if so could you give a quick assessment of it? Many thanks.

Madiel

Hi-ho.  The box of Masur symphonic poems, as someone suspected (I think it was eyesresist, though not on this thread), was indeed the French edition of the box.

With only French text about the symphonic poems.  A bit of typing into Google Translate may be in order.

But guess which text they saw fit to translate into English?  The copyright information and the dire threats about breaching copyright.

Got to love a sense of well-balanced priorities.  ::)
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

jlaurson


question: how did you find -- assuming you've found time to listen to them -- the English Pellerinage traversal on the Erard?

Karl Henning

Quote from: orfeo on October 03, 2012, 04:39:47 AM
But guess which text they saw fit to translate into English?  The copyright information and the dire threats about breaching copyright.

Well, the English for that boilerplate text is readily available, to be sure.
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

CriticalI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonic_poems_(Liszt)

Plus individual entries for over half the tone poems.

Bearing in mind of course that, according to Wikipedia, Franz Liszt was over 10.5 miles tall ;)

Madiel

Quote from: CriticalI on October 04, 2012, 05:29:39 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonic_poems_(Liszt)

Plus individual entries for over half the tone poems.

Bearing in mind of course that, according to Wikipedia, Franz Liszt was over 10.5 miles tall ;)

Cheers, found that last night as I embarked on Ce quo'on entend sur la montagne.

The text in the box set is absurdly limited anyway.  Even with my weak grasp of French (being aided somewhat at the moment by investigating the songs of Faure), I can tell there's no more than a sentence or two per poem.

I often find one of the best sources for some background on a piece is Classical Archives.  They take all the information from All Music Guide, but it's presented in a much more accessible format, and accessing the text is completely free - there's no need to sign up to their listening service in order to read.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Lilas Pastia

Just thought I'd say the piano concertos have been big favourites of mine for over 40 years and, after sticking with François-Fistoulari for all that time, I've found Cliburn-Ormandy to be just as good, but only in reverse.  Zimerman-Ozawa are crushed. And Richter-Kondrashin have also met their match.

Cliburn is one mean pianist, and Ormandy is a jaw-dropping lisztian. By golly, this is vibrant, exciting music-making !

CriticalI

Quote from: André on October 13, 2012, 07:56:10 PMJust thought I'd say the piano concertos have been big favourites of mine for over 40 years and, after sticking with François-Fistoulari for all that time, I've found Cliburn-Ormandy to be just as good, but only in reverse.

Sorry, what did you mean by that last part?

Lilas Pastia

#368
Right. Not exactly clear. The François-Fistoulari is IMHO one of the most scintillating and expressive collaborations I've heard in these works. The pianist is clearly the driving musical spirit, with the excellent Fistoulari a willing and enthusiastic collaborator. In the case of Cliburn-Ormandy I was struck at how just equally good the end result was. Except that Ormandy (a Hungarian himself) is clearly having an orgasmic release playing this music. Cliburn is a truly exceptional pianist (nothing less will do), but as a musician he is happy to follow the master.

A concerto is a collaboration. Whether the main artistic impulse stems from the soloist or conductor is for them to decide. In this case the result is equally valid, but the perspective shifts noticeably.

CriticalI

I thought that MIGHT be what you meant, but couldn't be sure - thanks for the clarification, Andre :)

Karl Henning

Thanks to Sara for reminding me of Christus.  No idea how it compares to other recordings, but seeing the Conlon / Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra / Slovak Philharmonic Choir recording on Apex, I was lured by the attractive risk :: reward profile.
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

Lethevich

While I haven't heard that recording (mine are Rilling, and Sólyom-Nagy) Conlon did a nice Dante Symphony with the same orchestra.

Does anybody else like Golovanov in the symphonic poems? (Half of his Great Conductors of the 20th Century two CD set is dedicated to them.)
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Mandryka

#372
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's my Liszt starter pack:

>
> 1. Reinbert de Leeuw's Via Crucis
> 2  Janos Ferencsik's Requiem
> 3. Arpad Joo's St Elizabeth
> 4. Nikolai Gedda Lieder (3 vols)
> 5. Nyiregyhazi's LP with the threnodies (I can let you have a transfer)
> 6  Mykola Suk's Hungarian Rhapsodies
> 7. Roger Woodward's Beethoven/Liszt Eroica (I can let you have a transfer)
> 8. Padrone's Schubert/Liszt
> 9. Nikolai Petrov's  Berlioz /LisztSymphony Fantastique
> 10.Kemal Gekic  Dante Sonata
>


Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Karl Henning

Browsing through Liszt's œuvre, something or other invariably catches my attention. This time:

S.6, Die Glocken des Strassburger Münsters (Longfellow) (1874)


. . . in "sacred choral works" (apparently a little broadly interpreted).

Anyone know anything of this?  To be sure, I am right away intrigued by a Big Name composer of that era setting an American poet . . . .
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

71 dB

Ever since I got into classical music 15+ years ago I have had a sort of ignorant abhorrence toward Liszt without even hearing his music. Yeah, maybe I heard some piano works by him, but at that time I wasn't into solo piano music much. Liszt in his 30s and 40s looks more of a self-contained casanova than a serious composer/artist. The only "positive" thing I knew about Liszt was that he was a major influence to Elgar. Yes, my judgement of Liszt have been stupid and extremely superficial. We all have such judgement of something.

So, now I have "discovered" Liszt. I was borrowed a recording of Liszt's Piano Sonata and after hearing it I had to change my opinion about Liszt completely! It helped that nowadays I enjoy solo piano music more than 15 years ago. Yes, I can hear "proto-Elgar" in Liszt's music. The mood is similar. I can't explain this similarity well, Elgar's and Liszt's music have "depth" that extents beyond the walls of the room where the music is performed. Also, there two composers are able to render very different emotions simultaneously. The music can be comforting and dramatic at the same time. I really like this and maybe it's why I am an Elgarian in the first place.

I seem to prefer Liszt's solo piano music over his orchestral output. Perhaps Liszt wasn't that innovative to bring his orchestrations to the same level he was able to reach in his piano music? Anyway, I find his orchestral music "modern" for a composer born in 1811. At this point I only have his Faust Symphony (struggling a bit with this) and Piano Concertos (I prefer the 2nd). Just order a disc of Symphonic Poems.

Liszt's solo piano output is huge and intimidating. I have Années de Pèlerinage Vol. 2 and just ordered Vol. 3. (these are cheap £0.01 Naxos discs played by Jenö Jandó). Gretchen sounds fantastic on piano, I almost prefer it to the orchestral version. Liszt may not become one of my top 10 composers, but he is without a doubt one of my favorite composers of piano music.
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Octave

Thanks for that post; I have had a similar experience, and a similar prejudice washed away. 
Just a couple weeks ago I revisited a "Late Pieces" disc on Zigzag, with Immerseel and Istomin, and it was even better than when I first listened to it.  Same with Zoltan Kocsis' 3rd book of the ANNEES.
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bwv 1080

Thoughts on FL's vocal music?  have a huge swath of it on the DG box set but not sure if its worth the time investment

not edward

#377
Quote from: bwv 1080 on April 09, 2014, 06:34:30 AM
Thoughts on FL's vocal music?  have a huge swath of it on the DG box set but not sure if its worth the time investment
Via crucis is absolutely astonishing, IMO.

Almost proto-Satie (OK, it's probably more to do with chant than Satie) and the DG box has a great recording of it under Reinbert de Leeuw.
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

kishnevi

#378
Yes, at least for Via Crucis.  You will find that Liszt made a rich tasting fudge that can remain satisfying to the taste for quite some time, compared to other fudge makers.

(If this comment seems weird, it means you haven't been visiting the WAYLT thread lately.)

Moonfish

#379
Being a big fan of Années de pèlerinage I am curious about which pianists GMG members listen to when it comes to Liszt. Personally I gravitate towards Berman, Bolet and Arrau. Still, which pianist do you view as having the recorded the most magical performance of Années de pèlerinage to date?

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