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The Music Room => Great Recordings and Reviews => Topic started by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 03:30:34 AM

Title: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 03:30:34 AM
I have assigned myself the task of creating a selective discography of the recordings of Franz Liszt and hope to benefit from the collective wisdom of GMG.  I want your recommendations for those recordings that you think are in some way special, the crème de la crème.  I realize there are already threads for specific Liszt works, but this thread will be a place for people to post about noteworthy recordings from his entire oeuvre.

:)

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 03:52:13 AM
I'll kick things off with this one ~

[asin]B00005IB5B[/asin]

Claudio Arrau might represent something of a direct-line tradition of Liszt interpretation since he was taught by a student of Liszt.  Arrau brings out the poetry in this work which in the wrong hands can descend into an empty technical display.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 11, 2015, 04:35:22 AM
Off the beaten track of the œuvre:

[asin]B005UX919I[/asin]

I am not authoritative to call Alain's recording definitive, but this is certainly a "two great tastes that go great together" recording.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: mc ukrneal on June 11, 2015, 04:51:43 AM
I'll throw in two:
[asin]B0000014CY[/asin]
Jando is not generally a favorite of mine, but he just kills it here. Fantastic performance!


[asin]B000038I76[/asin]
Fiorentino plays the six rhapsodies here so well. The others are good too. A joy just to hear the performance. I love the precision in phrasing.


There is some Wild and Bolet I like as well, but these are the two that immediately came to mind.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 04:57:26 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 11, 2015, 04:35:22 AM
Off the beaten track of the œuvre:

[asin]B005UX919I[/asin]

I am not authoritative to call Alain's recording definitive, but this is certainly a "two great tastes that go great together" recording.

The organ works are wonderful, thanks for this suggestion.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 05:00:29 AM
Quote from: mc ukrneal on June 11, 2015, 04:51:43 AM
I'll throw in two:
[asin]B0000014CY[/asin]
Jando is not generally a favorite of mine, but he just kills it here. Fantastic performance!


[asin]B000038I76[/asin]
Fiorentino plays the six rhapsodies here so well. The others are good too. A joy just to hear the performance. I love the precision in phrasing.


There is some Wild and Bolet I like as well, but these are the two that immediately came to mind.

Interesting comment about Jando, he seems to have suffered because of the plethora of Naxos recordings.  Agree on Bolet and Wild.  Pollini's Liszt is a favorite of mine - he uses the sustain pedal sparingly and brings a clarity and restraint to the music which is very enjoyable.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 06:07:11 AM
Here are the first few which came to mind

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71ku7VjnZkL._SY355_.jpg)

This guy Polanzoni has IMO the ideal sensibility and voice for Liszt. Otherwise the complete songs with Nikolai Gedda is a good reliable reference. And the Sonnets sung by Placido Domingo, on his Carnegie Hall recital CD, is wonderful.

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51i1ZpWt-lL._SY300_.jpg)

Chorzempa plays the variations on Weinen Klagen . . . Only Chorzempa has managed to make Liszt's organ works sound worth the trouble hearing to me, and it really is fabulous. The rest of the CD contains some transcriptions, which don't interest me.

(http://www.cnk.dk/Liszt-Beethoven%20Biret.jpg)

I don't find Liszt's transcriptions very interesting myself, but Idil Biret's performances here make them great to hear -- contemplative, internalised and hence transcendent.



(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Y1QS0SYHL.jpg)

Ernst Levy doing the B minor sonata. There are a handful of outstanding performances of the sonata but this seems to be at once deep and fresh. For me the best bit of the music is the nine or so chords towards the end, and Levy is wonderful there. He's also exciting in the the fugue,  intense and ecstatic in the central passage and the opening is indescribably creepy.

(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/148/MI0001148288.jpg)

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.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Sergeant Rock on June 11, 2015, 06:11:13 AM
This is the finest single CD of Liszt tone poems I know.

(http://photos.imageevent.com/sgtrock/aug11/lisztrfdb.jpg)

Superb Bis sound (percussion and brass particularly well captured), tasteful but exciting interpretations. It received a 10/10 Insider Review from the Hurwitzer:

"My, but this man knows his Liszt! Les préludes has grandeur, athletic vigor, and a genuine rush of excitement in the closing pages, with nary a trace of gratuitous bombast."

"...at the end of Tasso's allegro sections Frübeck conjures an ideally rich, dark sound, perfectly balanced, never crude. Similarly, the much-maligned Festklänge displays nobility without excessive weight or rhythmic ponderousness. Best of all, Orpheus' sweetness avoids any hint of tackiness, thanks in large part to sensitive phrasing applied to warm, cultivated string sonorities."


Sarge
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Brian on June 11, 2015, 06:39:21 AM
Quote from: mc ukrneal on June 11, 2015, 04:51:43 AM
I'll throw in two:
[asin]B0000014CY[/asin]
Jando is not generally a favorite of mine, but he just kills it here. Fantastic performance!
Agreed - Jando's Hungarian Rhapsodies, actually, are my favorite Jando recording, truly fantastic.

I like my Hungarian Rhapsodies to be a little understated - stick to Liszt's dynamics, rather than introducing histrionics and improvised virtuoso flourishes. My two favorite Hungarian Rhapsody sets, by a long distance, are Jeno Jando and Misha Dichter. (Although Jando does improvise once or twice.)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 06:45:48 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 06:07:11 AM
Here are the first few which came to mind

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71ku7VjnZkL._SY355_.jpg)

This guy Polanzoni has IMO the idea sensibility and voice for Liszt. Otherwise the complete songs with Nikolai Gedda is a good reliable reference. And the Sonnets sung by Placido Domingo, on his Carnegie Hall recital CD, is wonderful.

I just purchased all three volumes of these Hyperion song recordings but have not listened to them yet.  Looking forward to them even more now.

Quote(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51i1ZpWt-lL._SY300_.jpg)

Chorzempa plays the variations on Weinen Klagen . . . Only Chorzempa has managed to make Liszt's organ works sound worth the trouble hearing to me, and it really is fabulous. The rest of the CD contains some transcriptions, which don't interest me.

Thanks for another organ suggestion; these works have interested me as soon as I knew of them.

Quote(http://www.cnk.dk/Liszt-Beethoven%20Biret.jpg)

I don't find Liszt's transcriptions very interesting myself, but Idil Biret's performances here make them great to hear -- contemplative, internalised and hence transcendent.

Yes, his transcriptions have solicited many complaints.  Even during his lifetime they were seen as cheap and beneath him - however, with the right treatment I think they can bring out aspects of the originals that might remain otherwise unknown.

Quote(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Y1QS0SYHL.jpg)

Ernst Levy doing the B minor sonata. There are a handful of outstanding performances of the sonata but this seems to be at once deep and fresh. For me the best bit of the music is the nine or so chords towards the end, and Levy is wonderful there. He's also exciting in the the fugue,  intense and ecstatic in the central passage and the opening is indescribably creepy.

I am beginning my traversal through the piano music with several recordings of the sonata, so many thanks for this recommendation.  Currently I like Argerich and Pollini a lot.  Also, Brendel and Richter are superb.  But there are so many recordings, it is nice to receive a suggestion for a version that may get crowded out either by more recent recordings or the standard list.

Quote(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/148/MI0001148288.jpg)

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.

I don't know anything about this work, but part of the problem is that there are so many works in his catalog.  Howard Shelley managed to fill 99 CDs of just the piano music. So, I look forward to hearing this work.

Thanks.   :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 11, 2015, 06:47:11 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 06:45:48 AM
Yes, his transcriptions have solicited many complaints.  Even during his lifetime they were seen as cheap and beneath him -

How very 19th Century!

8)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 06:47:20 AM
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on June 11, 2015, 06:11:13 AM
This is the finest single CD of Liszt tone poems I know.

(http://photos.imageevent.com/sgtrock/aug11/lisztrfdb.jpg)

Superb Bis sound (percussion and brass particularly well captured), tasteful but exciting interpretations. It received a 10/10 Insider Review from the Hurwitzer:

"My, but this man knows his Liszt! Les préludes has grandeur, athletic vigor, and a genuine rush of excitement in the closing pages, with nary a trace of gratuitous bombast."

"...at the end of Tasso's allegro sections Frübeck conjures an ideally rich, dark sound, perfectly balanced, never crude. Similarly, the much-maligned Festklänge displays nobility without excessive weight or rhythmic ponderousness. Best of all, Orpheus' sweetness avoids any hint of tackiness, thanks in large part to sensitive phrasing applied to warm, cultivated string sonorities."


Sarge

Thanks for bringing up the orchestral works - the tone poems are wonderful, IMO.  Your description certainly sparks my interest in these readings.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 06:50:22 AM
Quote from: Brian on June 11, 2015, 06:39:21 AM
Agreed - Jando's Hungarian Rhapsodies, actually, are my favorite Jando recording, truly fantastic.

I like my Hungarian Rhapsodies to be a little understated - stick to Liszt's dynamics, rather than introducing histrionics and improvised virtuoso flourishes. My two favorite Hungarian Rhapsody sets, by a long distance, are Jeno Jando and Misha Dichter. (Although Jando does improvise once or twice.)

The Hungarian Rhapsodies have not been works I've warmed to yet.  Maybe Jando is the key to unlock these works in my imagination.  Improvisation is part of Liszt's style, so some here and there is good, IMO.  Unless of course if it's not.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 11, 2015, 06:52:55 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 03:52:13 AMClaudio Arrau might represent something of a direct-line tradition of Liszt interpretation since he was taught by a student of Liszt.


Liszt had hundreds of students in his career, so I'm not sold on the idea that a pedagogical line stretching back to Liszt is especially meaningful.  That written, it is possible to get some Liszt recordings from some pianists who studied personally with Liszt.  Moriz Rosenthal comes to mind.



Some of my favorites:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pNX1kHSFL.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/811ZEd0Y6lL._SX500_.jpg)

(If you can find the twofer with recordings by Jeanne Marie Darre, all the better.)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fgfbfYTqL.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61io1K-H7AL.jpg)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516-tlLY8vL._SS500.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mhv-eYyaL.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41aG6FyOSdL.jpg)


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 06:57:20 AM
Quote from: Todd on June 11, 2015, 06:52:55 AM

Liszt had hundreds of students in his career, so I'm not sold on the idea that a pedagogical line stretching back to Liszt is especially meaningful.  That written, it is possible to get some Liszt recordings from some pianists who studied personally with Liszt.  Moriz Rosenthal comes to mind.

Humbug!   :D  Point taken.

QuoteSome of my favorites:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pNX1kHSFL.jpg)

I just happened to be listening to this one right now.  I understand why.

Quote(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/811ZEd0Y6lL._SX500_.jpg)

(If you can find the twofer with recordings by Jeanne Marie Darre, all the better.)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fgfbfYTqL.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61io1K-H7AL.jpg)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516-tlLY8vL._SS500.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mhv-eYyaL.jpg)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41aG6FyOSdL.jpg)

Except for the Friere I've not heard any of these - so more to add to my stack.  So many recordings came out in 2011 because of the bicentennial of Liszt's birth, it is hard to keep up.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 07:04:15 AM
If you want to see the formidable score as Zimerman plays the B Minor...

https://www.youtube.com/v/IeKMMDxrsBE
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 07:47:29 AM
There aren't so many good recordings of the sonata - in most of them I lose focus for most of the middle. Apart from Levy, I remember enjoying an Arrau one (maybe the one you cited, I think so), a late one from Richter on Philips, Cor de Groot, one from Sofronitsky (can't remember which), one from Cherkassky (can't remember which) and Valentin Giorgu. Cortot and the early Horowitz a notch below,

If you like the organ music and you like what Chorzempa does with Wienen, Klangen . . .  I can let you have Chorzempa doing the rest, my own transfer.

The problem I have with the transcriptions is that they don't do anything other than add annoying ornament. For really great transcriptions you need to go to D'Anglebert.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 07:59:11 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 06:50:22 AM
The Hungarian Rhapsodies have not been works I've warmed to yet.  Maybe Jando is the key to unlock these works in my imagination.  Improvisation is part of Liszt's style, so some here and there is good, IMO.  Unless of course if it's not.

;)

Listen to this, Busoni playing HR 13. Spiritual. Recorded on dog biscuits.

https://www.youtube.com/v/lGEDeH-1UL8
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 08:08:00 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 07:47:29 AM
There aren't so many good recordings of the sonata - in most of them I lose focus for most of the middle. Apart from Levy, I remember enjoying an Arrau one (maybe the one you cited, I think so), a late one from Richter on Philips, Cor de Groot, one from Sofronitsky (can't remember which), one from Cherkassky (can't remember which) and Valentin Giorgu. Cortot and the early Horowitz a notch below,

Some of the more recent recordings are very good, IMO: Hamelin; Pollini; the already mentioned Zimerman.  What all these have in common is a complete command of the music, no shoddy split octaves, etc. - and an understated approach.  Liszt suffers from over indulgence in the virtuostic aspects.

QuoteIf you like the organ music and you like what Chorzempa does with Wienen, Klangen . . .  I can let you have Chorzempa doing the rest, my own transfer.

I may ask you for that - but I'm okay for now.

QuoteThe problem I have with the transcriptions is that they don't do anything other than add annoying ornament. For really great transcriptions you need to go to D'Anglebert.

I think you have to look at the historical context for the Liszt transcriptions in order to fully appreciate their worth.  Liszt was a tireless promoter of other composers' music, e.g. Berlioz and even lesser composers whose work he wished to promote and whose music (even Berlioz) was not often performed.  These transcriptions served a duel function of bringing the music to a wider audience and also to showcase the partitioning orchestral music successfully to the piano.  Also, there are two types of these kinds of works that Liszt wrote: the orchestral "reductions" (which translated the orchestra score to the piano fairly directly.  Yes, there are filigree insertions, but he usually provided an ossia for anyone who wished to leave them out) and the fantasias which Liszt wrote using the themes of another composer, but created entirely new works. 

The latter works are arguably more original, but even the orchestral reductions are worthwhile and in the right hands offer a new reading of a known work.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 11, 2015, 08:08:13 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 07:59:11 AMRecorded on dog biscuits.



Outstanding description.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 08:12:38 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 07:59:11 AM
Listen to this, Busoni playing HR 13. Spiritual. Recorded on dog biscuits.

https://www.youtube.com/v/lGEDeH-1UL8

Thanks.  It is hard to fully appreciate it because of the lousy audio.  But enough came through to get an impression of the playing, which is, as you say, poetic.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: 71 dB on June 11, 2015, 09:01:16 AM
.
[asin]B004LHOZZO[/asin]
The sonics* of this set is insanely good. Bass is really rich but never boomy. I got this twofer a few days ago and I am really enjoying it! Probably the best solopiano recording in my classical music collection!

8)


* There is usual amount of spatial distortion, but moderate crossfeed makes headphone listening of this twofer really really really enjoyable.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 09:56:00 AM
Quote from: 71 dB on June 11, 2015, 09:01:16 AM
.
[asin]B004LHOZZO[/asin]
The sonics* of this set is insanely good. Bass is really rich but never boomy. I got this twofer a few days ago and I am really enjoying it! Probably the best solopiano recording in my classical music collection!

8)


* There is usual amount of spatial distortion, but moderate crossfeed makes headphone listening of this twofer really really really enjoyable.

I've heard Lortie play the B Minor Sonata, so I this recording looks to be very interesting to me.  Thanks.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 11, 2015, 10:25:45 AM
This is played on an Érard, and I like the entire disc very well:

[asin]B0002LGW18[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 10:32:51 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 11, 2015, 10:25:45 AM
This is played on an Érard, and I like the entire disc very well:

[asin]B0002LGW18[/asin]

I will give it a try since I usually enjoy period instruments, and Immerseel,but the Daniel Grimwood disc did not do it for me.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 11, 2015, 10:35:02 AM
The Grimwood, I do not know.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 10:38:29 AM
Just bought the MP3 of this ...

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61IITFxGhYL._SS380.jpg)

... since it has a couple of works I've not heard (but, there's hundreds of those) - and it appeared to be highly regarded by Amazon shoppers.

:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 11, 2015, 10:49:59 AM
I have not listened to these three discs systematically (nor am I sure I have listened to them in entirety), but each piece to which I have affixed my ears, has been richly enchanting:

[asin]B0050F6JWS[/asin]

Favorites from this set include:

The Fantasia and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, S529
First & second versions of La lugubre gondola, S.200
The Csárdás macabre, S.224
Unstern: sinistre, disastro, S.208
Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, S.180
Nuages gris, S.199
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 10:55:39 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 11, 2015, 10:49:59 AM
I have not listened to these three discs systematically (nor am I sure I have listened to them in entirety), but each piece to which I have affixed my ears, has been richly enchanting:

[asin]B0050F6JWS[/asin]

Favorites from this set include:

The Csárdás macabre, S.224


This one I want to hear, I've read so much interesting stuff about it.  I have liked all of Brendel's Liszt that I have heard.  There is a lot of Brendel's Liszt on YouTube including a playlist of him giving some commentary and playing the Italian Annees that is excellent.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on June 11, 2015, 11:08:53 AM
Anything by Fiorentino (anything!). His series of "early" recordings on APR finds him in astonishing form. Unique on disc. Handily, many of these APRs are available on BRO's website.

Ovchinnikov, too, is solid. As is Kocsis in the third book of Années.

And not to forget any live Cziffra recital disc (studio is pretty good, too).

For the sonata, recs abound (second Richter) but a forgotten gem is an early Bolet disc from 1961 which captures him in his prime (unlike his Decca series). He's amazingly dexterous but what stands out most is the glimmering quality of his tone - like a high-noon summer sun reflecting off a crystal clear lake. There's more color per square inch here than we often get.

And the first concerto is every bit as distinctive.

Here's the disc on Amazon with a better photo below: (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Mephisto-Concerto-Hungarian-Fantasia/dp/B0000023GN/ref=sr_1_10?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1434043309&sr=1-10&keywords=liszt+sonata+bolet)

EDIT: here's a link with some samples (http://www.allmusic.com/album/franz-liszt-sonata-in-b-minor-mephisto-waltz-piano-concerto-no-1-hungarian-fantasia-mw0001388109)



(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/003/MI0001003434.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)


For the second concerto I enjoy Katchen, although I haven't heard his first concerto:



[asin]B00005UW3W[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 11, 2015, 11:14:50 AM
Dadgummit, I have yet to listen to Hamelin in the b minor Sonata.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 11:20:36 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 11, 2015, 11:14:50 AM
Dadgummit, I have yet to listen to Hamelin in the b minor Sonata.

His was the best I've heard so far.  But I've got miles to go before I rest.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: mc ukrneal on June 11, 2015, 11:22:38 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 11, 2015, 10:49:59 AM
I have not listened to these three discs systematically (nor am I sure I have listened to them in entirety), but each piece to which I have affixed my ears, has been richly enchanting:

[asin]B0050F6JWS[/asin]

Favorites from this set include:

The Fantasia and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, S529
First & second versions of La lugubre gondola, S.200
The Csárdás macabre, S.224
Unstern: sinistre, disastro, S.208
Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, S.180
Nuages gris, S.199
Ooooh. I forgot about Brendel. I have this one (which I think has the same stuff, but also adds a couple discs, including the concertos). It's good too.
[asin]B005OSUKZ8[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 11, 2015, 11:29:30 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 11:20:36 AM
His was the best I've heard so far.  But I've got miles to go before I rest.

;)

As can be seen today, I find it easy to lapse into a Liszt habit!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 11:32:00 AM
Quote from: mc ukrneal on June 11, 2015, 11:22:38 AM
Ooooh. I forgot about Brendel. I have this one (which I think has the same stuff, but also adds a couple discs, including the concertos). It's good too.
[asin]B005OSUKZ8[/asin]

I admit to preferring the solo piano works to the concertos.  Could be over exposure to bad performances, but I will try my best to hear them, well at least the 1st, with fresh ears.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Brian on June 11, 2015, 11:47:38 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on June 11, 2015, 11:08:53 AM
Anything by Fiorentino (anything!). His series of "early" recordings on APR find him in astonishing form. Unique on disc. Handily, many of these APRs are available on BRO's website.

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

[asin]B00ACCQXKM[/asin]

Ignore the Amazon price. I got it for just $30 in January, so you should be able to find it from another site for a reasonable cost.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Brian on June 11, 2015, 11:48:10 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 11:32:00 AM
I admit to preferring the solo piano works to the concertos.  Could be over exposure to bad performances, but I will try my best to hear them, well at least the 1st, with fresh ears.
I dislike the First Concerto mostly because it always makes me think of the M*A*S*H theme song.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: mc ukrneal on June 11, 2015, 11:55:39 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 11:32:00 AM
I admit to preferring the solo piano works to the concertos.  Could be over exposure to bad performances, but I will try my best to hear them, well at least the 1st, with fresh ears.
I spent a long time listening to the clips until I found the approach I wanted. I think the best description of the concerto performances are Beethovian. Still, I think they are powerful performances, but mileage may vary, and in any case, I don't listen to these concertos that often. The solo stuff is excellent though with some nice highlights from Karl. I also think the Annees de Pelerinage are excellent. Doesn't leave much! :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 12:12:43 PM
Quote from: Brian on June 11, 2015, 11:47:38 AM
There is an entire 6 CD box set of Fiorentino's Liszt recordings - 5 early, 1 late.

[asin]B00ACCQXKM[/asin]

Ignore the Amazon price. I got it for just $30 in January, so you should be able to find it from another site for a reasonable cost.

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

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on June 11, 2015, 12:17:10 PM
1) It took me a while to warm up to them but put me down as another yes vote for Jando's Hungarian Rhapsodies
2) Two more individual CDs not explicitly mentioned
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41QA98AHF4L.jpg)(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/7124RDaygoL._SX522_.jpg)
3) And a set (back cover so you can see the contents)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Kfmh3PfEL.jpg)
Orchestral stuff!
4) A handy collection
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71iI0GsSt9L._SX522_.jpg)
5) But there is a PI recording I truly like.  No surprise to see who conducts.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61AvDFqcM-L._SS280.jpg)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Brian on June 11, 2015, 12:25:45 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 12:12:43 PM
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
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 12:27:20 PM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on June 11, 2015, 12:17:10 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41QA98AHF4L.jpg)

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.

Quote(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/7124RDaygoL._SX222_.jpg)

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.

QuoteAnd a set (back cover so you can see the contents)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Kfmh3PfEL.jpg)

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


QuoteOrchestral stuff!  A handy collection
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71iI0GsSt9L._SX222_.jpg)

Yes! 

QuoteBut there is a PI recording I truly like.  No surprise to see who conducts.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61AvDFqcM-L._SS280.jpg)

I have had this one for a long time and enjoy it very much also.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 12:28:03 PM
Quote from: Brian on June 11, 2015, 12:25:45 PM
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.

:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 11, 2015, 12:41:50 PM
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.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: NJ Joe on June 11, 2015, 05:44:01 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 06:07:11 AM

(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/148/MI0001148288.jpg)

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.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on June 11, 2015, 06:54:58 PM
Quote from: Brian on June 11, 2015, 11:47:38 AM
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...

Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 12:12:43 PM
Nice, but at around $25/CD too much for my pocketbook.

:o :o 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.


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 11, 2015, 09:06:17 PM
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.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on June 12, 2015, 04:12:03 AM
FWIW here is my complete Liszt collection.

1. Solo piano

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61hL26ryFWL._AA160_.jpg) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519me1-e9vL._SS280.jpg) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Z6UNkYAcL._SS280.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vSiWgOuiL._SX355_.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91YRlVwr3WL._SL1388_.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21HX8Z1GHNL.jpg)

2. Piano and Orchestra

(http://cdn.discogs.com/GjaSdowak4OPj_Oo4ueirUqDzXk=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb()/discogs-images/R-6544177-1421661731-2504.jpeg.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81yJh0IWZUL._SL1500_.jpg)

3. Tone Poems

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YG8FVW6JL.jpg) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51GLZ-3FPWL._SS280.jpg)

4. Symphonies

(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0000/958/MI0000958459.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) (http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0000/968/MI0000968068.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) (http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/254/MI0003254975.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JMJ2RLRoL.jpg)

5. Oratorios

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21Z12HP29QL.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zHNbPB2jL._AA160_.jpg) (http://www.classicsonline.com/miscellaneous/imagedownloader.aspx?file=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.classicsonline.com%2Fimages%2Fcds%2Fothers%2FHCD32685.gif&cid=HCD32685) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512ho9F739L.jpg)

6. Violin and Piano

(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/002/MI0001002758.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)

7. Lieder

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/812GxATryBL._SL1420_.jpg)

plus Youtube downloads: Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses with Gunnar Johansen and Lieder with Hermann Prey and Alexis Weissenberg
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 12, 2015, 04:46:04 AM
Quote from: Florestan on June 12, 2015, 04:12:03 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91YRlVwr3WL._SL1388_.jpg)

I need to spend some time with this 'un.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 12, 2015, 05:10:25 AM
Quote from: Florestan on June 12, 2015, 04:12:03 AM
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?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 12, 2015, 05:16:38 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on June 11, 2015, 06:54:58 PM
Yes, that'd be the way to go. All of Fiorentino's Liszt collected under one roof. But...

:o :o 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.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: North Star on June 12, 2015, 05:29:12 AM
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.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 12, 2015, 05:33:10 AM
Quote from: North Star on June 12, 2015, 05:29:12 AM
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?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: North Star on June 12, 2015, 05:39:58 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 12, 2015, 05:33:10 AM
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.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on June 12, 2015, 06:17:16 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 12, 2015, 05:16:38 AM
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.


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 12, 2015, 06:29:58 AM
Quote from: Florestan on June 12, 2015, 04:12:03 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91YRlVwr3WL._SL1388_.jpg)



(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/002/MI0001002758.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)



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. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 12, 2015, 06:36:34 AM
Quote from: Todd on June 12, 2015, 06:29:58 AM
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.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 12, 2015, 06:50:48 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on June 12, 2015, 06:17:16 AM
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
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Brian on June 12, 2015, 07:23:54 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 12, 2015, 05:16:38 AM
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.)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on June 12, 2015, 08:25:42 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 12, 2015, 05:10:25 AM
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.

Quote
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.  :D
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on June 12, 2015, 01:11:22 PM
If you want some truly deep and meaningful Liszt piano playing then the Cziffra Liszt box is the place to go. He goes beyond the bombast of most pianists and produces some wonderful insights into what Liszt intended.

I can't reproduce the cover because I'm on my iPad and am not sure how to do it.

NB I have this box obviously but it's now superfluous because I was one of the lucky ones who got the Cziffra big box when it was going very cheap.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 12, 2015, 01:39:59 PM
Quote from: Holden on June 12, 2015, 01:11:22 PM
If you want some truly deep and meaningful Liszt piano playing then the Cziffra Liszt box is the place to go. He goes beyond the bombast of most pianists and produces some wonderful insights into what Liszt intended.

I can't reproduce the cover because I'm on my iPad and am not sure how to do it.

NB I have this box obviously but it's now superfluous because I was one of the lucky ones who got the Cziffra big box when it was going very cheap.

Are those different from these recordings?

[asin]B0040UEIAE[/asin]

This 5-CD box goes for $25.00
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on June 12, 2015, 05:10:37 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 12, 2015, 06:50:48 AM
I went to Amazon UK and bought The Complete Liszt Recordings (Fiorentino Edition, Vol. 2) for USD 31.40 - look forward to listening.

Great! Lets us know how your listening goes. :)


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on June 12, 2015, 05:44:17 PM
Quote from: Brian on June 12, 2015, 07:23:54 AM
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.

Gold, indeed. It's amazing how insightful he is (well, I guess that really shouldn't come as a surprise 8)), and his fingers couldn't be more youthful sounding.

QuoteThe 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.)

I can't think of another recording of the Fantasy I like better. And IIRC it's a fave of Holden's, too. In 2000 Gramophone magazine's International Piano Quarterly held a Fantasy shootout (comprising about 60 recordings) and the studio Fiorentino came out on top.   

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Leo K. on June 13, 2015, 12:25:15 AM
Fiorentino is absolutely amazing. I just discovered his Chopin so I got this too:

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JARTKH56L._SX355_.jpg)



Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Michael Sayers on June 13, 2015, 05:29:11 AM
Hi Everyone,

I set up a YouTube Franz Liszt playlist with many worthy items.  One item in particular that is interesting and not well known is Eric Heidsick's 1974 album with the B Minor Ballade.  The Sonata, also with him and in 1974, too is online.  Maybe someone here has some information on the grand piano used for those recordings?

For those who are curious, here is the playlist - Heidsick's B Minor Ballade recording is #41.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUUkZXeqINMAxpfbOSUoZ7Jtvdh8j_0E (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUUkZXeqINMAxpfbOSUoZ7Jtvdh8j_0E)

I also highly recommend Martin Berkofsky's recording of Pater Noster, which is #16.  I knew Martin Berkosfky through a series of telephone calls and some postal correspondence.


Mvh,
Michael

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on June 13, 2015, 12:54:53 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 12, 2015, 01:39:59 PM
Are those different from these recordings?

[asin]B0040UEIAE[/asin]

This 5-CD box goes for $25.00

Looks like they're the same. Really worth hearing - check out the  Amazon reviews.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 14, 2015, 05:53:58 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/KKy4QNvjH00

This early (1959) recording of the Dante Sonata by Cziffra is outstanding, is it released anywhere?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 14, 2015, 05:56:12 AM
This documentary about great pianists of the 20th century has a nice section on Cziffra, as well as many others of that generation.

https://www.youtube.com/v/vpiMAaPTze8
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on June 14, 2015, 07:29:18 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 14, 2015, 05:53:58 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/KKy4QNvjH00

This early (1959) recording of the Dante Sonata by Cziffra is outstanding, is it released anywhere?

Yes, it's on an old Arkadia release. I have it. Torino, Jan. 22, 1959. The sound is excellent for its time and Cziffra is in amazing form. This is one of the live Cziffra discs I had in mind when I mentioned "live Cziffra recitals" earlier in the thread.



[asin]B00008EP2X[/asin]
Here's the pic:


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511GZbkx4xL.jpg)


 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 14, 2015, 08:54:42 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on June 14, 2015, 07:29:18 AM
Yes, it's on an old Arkadia release. I have it. Torino, Jan. 22, 1959. The sound is excellent for its time and Cziffra is in amazing form. This is one of the live Cziffra discs I had in mind when I mentioned "live Cziffra recitals" earlier in the thread.



[asin]B00008EP2X[/asin]
Here's the pic:


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511GZbkx4xL.jpg)




Thank you -- essential for anyone interested in the music I would think.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Leo K. on June 14, 2015, 11:41:38 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 11, 2015, 12:27:20 PM
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.

Another recommendation for Cziffra's Transcendental Studies. It has great sound, and titanic playing that doesn't lack for nuance and color. Incredible really.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 14, 2015, 02:34:11 PM
You guys are making me feel yet more pleased that I pulled the trigger on this:

[asin]B0040UEIAE[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on June 14, 2015, 10:54:28 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 14, 2015, 08:54:42 AM
Thank you -- essential for anyone interested in the music I would think.

Yes, indeed.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: king ubu on June 15, 2015, 12:00:41 AM
I love Cziffra's Liszt - really wish I'd been into classical a wee bit earlier and could have gotten his big EMI box. But as it is, I got the one depicted above (plus the similar Chopin), and I also went for this:

details:

[asin]B000025VNH[/asin]

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fTHK8ktqL.jpg)

(I think there's some overlap, those MHV Budapest tracks are likely not from 1972-74, but that is the only info given ... the still in-print box is extremely sketchy on the info as well.)


Other than that, my favourites include Bolet (in general) and Ciccolini as well. And then some Horowitz ... and the sonata as recorded by John Ogdon.

My starting point was this box, bought for 10€ a few years ago:

[asin]B004Y7F4HY[/asin]
Contains some pretty good things, but I guess once you're hooked, the best of it ends up being duplicated ...
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 15, 2015, 06:09:08 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on June 14, 2015, 10:54:28 PM
Yes, indeed.

I have it now, and I've had a chance to hear the sonata. The sound is better than youtube. I was expecting it to be so colourful, shades of grey and silver but colourful nonetheless.

Lots of excellent performances of this sonata - Pletnev for example, and Sofronitsky. And maybe Arrau, I have only a vague memory of Arrau though.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 15, 2015, 06:12:28 AM
Quote from: king ubu on June 15, 2015, 12:00:41 AM
I love Cziffra's Liszt - really wish I'd been into classical a wee bit earlier and could have gotten his big EMI box. But as it is, I got the one depicted above (plus the similar Chopin), and I also went for this:

details:

[asin]B000025VNH[/asin]

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fTHK8ktqL.jpg)

(I think there's some overlap, those MHV Budapest tracks are likely not from 1972-74, but that is the only info given ... the still in-print box is extremely sketchy on the info as well.)


Other than that, my favourites include Bolet (in general) and Ciccolini as well. And then some Horowitz ... and the sonata as recorded by John Ogdon.

My starting point was this box, bought for 10€ a few years ago:

[asin]B004Y7F4HY[/asin]
Contains some pretty good things, but I guess once you're hooked, the best of it ends up being duplicated ...

The ones Iliked for the HRs are from 1956 - HR 2, 6, 12 and 15. The rest of his HRs that I've heard aren't my cup of tea.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: king ubu on June 15, 2015, 06:31:59 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on June 15, 2015, 06:12:28 AM
The ones Iliked for the HRs are from 1956 - HR 2, 6, 12 and 15. The rest of his HRs that I've heard aren't my cup of tea.

Those are all on the 5CD set, I think - the info on the 4CD set suggests only 12 and 15 are from earlier. However, I like all of it a lot. I might not have my ears attuned to such detail yet ...
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 15, 2015, 06:35:21 AM
Or, they may be our cup of tea, just fine  0:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: king ubu on June 15, 2015, 06:57:21 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 15, 2015, 06:35:21 AM
Or, they may be our cup of tea, just fine  0:)
Yes indeed! It's just that, after three years of intense listening to classical, more often than not I still feel like a newbie and make judgements with caution (though obviously I do make 'em - how did that dude Watzlawik once say: you cannot not judge  ;))
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on June 15, 2015, 11:57:57 AM
Quote from: king ubu on June 15, 2015, 06:31:59 AM
Those are all on the 5CD set, I think - the info on the 4CD set suggests only 12 and 15 are from earlier. However, I like all of it a lot. I might not have my ears attuned to such detail yet ...

IIRC the big Cziffra box covers both the Hungaroton and EMI HRs  but Im not 100% sure as I have a separate CD with the Hungaroton HRs on it. The Hungaroton definitely wins out!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 16, 2015, 07:24:06 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/lrZ9cswKfi0



Not on disc to my knowledge, but well worth a listen.  The Complete Columbia Recordings box also has a studio version.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 16, 2015, 07:34:39 AM
Quote from: Todd on June 16, 2015, 07:24:06 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/lrZ9cswKfi0



Not on disc to my knowledge, but well worth a listen.  The Complete Columbia Recordings box also has a studio version.

Thanks for posting this; I had looked to see if the sonata was on his recent Liszt disc, but it was not.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 17, 2015, 06:09:01 AM
Another off the beaten track B Minor Sonata performance, this one by Margarita Hohenrieter (http://www.margarita-hoehenrieder.de/biography/)

[asin]B00442M14I[/asin]

Bruce Surtees
The WholeNote, March 2011
Margarita Höhenrieder came to our attention playing the Beethoven First Piano Concerto with Fabio Luisi and the Dresden Staatskapelle on a Medici Arts DVD (2057718). Here, for the first time in my experience we have a pianist who displays in her demeanour and playing unalloyed joie de vivre. A must–have DVD for Beethoven lovers. A new CD from Solo Musica contains the Chopin Third Sonata Opus 58, recorded in 2010, and a well deserved reissue of Höhenrieder's extraordinary 1986 traversal of the Liszt Sonata in B minor. Her playing exhibits an amazing transparency and flawless articulation in performances that maintain high electricity and momentum. Her palette of textures and nuances in both works was respected by producer and engineer who recorded her performances faithfully. The Liszt sonata is not played as if it were the hundred metre dash, instead Höhenrieder reveals both the poetry and power of Liszt the Romantic; serene, contemplative episodes contrasting with dynamic passages of great power and authority. A unique interpretation, I believe, and certainly memorable.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on June 17, 2015, 09:57:49 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 17, 2015, 06:09:01 AM
Another off the beaten track B Minor Sonata performance, this one by Margarita Hohenrieter (http://www.margarita-hoehenrieder.de/biography/)

[asin]B00442M14I[/asin]

Bruce Surtees
The WholeNote, March 2011
Margarita Höhenrieder came to our attention playing the Beethoven First Piano Concerto with Fabio Luisi and the Dresden Staatskapelle on a Medici Arts DVD (2057718). Here, for the first time in my experience we have a pianist who displays in her demeanour and playing unalloyed joie de vivre. A must–have DVD for Beethoven lovers. A new CD from Solo Musica contains the Chopin Third Sonata Opus 58, recorded in 2010, and a well deserved reissue of Höhenrieder's extraordinary 1986 traversal of the Liszt Sonata in B minor. Her playing exhibits an amazing transparency and flawless articulation in performances that maintain high electricity and momentum. Her palette of textures and nuances in both works was respected by producer and engineer who recorded her performances faithfully. The Liszt sonata is not played as if it were the hundred metre dash, instead Höhenrieder reveals both the poetry and power of Liszt the Romantic; serene, contemplative episodes contrasting with dynamic passages of great power and authority. A unique interpretation, I believe, and certainly memorable.

I can imagine she'd be good in early Beethoven. I heard the Chopin sonata, I noticed the impetuousness of it, the hard tone, and the generally life affirming approach. She reminds me in some ways of Samson François and Alexis Weissenberg, both because of the steely fingers and because of the movement forward and energy.

I haven't heard the Liszt yet.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 17, 2015, 10:34:25 AM
Yundi Li highly praised by Adrian Corleonis (Fanfare)

[asin]B00008GQTQ[/asin]

QuoteTwenty-one-year-old Yundi Li is that rarity among prizewinners—a complete artist with nothing to prove and everything to tell. And telling it is! Let it be said at once that this young man has not a trace of technique. His command of the keyboard is so preternaturally embracing—including, when he wishes, a veritable peacock's tail of piquant color—that one experiences his playing as an extension of his imagination. And his imagination is that of a supremely gifted actor, realizing Liszt's rhetoric with such fluent transports, such superbly controlled volatility, such renewing poetry that one is held spellbound from first note to last throughout this astounding recital. In passage after passage through the sonata, for instance, one awaits the crashing octave salvos, the buzz-saw passage work, the Faith and Love themes strutted like the proverbial whore in church, the archly demonic fugue, etc., only to hear instead effortless power hand-in-hand with beguiling gossamer, melody rife—again—with enchantment, and a narrative arch arcing in candid whelming grandeur. La campanella is exquisitely shaped, returning one to the exhilaration of its first idea. The Schumann transcription affords a welling access of pure sentiment, miraculously managed with absolute clarity. "The" Liebestraum is rendered with a plummy gorgeousness that almost leaves its banality behind. The Tarantella is less a Liszt piece than the essence of the tarantella, a Platonic fountainhead of the tarantella, warmed by Italian sun, inspirited by Italian melody. And, to cap it all, the Rigoletto Paraphrase seems a living copy of Busoni's piano roll—not an imitation but a realization of glowing, dreamlike vivacity. Sound is captured at the optimum point as it flares, detail-rippled, into spaciousness. Raving? I am—as you will be when you hear this.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 17, 2015, 10:48:10 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 17, 2015, 10:34:25 AM
[asin]B00008GQTQ[/asin]

Caption:  "F— it, let's go bowling."
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 17, 2015, 10:49:53 AM
 ;D
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Leo K. on June 18, 2015, 12:16:51 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on June 17, 2015, 10:48:10 AM
Caption:  "F— it, let's go bowling."

LOL!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 24, 2015, 05:27:25 PM
Pascal Amoyel : Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses

[asin]B005KLN0HY[/asin]

With this richly comprehensive two-CD album Pascal Amoyel finds his truest métier, playing with an extraordinary richness and intensity of expression. By his own confession, this former student of György Cziffra is attracted to music of a spiritual and mystical nature and his way with the Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses subtly and boldly conveys, whether in austerity or elaboration, the full complexity of Liszt's religious life, his alternative exultation and despair. How he warms to the colossal quasi-orchestral grandeur of "Invocations", and any initial impression that he could achieve a greater sense of serenity and mounting ecstasy in the "Bénédiction" by simpler means is countered by an urgency and commitment that make other more fleet and elegant recordings sound superficial by comparison.

Finely recorded, this is an invaluable album.


(Gramophone, 3/2008)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 24, 2015, 06:31:56 PM
Claire Chevallier : Harmonies poétiques et religieuses: Andante lagrimoso; Funérailles. Mephisto Waltz No. 1. La lugubre Gondola No. 2. Saint-François d'Assise, La Prédication aux oiseaux. Saint-François de Paule marchant sur les flots. Wiegenlied

[asin]B005LL4TQY[/asin]

Given that Liszt's vast oeuvre naturally reflects the instruments he constantly played, it is surprising that so few recordings issued during last year's bicentennial used historical pianos. Back in 2008, the British pianist Daniel Grimwood recorded the three books of the Années on an 1851 London Érard. Among the few historical instrument releases during the Liszt Year, Tomas Dratva's of the Swiss Année (on Wagner's 1876 Steinway in Bayreuth) and Michele Campanella's of a group of late works (on Liszt's 1860 Bechstein, now in Siena) are noteworthy. All the more welcome then is this new release by the gifted French pianist Claire Chevallier (now resident in Brussels, where she teaches at the conservatory), who plays an 1876 Paris Érard.

The curtain-raiser for her intelligent program is the poignant Andante lagrimoso from the Harmonies. Its gentle pace and straightforward textures showcase the instrument perfectly, allowing the ear to adjust to the special richness of the Érard's sonorities and relatively quick decay. However, it is in the more orchestrally conceived pieces—the First Mephisto Waltz and the two St. Francis Legends (all three of which exist in orchestral versions), as well as Funérailles—that the extraordinary qualities of the piano are heard to most striking advantage. One factor is the individual character of the various registers, which, even in a piano of this late vintage, has not yet entirely disappeared. Another is the rapid decay of each note, allowing even densely textured, high-speed passages to speak with extraordinary harmonic clarity; the same passages on a modern instrument can sound thick when taken at tempo. Moreover, the Érard's sustaining pedal can be used to create an ethereal aura without obscuring harmonies, as it would inevitably on a modern instrument with its higher string tension and thickly felted hammers. All this to say that Chevallier knew precisely what she was doing in following the Andante lagrimoso with this Mephisto Waltz in a performance so robust and vivid, so drenched in kaleidoscopic colors that I don't know of an orchestral performance to equal it. Her imaginative conception and resourceful execution create an overall effect nothing short of magic. If, like me, you're a listener who has secretly yearned for a shelving of the Mephisto Waltz for a good 20 years, so that it might be pulled down again and heard with fresh ears, this performance is likely to change your mind.
(Fanfare, Sept/Oct 2012)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 24, 2015, 06:47:25 PM
Haiou Zhang : Liszt Piano Works

(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/113/MI0003113469.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)

Playing a Bechstein, model D 282, Zhang is nothing short of phenomenal. Compared to Pogorelich and Pletnev, Zhang's reading of the sonata is fast, 31:56, though not nearly as fast as Pollini at 29:08. But the notes fly from Zhang's fingers as sparks from flint. There is a steel-like strength in his playing that not merely surmounts every technical obstacle but makes of it an effortless lope. And yet, wherever Liszt pauses to paint musical portraits of romantic dalliances past and present, and dreams of passions yet to come Zhang's tone turns pliant, plaintive, and tender.

With no less care, flair, and finesse does Zhang approach the other Liszt items in his recital. Horowitz, I'm sure, would smile approvingly at Zhang's bell-ringing tintinnabulations in his arrangement of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, and rarely have I heard the birds sermonized with such sweet-tongued tweeting as here in Zhang's St. Francis preaching to his feathered flock.

All of this is aided and abetted by a recording of such crystalline clarity as to dispel any sense that an electronic reproduction stands between you and Zhang's piano.
(Fanfare, July/Aug 2011)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 25, 2015, 06:00:30 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qK00Gac4L._SX425_.jpg)

With nearly 175 recordings of Liszt's Sonata currently available, and countless others doubtless in the pipeline for release during the bicentennial next year, the odds of placing a personal stamp on territory so thoroughly explored are slim indeed.

Yet that is precisely what Sun does in these fresh and original readings. His technical equipment is extraordinary, yet it is his calm, lyrical music-making, rhythmically secure and drawing on a rich color palette, that is most striking in these performances. Sun's tempos are well within the established norm and his fluently natural delivery steers clear of high drama. On the other hand, his sensitivity to Liszt's idiosyncratic rhetorical gestures is extraordinarily acute. He makes cunning use of rubato, though always within the bounds of taste, and is particularly adept at the juxtaposition of foreground, middle ground, and background to differentiate the musical topography. Throughout the Sonata, Sun's precise voicing of chordal textures showcases Liszt's richly unconventional harmonic thinking. While not deliriously passionate, the Petrarch Sonnets are nothing if not lyrical outpourings of extraordinary beauty. St Francis of Assisi's Sermon to the Birds brims with all the coloristic nuance and delicacy appropriate to this proto-Impressionist score, its mystical rapture unfolding in a chaste, almost transfixed tranquility.


Patrick Rucker, Issue 34:4 (Mar/Apr 2011) of Fanfare Magazine.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 28, 2015, 12:44:05 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71f1ESwh92L._SX425_.jpg)

Cziffra's recording of the Liszt Piano Sonata in B minor is a phenomenal performance of this difficult work.  His embarace of the large formal aspects is convincing and his technical mastery is obvious.  It is certainly on the short list of the very best recordings available, almost at the level of Vladimir Horowitz (1932), Martha Argerich (1971), and Sviatoslav Richter (1965).  I say almost, since I feel he gives short shrift to some details in places and his concentration seems to flag at times.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 28, 2015, 01:53:33 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41GMQZck%2BNL._SX325_.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71sioIfR-BL._SX325_.jpg)

Two fairly recent recordings of the B Minor Sonata: Boris Berezovsky offers one of, if not the, fastest performances on record, Marc-Andre Hamelin present an Apollonian interpretation that scales the mountain of this work with conviction and class.

While Hamelin takes almost 32 minutes Berevosky gets the work finished in under 25.  Argerich played this work almost as fast, but she played the work with a fierce tenacity and concentrated power that left us one of the three best recordings of the work ever. Berevsky's version is disappointingly underplayed.  Too often he seems to be just getting through it, granted at a fast clip.  I find this disappointing since his playing is usually very exciting and convincing, but in this recording not so much.

By contrast, Hamelin's recording is one of a handful of recordings since the bicentennial year, 2011, which can stand alongside Argerich.  Hamelin's fillers are also exceptional not only because of his playing but because of which works he chose.  The B-A-C-H work is rarely done because of its length, and also when done often marred by pianists overly concerned with its origin as a work for organ.  Hamelin plays this in an monumental performance, unmatched by any other I've heard.

Hamelin: run to buy; Berezovsky: unfortunately, pass.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 29, 2015, 07:30:59 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pCGEnf2CL._SY355_.jpg)

If a metaphor for the Liszt sonata is a mountain, say the Everest of the piano literature, Martha Argerich scales it in exciting fashion.  Imagine a steep narrow ledge going up the mountain and Martha is a gymnast somersaulting and pinwheeling up, teasing the audience as she appears to come very close to losing her balance and falling over the edge, only to effortlessly catch herself and demonstrate that she had control all the time.

There was a time when this work was judged practically unplayable for most pianists, however, these days (and for some time) any serious piano student, teenagers even, can manage the technical demands of the work.  But this works calls for much more than merely managing the technical demands.  If a pianist is to fully embrace this work they must at the very minimum possess the skill that not only manages the technical demands but have them so under their fingers that they can play the work with controlled abandon.

Most often, even with masterful pianists, the problem of the notes is solved but the musical problem of the form and architecture of the work is not.  Passages of chromatic or arppegiated figures, often in octaves, are left to speak for themselves and then when they end up with a new section everything comes to a stop while the pianist gathers their wits before proceeding.  This is not how it should be done, but it is extremely hard to avoid this outcome.  Many times the melodic content hidden among the filigree is lost or not sufficiently emphasized.  The pianist is so intent on managing the fast (transitional) passages, missing the main point of the section, they end up presenting the music as nothing but virtuosity.  However, that is most definitely not what Liszt was doing, but often all that a pianist can manage. 

These passages are really meant to underscore a larger theme, these "virtuosic" passages ideally should be accomplished in an effortless manner, often softly and smoothly as the main theme rings out over the top providing a hazy under-texture that both supports and pushed the music forward.  Done correctly, this music bristles with excitement and will have the audience on the edge of their seats.

Argerich not only avoids this kind of playing but presents us with a performance that so far exceeds this problem that one feels they are hearing the work for the first time. 

If Argerich is that gymnast confidently leaping up the mountain side, Sviatoslav Richter is marching up with both feet solidly on the ground, and a resolute expression of uncompromising discipline on his face, secure in the knowledge that nothing will stop his ascent to the top.

Both pianists perform this work at the highest level, but I vastly prefer Argerich's recording.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on June 29, 2015, 08:10:18 AM
Greatly enjoyed reading this, thanks.  (Also, your impressions of the Hamelin.)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 29, 2015, 04:49:29 PM
(http://www.agendalx.pt/sites/default/files/evento/pedroburmester.jpg)

Schumann, Liszt: Piano Works (http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=7203&name_role1=1&comp_id=1703&bcorder=15&name_id=121706&name_role=2)
Pedro Burmester

Surprisingly good performance by a pianist I've not listened to before.  James Leonard at the AllMusic Guide wrote this:

QuoteYou know how old-timers always insist that Schumann's three-movement Fantasie in C major is one of the Great Romantic Masterpieces, but how because they also invariably affirm that Sviatoslav Richter's 1961 recording of the Fantasie was the last Great Romantic Performance, they also inevitably assert that nobody else since then has really understood the work much less been able to give it the kind of bravura performance it requires, so ineluctably every recording since Richter's has pretty much stunk on ice?

Well, old-timers, the wait for the next Richter is over -- Pedro Burmester's 2006 recording of the work is here. Not that Burmester is the next Richter. Burmester is his own man and his interpretation is entirely his own. But Burmester is the first pianist since the Soviet titan to give Schumann's Fantasie the kind of recklessly virtuosic, emotionally incandescent, utterly individualist performance for which Richter was revered. Burmester doesn't just play the notes -- he infuses them with unbearable energy and overwhelming intensity, making the most of every jot and tittle in the score. Better yet, Burmester goes behind, below, and above the score, and like the greatest Romantic pianists, re-creates the score as a totally compelling musical and emotional experience. For listeners looking for a clean and lucid performance of the Fantasie, check out Pollini. But for listeners looking to be ravished, try Burmester.

All the above could as well have been written about Burmester's coupling of Liszt's Sonata in B minor. Like the Fantasie, it is indubitably one of the Great Romantic Masterpieces. Like the Fantasie, the last Great Romantic Performances of the work were recorded by Richter back in the '60s. And like Richter in his recording of the sonata, Burmester gave the work a performance of staggering sensitivity, stunning power, and, of course, shattering virtuosity. Anyone who loves either work or just great piano playing owes it to him/herself to hear this disc, especially in Avanti Classic's vivid and vibrant sound.

I don't agree with Leonard in his fulsome praise, overlooking as he does many other great performances since Richter.  But this is a very good one and one that has been generally overlooked.  Programming these two works is always a good choice.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 30, 2015, 12:11:03 PM
Liszt : A Critical Discography, part 1 - Piano Collections

Humphrey Searle compiled a catalog of works written by Franz Liszt in 1966.  He numbered over 700 compositions, dividing them into original works (S.1-S.350) and fantasias, transcriptions and other derivative works (S.351-S.768). There are several box sets that attempt to survey Liszt's solo piano oeuvre, but only three attempt to do this completely.

Leslie Howard (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDS44501/98) recorded the complete works for piano on Hyperion Records in a box set of 99 CDs, priced reasonably at about $2.50 per disc depending upon the exchange rate for dollars : pounds.  Howard's playing is generally very good, but when performing this much music, and keep in mind he was trying to finish the set in time for the bicentennial in 2011, it is hard to believe that everything was performed at the same high level.  Nevertheless, any serious Liszt collector should probably find room in his budget for this box.  It won't be around forever, either, although loss-less downloads will continue to be available on the Hyperion site.

Naxos Records (http://www.naxos.com/series/liszt_complete_piano_music.htm), has issued all of the piano music by Liszt performed by a group of pianists.   These recordings have generally has been praised, Jando's Hungarian Rhapsodies in particular.  If variety of interpretation is your preference, the Naxos set is the way to go; however, Leslie Howard is no slouch and often times his performances are arguably better than any in the Naxos collection.  Sold separately, the Naxos collection is significantly more expensive than Howard's.  Naxos may eventually box them up, but I doubt they will ever be priced as reasonably as the Hyperion set, which is more complete in any event.

Gunnar Johansen (http://www.gunnarjohansen.org/LisztSeries.html) has also recorded nearly all the published music in 50 volumes, but these must be bought at $10/disc from the website devoted to his recordings.  His performances are considered some of the very best, but sound quality is an issue, and of course the expense.

Peter J. Rabinowitz, writing for Fanfare Magazine, had this to say about these recordings:

QuoteLiszt's music needs to be spectacular rather than merely showy, diabolic rather than merely dissonant, self-absorbed rather than merely inward; and any attempt to minimize these qualities undercuts the music's essence.

Johansen, fortunately, takes the fundamental Lisztian arrogance into account: these performances are explosive, rather than refined, and they don't avert their glance from Liszt's demonic side. True, Johansen's technique, while fairly good, is not of the superhuman variety that we find in such pianists as Berman and Bloch. But in the end, that only adds to the power of the performances. For Johansen never takes the easy path: he never slows down for the difficult passages, and he never loses sight of the underlying curve of a phrase in an attempt to get all the particular notes under his fingers. By the standards of Arrau's fluent and civilized account of the Transcendental Etudes (Philips 6747 412), for instance, these performances could be called sloppy—although not outrageously so; but I would prefer to consider them precipitous, in the best sense. There is an adventurous virtuosity here, an attempt to transcend human limits. The performances are often lacking in polish, but they rarely lack for sheer momentum. There are few performers who have a better intuitive sense of the overall shape of these pieces: Johansen is less concerned with where he is than with where he's headed, and for this reason he's one of the few Lisztians around who can consistently convey the music's striving, imploring quality.

Aside from these sets, there are four multi-disc sets available which make no attempt at completeness but will attempt to include a variety of important works: Claudio Arrau, Jorge Bolet, Sergio Fiorentino and Georges Cziffra.

These boxes include some mix of the following works:

Piano Sonata in B Minor
Hungarian Rhapsodies
Transcendental Etudes

Significant portions of Années de pèlerinage
Transcriptions and paraphrases
Ballades, Polonaises, and selections from the huge collection of single movement works
Some include the concertos.

RTRH (https://musicakaleidoscope.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/liszt-a-critical-discography-part-1-solo-piano-works/)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 30, 2015, 02:13:06 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81al%2BmJ7VjL._SX425_.jpg)


There's also France Clidat's 14 disc box of all final versions of Liszt's non-transcription solo works (or so it is claimed).  It is not worth the money.  She also recorded all the works for piano and orchestra.

Other pianists who have recorded a big chunk of Liszt include Jerome Rose (a Liszt specialist), Aldo Ciccolini, and Idil Biret. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 30, 2015, 02:23:55 PM
Quote from: Todd on June 30, 2015, 02:13:06 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81al%2BmJ7VjL._SX425_.jpg)


There's also France Clidat's 14 disc box of all final versions of Liszt's non-transcription solo works (or so it is claimed).  It is not worth the money.  She also recorded all the works for piano and orchestra.

Other pianists who have recorded a big chunk of Liszt include Jerome Rose (a Liszt specialist), Aldo Ciccolini, and Idil Biret.

I knew there must have been others I left out, which is why I posted over here.  Thanks for the information.  I kind of knew about Jerome Rose, Aldo Ciccolini, and Idil Biret but didn't include them, I guess, because I didn't think their recordings had ever been issued in one box.  Have they?  I think Biret has something like an "edition" (although it is not very well thought of from what I've read) but I still thought they were individual issues.

I will look for them and update the blog article.

:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 30, 2015, 02:29:22 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 30, 2015, 02:23:55 PMHave they?



I don't think so, but Rose and Ciccolini recorded a lot in in the LP era, so there may old boxes out there.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 30, 2015, 02:40:00 PM
Quote from: Todd on June 30, 2015, 02:29:22 PM


I don't think so, but Rose and Ciccolini recorded a lot in in the LP era, so there may old boxes out there.

I did find a 5-CD box of Ciccolini, which is primarily his Annees plus a bunch of the one movement miscellaneous works.  Biret has a 10-CD box called "The 200th Anniversary Collection", but before I buy that I will need to determine if it is worth it or not.  Rose's Vox boxes seem to be unavailable, or at least harder to find.  Looks like he's got a couple of 2-CD and 3-CD things.  I haven't Looked for the Clidet box yet, but if it's very expensive, chances are I won't go for it, at least not yet
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 30, 2015, 02:53:43 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 30, 2015, 02:40:00 PMI haven't Looked for the Clidet box yet, but if it's very expensive, chances are I won't go for it, at least not yet


It's around $60.  I'm not sure if it's worth $6.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 30, 2015, 03:03:21 PM
Quote from: Todd on June 30, 2015, 02:53:43 PM

It's around $60.  I'm not sure if it's worth $6.

That bad, huh.

:o

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 30, 2015, 03:10:15 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 30, 2015, 03:03:21 PMThat bad, huh.


At best, she is OK.  Sometimes I am reminded of some criticisms of Simon Barere, whose harshest critics described him as sounding like a really fast typist playing the piano.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 30, 2015, 03:30:04 PM
Quote from: Todd on June 30, 2015, 03:10:15 PM

At best, she is OK.  Sometimes I am reminded of some criticisms of Simon Barere, whose harshest critics described him as sounding like a really fast typist playing the piano.

Judging from her bio on Allmusic (some awards there), you'd think she was better than "OK" - not that I doubt you, just sayin' ...

QuoteFrench pianist France Clidat studied with Lazare Levy at the Paris Conservatory, receiving first prize in piano in 1950. In 1956, she was a prize winner at the Liszt Competition in Budapest, an event that launched her career as a concert artist renowned for her interpretations of the piano compositions of Liszt and Satie. She was awarded a Grand Prix du Disque for her recording of Liszt's complete works for the piano. Other recording projects have included explorations of works by Satie, Rachmaninov, and Grieg. She was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1976 and a Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite in 1987. Clidat taught at the École Normale de Musique in Paris and published articles about the performance of Liszt's solo piano music.

I might have to hear for myself.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on June 30, 2015, 04:02:50 PM
There's a ton of Jerome Rose and Idil Biret on Spotify.  Rose's Annees is really good, which I'd heard before, but he's also recorded the complete Transcendental Etudes - also very good from the little I sampled.   Biret has recorded most, if not all of the major works - I was happy to see that she's done all of the Beethoven transcriptions, looking forward to those.

Lots to listen to in the next week.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 30, 2015, 04:06:32 PM
There are people who like Clidat, there is no doubt.  I'm not one of her fans.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 01, 2015, 03:33:06 AM
Todd, what's your two- or three-paragraph summary viz. the monumental Leslie Howard traversal?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on July 01, 2015, 06:36:08 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 01, 2015, 03:33:06 AMTodd, what's your two- or three-paragraph summary viz. the monumental Leslie Howard traversal?


I used to own only a handful of discs from the set.  I sold them years ago when I started listening to Bolet and Ovchinnikov and Darre and Berman, among others.  Now, with the additional great players I've heard, I'm not particularly keen on trying more of his Liszt.  From memory, Howard is very earnest and never or at least very rarely flashy, which is both praise and criticism.  Again, from memory, he lacked the command of Berman or Ovchinnikov, say, and the tone and grand feel of Bolet, and the sound for the discs I had didn't flatter Howard's playing.  Liszt specialists are hit and miss for me with Liszt's piano music.  Bolet - good.  Cziffra - good but variable and sometimes too much the virtuoso.  Howard and Clidat and Rose - not so good.  I'll be trying again with quasi-specialist Maurizio Baglini soon enough, though he has recorded little of his Liszt repertoire.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 01, 2015, 06:40:44 AM
Thanks.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 01, 2015, 06:51:35 AM
Quote from: Todd on July 01, 2015, 06:36:08 AM

I used to own only a handful of discs from the set.  I sold them years ago when I started listening to Bolet and Ovchinnikov and Darre and Berman, among others.  Now, with the additional great players I've heard, I'm not particularly keen on trying more of his Liszt.  From memory, Howard is very earnest and never or at least very rarely flashy, which is both praise and criticism.  Again, from memory, he lacked the command of Berman or Ovchinnikov, say, and the tone and grand feel of Bolet, and the sound for the discs I had didn't flatter Howard's playing.  Liszt specialists are hit and miss for me with Liszt's piano music.  Bolet - good.  Cziffra - good but variable and sometimes too much the virtuoso.  Howard and Clidat and Rose - not so good.  I'll be trying again with quasi-specialist Maurizio Baglini soon enough, though he has recorded little of his Liszt repertoire.

Of course all this is subjective and personal taste but I think higher of Leslie Howard's playing.  In some cases, the waltzes for instance, I find his playing near perfect.  He also must be complimented for his programming. I just posted in the "Recordings being considered" about being pretty close to ordering the big box. 

I too am skeptical of one pianist playing al that music.  But, I place him in the top quartile of Liszt interpreters, and the fact that he has left no stone unturned means that his is the only recording for large segments of Liszt.  While the B Minor Sonata has been recorded over 200 times, similarly for the Hungarian Rhapsodies, Etudes and Annees, large chunks of Listz's catalog have never been recorded until Howard.

I have almost convinced myself to go for it.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 01, 2015, 07:38:10 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jCrjpDDvL._SX355_.jpg)

The Mangos sisters, Georgia and Louise, have done a wonderful thing: record all of the four hand transcriptions of the symphonic poems.  They are emphatic, these are confident high-strung performances deploying vivid rhythmic command, high dynamic contrast, and quick tempos. Yet, the the details keep the music from sounding cluttered and the pianists' ability put across what sounds like true conversation keeps the music from sounding frenetic.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on July 01, 2015, 07:48:51 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 01, 2015, 07:38:10 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jCrjpDDvL._SX355_.jpg)

The Mangos sisters, Georgia and Louise, have done a wonderful thing: record all of the four hand transcriptions of the symphonic poems.  They are emphatic, these are confident high-strung performances deploying vivid rhythmic command, high dynamic contrast, and quick tempos. Yet, the the details keep the music from sounding cluttered and the pianists' ability put across what sounds like true conversation keeps the music from sounding frenetic.

Who transcribed the music?  Liszt or someone else?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 01, 2015, 08:05:27 AM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on July 01, 2015, 07:48:51 AM
Who transcribed the music?  Liszt or someone else?

The four hands transcriptions are by Liszt, others have done solo piano and eight hands transcriptions of some of the symphonic works, like Les Preludes, but those are rarely recorded.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 01, 2015, 11:04:17 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91UWi82JbtL._SX355_.jpg)

Sviatislav Richter did not enjoy making studio recordings and he ended the practice in 1979.  One huge casualty from this decision is that we do not have an authorized recording of Richter playing the Liszt Piano Sonata in B Minor made under the controlled environment of the studio. What are left with are taped performances from live concerts. On the website (http://trovar.com/str/discs/liszt.html) that has a Richter discography, there are four live performances by Richter of the sonata listed, released on several recordings:

Carnegie Hall, New York, 1965
o   Private Recording P-101 (LP) [ labelled Carnegie Hall, New York, 18 May 1965 ]
o   Melodiya M10 47287 (LP, 1986)
o   Philips 422137 (CD) [ labelled Budapest, 1960 ]
Moscow, 12 October 1965 on Brilliant Classics 92229/3 (CD)
Aldeburgh, 21 June 1966
o   Discocorp RR 454 (LP) [ labelled Budapest, 11 Feb 1958 ]
o   AS Disc 342 (CD) or 345 (CD) or Historical Performers HP 26 (CD)
o   Bianco e Nero BN 2433/2 (CD)
o   Classica d'Oro CDO 3007 (CD 2001)
o   Legend LGD 145 (CD)
o   Music & Arts CD-600 (CD)
o   Music & Arts CD-760 (CD) [ labelled Florence, 1971 ]
o   Memories HR 4218 (CD)
o   Nuova Era 013.6340 (CD)
o   Seven Seas / King Records KICC 2267 (CD)
Livorno, 21 Nov 1966 on Philips 438620 (CD) or 446200 (CD) or 454545 (CD)

Since we are dealing with taped live concerts, they feature mistakes and compromised sound.  Of the four live recordings I think most people agree that the Carnegie Hall (1965) is the best, although you will find advocates for each of them. 

It is my opinion that too much of the time Liszt is played in a manner that underserves certain aspects of his personality.  I think because of the 20th century's aversion to the excesses of the Romantic tradition, especially as exemplified by Paganini and Liszt, pianists have tended to try to tame Liszt.  I feel this is a mistake.  It is the demonic, the excessive, the tempestuous, the crazy aspect, if you will, of Liszt, placed next to his mysterious, poetic side, the mystical/religious aspects that I think is necessary in order to fully present the music.  We need this contrast because otherwise, Liszt is simply not Liszt.

Never let it be said that Richter fails in this regard.

If Arrau or Jolet play Liszt with restraint, Richter is a monster.  Listening to the B Minor Sonata at times I almost expect either the piano or Richter to explode.  It is simply that powerful.  But then, "Richter also finds a mystery and an ever-varying shading, which keeps the listener entranced, wondering what more can happen. Constantly changing tempos surge forward at one moment and draw back the next. One feels Richter abandoning all caution, and a few missed notes intrude, but there is no denying the breath-taking results. The poetic sections of the music are given equally compelling attention." (James H. North, Fanfare, Nov/Dec 2004)

However, I cannot say that his recordings are the best we have for this sonata.  That honor, in my opinion, goes to Martha Argerich.  Too much is lost in Richter's recordings to the imperfect sound and imperfect playing.

Nonetheless, his recordings are stupendous and need to be heard by anyone who calls themselves a fan of this music.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 03:07:15 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/413N9F5XKYL.jpg)

The celebrated Slovenian pianist [Dubravka] Tomsic enjoys "something of a cult status among pianophiles" (Gramophone Magazine), with performances that convey "heroic power and Olympian vision" (Los Angeles Times) as well as "splendor, drama, passion, poetry, and subtlety" (Boston Globe). The only protégé of legendary pianist Artur Rubinstein, who considered her "a perfect and marvelous pianist," she gave her first public recital at age five and later embarked on an international career that took her to five continents, performing more than forty-five hundred concerts to date. (offical bio (http://www.dispeker.com/artist.php?id=dtomsic&aview=bio))

She recorded a Liszt recital in 2000 that includes a very good performance of the Piano Sonata in B Minor.  Adrian Corleonis, Fanfare's redoubtable Lisztian was not very impressed, "[t]here's a genuine command at work here. But to my ears, she makes Liszt's grandeur protest too much with the overkill result that more is less."  However, in fairness he does cite other views: the Boston Herald's critic rated her performance of the Sonata "probably the best I've ever experienced live in the concert hall," while the Philadelphia Inquirer's person called her "a keyboard giant" and esteemed her performance of the Sonata "a benchmark." Finally, the Boston Globe's report resonates with the ring of truth—"A great concert leaves you with some glimpse of why you're alive. That's the experience Dubravka Tomsic brought to Symphony Hall. . . . Her playing [of the Sonata] was emotional, searching, sublime, and profoundly moving." (Fanfare, May/June 2003).

I listened to it this morning and thought it in the top half of the recordings released this century.  She handled the architectural aspect extremely well, the work seemed to develop and flow seamlessly (which is not easy in a work this episodic).  However, there was something missing, the ephemeral "insane" aspect I look for in Liszt interpretations.

Perfectly respectable recording.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 04:01:28 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MVZXBUzqL.jpg)

Lev Vlassenko
Melodiya - MELCD1001088 (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Piano-Music-Lev-Vlassenko/dp/B0037NDF9K/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435836177&sr=1-1&keywords=Lev+Vlassenko+liszt)

The great Georgian pianist, Lev Vlassenko, was born in 1928. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire in 1956 as laureate of the First Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, being runner up to the legendary Van Cliburn. He is thought of today as one of the greatest exponents of the music of Liszt.  "Lev Vlassenko is a great artist. Listeners enjoyed his excellent performance of Liszt's Sonata in b minor, a piece which is extremely complicated because of its profound ideas and virtuosity. A magnificent sense of form and style of different pieces such as the Liszt Sonata and the Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue in d minor..." – Sviatoslav Richter

That is high praise from someone who knows something about the Liszt B Minor Sonata, and it is not an exaggeration.  Vlassenko plays the sonata with technical command, incorporating all the expressive elements I want to hear.  It is definitely one of the top fifty performances, which in the case of this work means that it is better than 75% of the rest.  His catlike playing of the fugue is especially a nice moment and he rises to the occasion for the last ten minutes of the work. 

This last section is what separates the truly masters of this work from the others.  Sometimes when a pianist arrives at the fugue he is physically and emotionally spent and the last section is played in a manner that conveys a sense of just trying to get through it.  Masters, such as Argerich, Richter, Hamelin and others not only reach this section without any of sense of being spent, but somehow have conserved their best energy for the end of the work (which is a huge achievement considering the demands of the first two-thirds of the music). 

The fugue opens up the final statement of the themes and a summing up of the entire work, and there are two or three climax moments which simply have to land in order for the performance to be a unqualified success.

My main complaint concerning Vlassenko is that the big moments are not quite big enough.  But overall Vlassenko has left us a very good interpretation.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 02, 2015, 04:07:40 AM
More etymological trivia . . . no surprise, since much of the population of the former USSR was moved around, and rather often involuntarily . . . Vlassenko is a Ukrainian name, not Georgian.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 04:14:50 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 02, 2015, 04:07:40 AM
More etymological trivia . . . no surprise, since much of the population of the former USSR was moved around, and rather often involuntarily . . . Vlassenko is a Ukrainian name, not Georgian.

Thanks for that info.  Am I right in thinking that many Georgian names have a -svilli ending.  But I got that nationality note from Wikipedia which probably go it from some bio somewhere.  It always bothers me when Weinberg is called a Russian composer.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on July 02, 2015, 04:21:01 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 02, 2015, 04:14:50 AM
Am I right in thinking that many Georgian names have a -svilli ending. 

Yes, you are (almost) right.

-shvili, as in Dzhugashvili

and

-adze or -idze, as in Shevardnadze, Ordzhonikidze
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 02, 2015, 04:56:39 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 02, 2015, 04:14:50 AM
Thanks for that info.  Am I right in thinking that many Georgian names have a -svilli ending.  But I got that nationality note from Wikipedia which probably go it from some bio somewhere.  It always bothers me when Weinberg is called a Russian composer.

Well, and he (Vassilenko) was likely born in Georgia.  My mom-in-law has a Ukrainian name, but was born in White Russia.  Quite apart from the involuntary Soviet-era migrations, all the historic conflicts and border-shifts have perforce resulted in a certain degree of geographical untidiness  8)

Vainberg/Weinberg was born in Warsaw, but of course the name is German in origin.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 05:02:28 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 02, 2015, 04:56:39 AM
Well, and he (Vassilenko) was likely born in Georgia.  My mom-in-law has a Ukrainian name, but was born in White Russia.  Quite apart from the involuntary Soviet-era migrations, all the historic conflicts and border-shifts have perforce resulted in a certain degree of geographical untidiness  8)

Vainberg/Weinberg was born in Warsaw, but of course the name is German in origin.

He didn't leave Warsaw until his twenties, IIRC.  My issue with calling Weinberg Russian, is that in Russia he suffered because he was Jewish, and from what I've read identified more with his Polish Jewish roots.  I have a good friend who manged to get out of Russia after years of struggle and says with some irony, I had to come to america to be called a Russian; in Russia I was a Jew.  In fact, he was from Ukraine.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 02, 2015, 05:14:05 AM
Your quarrel is just;  whether in the Imperial past, or in the Communist era, or in this post-Communist chaos, there may never have been any institutional, society-wide address of anti-Semitism in Russia.  It is not to say that all Russians are anti-Semites, only that (in my admittedly limited experience) the Russians who are tolerant of Jews (and what a patronizing way to have to put it) are either the equivalent of 'homeschooled' in that viewpoint, or artists/professionals.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: jlaurson on July 02, 2015, 05:39:28 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 02, 2015, 04:56:39 AM
Well, and he (Vassilenko) was likely born in Georgia.  My mom-in-law has a Ukrainian name, but was born in White Russia.  Quite apart from the involuntary Soviet-era migrations, all the historic conflicts and border-shifts have perforce resulted in a certain degree of geographical untidiness  8)

Vainberg/Weinberg was born in Warsaw, but of course the name is German in origin.

"Not German enough", as a (now) New Yorker friend of mine with a similar name tends to say, on such occasion.

Weinberg's father had arrived fresh from today's Moldova... so they were probably not quite integrated Polish Jews, either.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 02, 2015, 05:44:07 AM
Quote from: jlaurson on July 02, 2015, 05:39:28 AM
"Not German enough", as a (now) New Yorker friend of mine with a similar name tends to say, on such occasion.

Weinberg's father had arrived fresh from today's Moldova... so they were probably not quite integrated Polish Jews, either.

Aye;  it's a sort of Musical Chairs, isn't it?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 02, 2015, 05:48:53 AM
But we have digressed; sorry, David!

Today, I am fixin' to listen to the Hungarian Rhapsodies in these sets:

[asin]B000B7VZTC[/asin]

[asin]B0040UEIAE[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 06:00:08 AM
Two excellent accounts of these works.  IMO the nod goes to Pizarro but Cziffra is Mephistolesian which is a marvel to hear.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 07:12:52 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on June 30, 2015, 12:11:03 PM
Liszt : A Critical Discography, part 1 - Piano Collections

A much improved and edited post (https://musicakaleidoscope.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/liszt-a-critical-discography-part-1-solo-piano-works/) replaced the one quoted above, thanks to Todd for his helpful comments.

:)

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 07:57:40 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41W1Vhs2KdL._SY355_.jpg)


Krystian Zimerman
DG 431 780-2 (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Sonata-lugubre-gondola-Fun%C3%A9railles/dp/B000001GF5/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435852301&sr=1-3&keywords=zimerman+liszt) (1991 CD)
2005 DG collection (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Recordings-Franz/dp/B004RJZ9K6/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435852301&sr=1-2&keywords=zimerman+liszt&pebp=1435852301436&perid=0BP9J5JGMMBGNR955DBH)

There have only a handful of  recordings in the last 20 years that have risen to the standard of the great performances of the past.  Martha Argerich (1971), Sviatoslav Richter (1965), and Vladimir Horowitz (1932) have reigned supreme in this work for decades.  But with Kyrstian Zimerman's account of the sonata from 1991 we arrive at a performance that can truly stand should to shoulder with the above mentioned greats.

A couple of quotes from the critics:

From the descending octaves of the sonata's opening one senses the impress of a powerful personality which, as the epic horizon looms, assumes Liszt's utterance as its own. What at first seems perhaps mannered takes on bar by bar the color of unique authority and by some indefinable, irresistible compulsion—one is spellbound. Zimerman is a phenomenon. He commands a sonorous spectrum embracing angry growls and aquarelle-tinted delicacy, ringing plangency and airy showers of scintillae, easily projected with stunning clarity. Fanfare, Adrian Corleonis, Sept/Oct 1992.

It is to be expected that an artist who has made one of the outstanding recordings of the Liszt concertos (DG, 11/88) should also give us one of the finest ever B minor Sonatas. Whether you think it is the finest ever may depend on your priorities (and on whether you think it is sensible to venture such opinions). What can surely be said is that Zimerman brings to bear a combination of ardour, forcefulness, drive and sheer technical grasp which are tremendously exciting and for which I can think of no direct rival.  Gramophone 10/1991

There is not much to add to those comments other than to point out that DG issued this recording coupled with his equally excellent recordings of the concertos in 2005.  That set would be the way to go, if you wish to hear some of the best modern performances of the great Liszt works for piano.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 08:40:51 AM
(http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/034571170855.png)

Stephen Hough
Hyperion CDA67085 (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67085)

Every once in a while a recording is released which defies categorization.  Stephen Hough's recording of the Liszt Piano Sonata in B Minor is one of these recordings.

From the descending octave scales at the beginning, played with the sustain pedal held down throughout, you understand that this will be a somewhat different take on this warhorse of the piano repertory.  There are plenty of agogic hiccups throughout, but the most infuriating interpretative choice, to my ears, is his tempo with the fugue: slow.  It is a maddening moment and one which caused me to literally grit my teeth.

Other than these specific oddities, his performance is indeed enchanting.  Very poetic, very ephemeral, very gauzy.  Not wild-eyed, like Richter, not visceral like Argerich, but he does give us a unique interpretation.

David Fanning writing for Gramophone says approvingly, "All the same, there is undeniably something distinctive in the Englishman's approach – this is a Liszt that never has to compete for attention or to break into a sweat, Liszt as a more glamorous version of Mendelssohn, Liszt defended against the Lisztians."

I am a Lisztian, I suppose, because I find this approach somewhat lacking.

Peter J Rabinowich of Fanfare, who regularly reviews Liszt recordings, is more in line with my own thinking: "... his stony approach entail any lack of drama (few other performances have such imposing weight in the climaxes) or any rhythmic inflexibility (indeed. Hough has a remarkable control not only over the music's large-scale tempo transitions but over individual phrases as well). But the reading is certainly Classical in its resistance to sentiment, often relying on sharply registered accompaniment to jab at music that's traditionally sweetened; and, for all its scrupulous attention to timbrai contrasts, it's tonally dry and consequently low on sheer sensuality.  In sum, there's no attempt to compete with the cataclysmic power of Richter (much less Levy), the high-Romantic extravagance of Horowitz, or the sheer impetus of the young Argerich (listeners who wait for an explosion in the fugue are apt to be taken aback by the relative respite that it provides here). But if you want to hear this Sonata presented with a stringency that illuminates Liszt's intellectual vision rather than his emotional sensationalism, then this stands with Pollini's account among the most rigorous in the catalog.

I'm not sure if that is entirely fair to Maurizio Pollini, nevertheless, I have mixed feelings for Stephen Hough's recording.  For sure there is much to find here that is very compelling.  Yet, the moments which distract appear over and over and leaving me feeling vaguely disappointed.

You listen and let me know what you think.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: jlaurson on July 02, 2015, 08:53:50 AM

I hope this gets issued on a proper label, soon, because it's a rare masterpiece. I would go so far as saying (and I have, in the past) that no other single disc of any composer has so changed my entire outlook on a composer (for the better, that is, you cads!).

It's Liszt the modern composer. Liszt the impressionist. Liszt the elegant. Liszt the seductive. Liszt the wizard of color. On an instrument of the time. Simply ear-opening!

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tW%2Bo01OQL.jpg)
Daniel Grimmwood
Annees de Ppelerinage
(Books 1 & 2) (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001O3MLN6/goodmusicguideUK-21)

There's no other Liszt album I'd so go to bat for. Not even the superlative ones of K.Zimerman and the Concertos with Nelson Freire. (Or Lenny's Boston Faust Symphony.)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 09:43:59 AM
Quote from: jlaurson on July 02, 2015, 08:53:50 AM
I hope this gets issued on a proper label, soon, because it's a rare masterpiece. I would go so far as saying (and I have, in the past) that no other single disc of any composer has so changed my entire outlook on a composer (for the better, that is, you cads!).

It's Liszt the modern composer. Liszt the impressionist. Liszt the elegant. Liszt the seductive. Liszt the wizard of color. On an instrument of the time. Simply ear-opening!

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tW%2Bo01OQL.jpg)
Daniel Grimmwood
Annees de Ppelerinage
(Books 1 & 2) (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001O3MLN6/goodmusicguideUK-21)

There's no other Liszt album I'd so go to bat for. Not even the superlative ones of K.Zimerman and the Concertos with Nelson Freire. (Or Lenny's Boston Faust Symphony.)

I need to revisit that one.  When I first listened I felt that the sound of the instrument was an issue. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 11:18:37 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81Cg0xpNsIL._SX355_.jpg)

Dénes Várjon
ECM New Series (http://www.amazon.com/Precipitando-Denes-Varjon/dp/B0066LS9SC/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435863887&sr=1-1&keywords=D%C3%A9nes+V%C3%A1rjon++liszt&pebp=1435863888556&perid=04ET7XFKT7EY6HMGSCTM) (2012)
Just looking at the contents of Precipitando, the 2012 ECM recording by Dénes Várjon, I am interested.  The main event is the Liszt sonata, but he proceeds it with the Berg Piano Sonata, op. 1 and Janácek's In the Mists.  I am a fan of pianists who attempt to put some context around the Liszt sonata.  Several have: Hélène Grimaud, Resonances (http://www.amazon.com/Resonances-Franz-Liszt/dp/B00408MS0S/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435863068&sr=1-1&keywords=helene+grimaud+berg+liszt&pebp=1435864182508&perid=1418MAFSFJSAG3AQ0A9M), includes the Mozart Sonata No. 8 in A minor, the same Berg sonata, the Liszt, before ending with Bartok's Romanian Folk DancesPierre-Laurent Aimard's The Liszt Project (http://www.amazon.com/Precipitando-Denes-Varjon/dp/B0066LS9SC/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435863887&sr=1-1&keywords=D%C3%A9nes+V%C3%A1rjon++liszt&pebp=1435863888556&perid=04ET7XFKT7EY6HMGSCTM) released as a double CD album pairing Liszt works , including the B Minor Sonata, with one each by Ravel, Messiaen, Wagner, Scriabin, Bartok, Berg and Mark Stroppa.  All very interesting and rewarding listening.

While the Aimard recording is a strong contender, I think Várjon gives the best account in the Liszt sonata from among the three pianists just mentioned.

Dénes Várjon's way with the Liszt sonata shares some of the same qualities found in Stephen Hough's performance, but none of the defects.  Radu A. Lelutiu writing in Fanfare put it this way, "Várjon's take on the mighty Liszt Sonata is not the most rhetorically inflected (Claudio Arrau, Sviatoslav Richter, and Garrick Ohlsson score higher on that scale), nor does it sizzle with a kind of superhuman bravura György Cziffra, Earl Wild, Martha Argerich, or Marc-André Hamelin are able to muster. But, when all is said and done, Várjon's visionary and deeply heartfelt conception is equally valid and, while it may not be the most thrilling, it is one of the most intelligent, coherent, and meaningful I have ever heard."

And Jed Distler in Gramophone, "To be sure, Várjon's Liszt Sonata holds its own in an impossibly crowded catalogue. Striking details include the pianist's phrase grouping of the exposition's celebrated octaves to emphasise harmonic motion, or the sustained calmness he conveys across the slow ascending scales in the extended quiet passage prior to the fughetta. On the other hand, Liszt's lyrical D major theme sounds rather matter-of-fact and businesslike when placed alongside Arrau or Hamelin. Similarly, the recapitulation's climactic octaves and gradual winding down elicits a stronger sense of exultation and more cogent long-lined shaping from Yundi Li, Yuja Wang, Arnaldo Cohen and George-Emmanuel Lazaridis, to name but a few recent versions."

The ECM sound is always a pleasure and listening to this recording is a very enjoyable experience.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 02, 2015, 12:58:58 PM
(http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0581/3921/products/9337_large.jpg?v=1431029472)

Garrick Ohlsson
Bridge Records 9337 (http://bridgerecords.com/products/9337) (2010)

It seems to take Garrick Ohlsson a bit to get going with his performance of the Liszt sonata, but once he gets warmed up, the audience is in for great journey.  Ohlsson is usually known for his power, his monumental playing.  But in the Liszt sonata he holds back some, choosing instead to offer us a somewhat restrained interpretation. As Bryce Morrison writes in Gramophone, "Ohlsson's Sonata ... is relatively subdued, creating its greatest effect in the central Andante's vision and introspection, and in a conclusion where hymnal piety is clouded by glassy sighs and veiled threats."

The first moment that strikes me as Ohlsson doing something different with the music is the first statement of the Grandioso theme (ms. 105 et sec.).  His playing is transcendental and the music floats from the speakers in majestic waves. 

By contrast when that same theme returns in the middle section, Ohlsson is much more, well, grandiose and stentorian.  He builds this section nicely, each new phrase is stronger and played with more power until he brings the level down, allowing the phrases to echo and quietly takes us back to the octave scales at the very beginning of the piece just before the fugue.

Surprisingly, Ohlsson starts the fugue with some hesitation but then, tears through it at a furious pace, gathering more and more momentum which seems to be heading for the wheels coming off.  But no, he keeps a firm grip and begins to sound a lot like Richter but without so much abandon. 

Still, for the most part his playing for most of this work will not remind you of Richter or Argerich.  Peter J. Rabinowich writes in Fanfare, "If the young Martha Argerich stakes her claim to providing the most hyperkinetic and volatile reading in the catalog, Ohlsson seems intent in standing near the opposite pole. It's not a uniformly slow reading (once it gets going, the fugue races along at a blistering pace)—but taken as a whole, it's surely a patient reading that gives the grander sections a chance to soak in."

A nice alternative reading without losing any of the effect this music can or ought to have.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on July 02, 2015, 07:31:32 PM
Thanks for pointing out the Hamelin B minor which is nowhere online but fortunately my library had it. This is an outstanding performance and maybe the best I've heard. Considering that I have Argerich, Richter and Cziffra this is not faint praise. I do have a particular soft spot for the Cziffra which I hear as a very deep and profound reading and one where he resists the temptation for a purely virtuosic display.

This thread has prompted me to listen to the Transcendental Etudes. Ovchinnikov is currently in my CD player and this is an outstanding performance. Cziffra's  is mind bogglingly amazing, he really lets rip as does Kemal Gekic who I also have. But pride of place for me is Claudio Arrau's version for Philips. While it doesn't lack in bravura, it goes beyond that to plumb the depths that surely Liszt intended.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 03, 2015, 03:16:23 AM
Quote from: Holden on July 02, 2015, 07:31:32 PM
Thanks for pointing out the Hamelin B minor which is nowhere online but fortunately my library had it. This is an outstanding performance and maybe the best I've heard. Considering that I have Argerich, Richter and Cziffra this is not faint praise. I do have a particular soft spot for the Cziffra which I hear as a very deep and profound reading and one where he resists the temptation for a purely virtuosic display.

This thread has prompted me to listen to the Transcendental Etudes. Ovchinnikov is currently in my CD player and this is an outstanding performance. Cziffra's  is mind bogglingly amazing, he really lets rip as does Kemal Gekic who I also have. But pride of place for me is Claudio Arrau's version for Philips. While it doesn't lack in bravura, it goes beyond that to plumb the depths that surely Liszt intended.

I agree that Hamelin turns in one of the best performances of the sonata; if you get a chance, Krystian Zimerman's recording is one to hear as well.  I still have some listening to go with the sonata before moving on to the other works, but the etudes will definitely be among the major solo piano works covered.  Many thanks for your comments.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 03, 2015, 06:25:05 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61V2UITgAcL._SX425_.jpg)

Ivo Pogorelich
Deutsche Grammophon 002265002 (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Sonata-Minor-Scriabin-Piano/dp/B00000E4GB/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435932934&sr=1-1&keywords=Pogorelich+Liszt+Sonata)  (1992)

Coming in at 34 minutes, Ivo Pogorelich's recording of the B minor sonata is one of the longest.  As far as I know only Mikhail Pletnev plays it longer, although I seem to remember seeing a recording that was over 40 minutes, but I have never been able put my hands on it again.

Listening to Pogorelich I think I have found the source of some of Stephen Hough's more curious interpretive choices like the pedal under the octave scales (although Pogorelich only does this for the first two notes, which creates a very nice effect, as opposed to Hough who keeps the pedal down for the entire scale).  Speaking of these passages, Pogorelich is one of a handful of pianists who play these scales in a way that makes real sense.  Most players simply execute the scale disconnected from the staccato notes that surround them; Pogorelich brings out the fact that the staccato notes are the concluding notes in the scales.   Sounds simple?  Yes; but too often this detail is over looked.

Also overlooked by many pianists is how to convey the melodic content above and below the furious virtuoso filigrees that feature prominently in this work.  All too often these passages are played full out, making very little distinction between the underlying arpeggio or chromatic music and the overlaid melodic phrases, which are usually short triadic motives.  Ivo Pogorelich brings these out very nicely finding the meaning in these passages that totally saves them from becoming the kind of empty virtuosic showiness people often accuse Liszt of composing.

There are many other wonderful aspects to this albeit flawed recording.  Peter J. Rabinowitz, of Fanfare Magazine, sums it up, "In the end, there are details, particularly arbitrary rhythmic disruptions (say, in the opening measures—or in the left hand in mm. 324 ff.), that may aggravate you. Still, the technique is so flawless, the playing so often arresting—the superb balance of inner lines, the dazzling dolcissimo passagework, the chilling starkness of the octave passages, the high-strung but funereal treatment of the grandioso theme when it reappears at mm. 363 ff., the airy treatment of the beginning of the fugue—that it's hard to resist. I couldn't recommend this over, say, Argerich, Horowitz I, or Pollini—much less over Richter—as an introduction to this piece. But Lisztians will certainly find it of extraordinary interest."

There are some disappointing areas, but not enough to deter anyone from the recording. But one in particular sticks out for me, sense it spoils one of my favorite moments in the work.

In the final section, after the fugue and after the octaves and virtuoso passage leading to the last quiet statement of the themes, there is a place where many pianists create a moment of absolute dissonance by keeping the sustain pedal down during a rising arpeggio and octaves holding the last notes out.  I enjoy it when a pianist will hold this rather long, letting the volume decrease to a point where the next quiet passage seems to grow out of the dissonance.

Pogorelich does not use the sustain pedal, and consequently does not produce the dissonance, and merely lets the passage end in silence before the quiet passage.  Okay, it's one way to do it, and undoubtedly he wanted to avoid the effect I just described.  But for me he misses one of the great moments in this piece.

I have to say Pogorelich's way with the sonata is very compelling; very enjoyable despite what might appear as an excess of length.  I never got the impression that he artificially elongated the music excessively.

Pogorelich's is a unique recording and one which I thin has been somewhat overlooked with the passage of time which be a consequence of his later recitals in which all of the above became exaggerated and grotesque.  However, with this recording Pogorelich captured his performance in a balanced and rewarding document.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 03, 2015, 10:52:31 PM
One interesting thing about the Liszt sonata is the ending

Cortot used to own the Liszt manuscript with the original ending. It's owned now by Robert Owens Lehman, who left it on deposit at the Morgan Library.

Claudio Arrau wrote about the original manuscript:

"Even from the outward appearance of the manuscript, the artistic seriousness with which the composer approached this work may readily be seen. Apart from corrected shorter passages which follow immediately upon crossed-out sections, there are numerous pages with extensive revisions which Liszt probably made only when much of that which followed had already been written down. In those cases he pasted newly drafted half-pages or more over the original text. Page 21 was completely deleted. Liszt replaced it with a new enlarged section, which comprises both pages 21 and 21 Bis. The sheet of paper containing these newly written pages (21 and 21 Bis) now seamlessly adjoins the preceding part. Of special interest is the conclusion of the work. Here Liszt made a revision which was not merely technical but changed completely the expressive content of the section. An originally planned imposing conclusion of 25 measures rising to a threefold forte was replaced by an ending 32 measures longer which gradually fades away to PPP."

Gregor Benko gave Nyiregyhazi a facsimile of the manuscript. He recorded the Liszt sonata San Francisco, but I don't know if he recorded the original ending.

Is the Nyiregyhazi recording available? Has anyone recorded the original ending? Why did Liszt change the ending?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 03, 2015, 11:04:24 PM
Quote from: Holden on July 02, 2015, 07:31:32 PM
Thanks for pointing out the Hamelin B minor which is nowhere online but fortunately my library had it. This is an outstanding performance and maybe the best I've heard. Considering that I have Argerich, Richter and Cziffra this is not faint praise. I do have a particular soft spot for the Cziffra which I hear as a very deep and profound reading and one where he resists the temptation for a purely virtuosic display.

This thread has prompted me to listen to the Transcendental Etudes. Ovchinnikov is currently in my CD player and this is an outstanding performance. Cziffra's  is mind bogglingly amazing, he really lets rip as does Kemal Gekic who I also have. But pride of place for me is Claudio Arrau's version for Philips. While it doesn't lack in bravura, it goes beyond that to plumb the depths that surely Liszt intended.

I can let you have a live recording of Hamelin doing it, Montreal in 2011. It also has a pretty successful K310.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 04, 2015, 06:00:45 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 03, 2015, 10:52:31 PM
One interesting thing about the Liszt sonata is the ending

Cortot used to own the Liszt manuscript with the original ending. It's owned now by Robert Owens Lehman, who left it on deposit at the Morgan Library.

Claudio Arrau wrote about the original manuscript:

"Even from the outward appearance of the manuscript, the artistic seriousness with which the composer approached this work may readily be seen. Apart from corrected shorter passages which follow immediately upon crossed-out sections, there are numerous pages with extensive revisions which Liszt probably made only when much of that which followed had already been written down. In those cases he pasted newly drafted half-pages or more over the original text. Page 21 was completely deleted. Liszt replaced it with a new enlarged section, which comprises both pages 21 and 21 Bis. The sheet of paper containing these newly written pages (21 and 21 Bis) now seamlessly adjoins the preceding part. Of special interest is the conclusion of the work. Here Liszt made a revision which was not merely technical but changed completely the expressive content of the section. An originally planned imposing conclusion of 25 measures rising to a threefold forte was replaced by an ending 32 measures longer which gradually fades away to PPP."

Gregor Benko gave Nyiregyhazi a facsimile of the manuscript. He recorded the Liszt sonata San Francisco, but I don't know if he recorded the original ending.

Is the Nyiregyhazi recording available? Has anyone recorded the original ending? Why did Liszt change the ending?

I have always been very thankful that Liszt chose to re-write the ending, doing away with the grandiose ending and choosing (in a stroke of genius) to end it with the ethereal pianissimo triads.  That is magical.  I have zero interest in hearing the discarded version and would hope that no one records it.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 04, 2015, 09:27:59 PM
Yes, I can imagine that.

I think Hough does the original ending on his ipad app, I haven't heard it yet.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 06, 2015, 06:47:25 AM
Marc-André Hamelin
Hyperion (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67760) (2011)

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71sioIfR-BL._SX425_.jpg)

Marc-André Hamelin has recorded an Apollonian interpretation that scales the mountain of this work with conviction and class.  The critics have been virtually universal in their praise:

"If you plan to buy a Liszt piano CD during the composer's bicentenary, make straight for this tumultuous recital. Hamelin is a master of the rhetorical flourish — amply displayed in the Fantasy and Fugue...He gives us filigree tenderness too and, in Venezia e Napoli, picturesque atmospherics. Finally, there is the epic Piano Sonata, with composer and pianist united in passion, structural control and visionary spirit." The Times, 24th April 2011 ****

"while Hamelin's technique is superhuman and magisterial, there is never a question of virtuosity for its own sake...the rapidity of Hamelin's repeated notes in the sun-drenched Tarantella is scarcely believable, his poetic poise and noble refinement elsewhere no less notable...Even so, pride of place must go to the Sonata, where Hamelin tempers Liszt's rhetoric with a measure of dignity and restraint...In short, this is a pianist to trump all aces." Gramophone Magazine, May 2011

"Needless to say, Hamelin's performance of Liszt's Piano Sonata yields nothing in transcendental virtuosity...He opens with a very dramatic reading of the Fantasie and Fugue on B-A-C-H, with total clarity in articulation and voice-leading...Similar vigour and energy is to be found in evocative and exultant readings of Venezia e Napoli, highly characterized and full of shimmering colours" International Record Review, April 2011

If Martha Argerich's performance was a combination of athletic prowess and a dancer's finesse which produced an enormous amount of kinetic excitement, Marc-André Hamelin's performance is more akin to a great orator rousing the audience to inspired heights of possibility.  Think Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech".  I choose the analogy of an orator because Liszt's rhetoric in the sonata is something that some pianists simply do not execute nearly as well as playing the work as a bravura showpiece. 

The music is a endless variation of only three themes (some count five) which all appear in the first page of the work.  Each measure of the work will have one of these themes as the thread that holds the entire form together.  Hamelin never allows that thread to become obscured by the passagework, and this is important, he does this in such a masterful manner that the rhetoric takes on a momentum and rising energy of its own.

Liszt certainly knew what he was about with this work, and if the performer will only execute what Liszt has written the work cannot help but succeed.  Trouble is, a pianist must possess a prodigious technique in order to control the music and not simply allow the passagework to dominate.

Marc-Andre Hamelin possesses such a technique, as well as, the intellectual rigor to express the larger rhetorical content.  There are a few bothersome details.  There are some inexplicable hesitations similar to the kind when you cannot think of a word and some other agogic indulgences.  But this is quibbling about an overwhelmingly successful performance of a difficult work, both from a technical and musical aspect.

Hamelin has presented us with one of, if not the, best accounts of this work in recent years.  Simply stunning.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 06, 2015, 06:21:42 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QJXugA7pL._SX425_.jpg)

Vladimir Horowitz
Presto Classical (1932) (http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/search.php?searchString=horowitz+Liszt+Naxos)
Amazon.US (1932) (http://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Sonata-Horowitz-1932-1935/dp/B00008ZZ2E/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436234657&sr=1-1&keywords=horowitz+Liszt+Naxos)
We are now accustomed to the idea that every pianist with a bit of technique and a liking for romantic music wants to have a go at the B minor sonata, but Horowitz was almost a prophet preaching in the wilderness in 1932. As Jonathan Summers's notes tell us, most critics back then were too busy savaging the music even to notice the performance. Today we can recognise that Horowitz's quite fantastic technical command is totally at the service of the music whose grandeur and poetry is uniquely held in balance. An indispensable performance. (Christopher Howell, MusicWebInternational, 6/03/2003)

That about says it; this Horowitz recording is indispensable for anyone interested in the music of Franz Liszt. 

You can hear a lot of Horowitz in Richter; the furiousness, the desire to play some of the right hand passagework as fast as humanly possible; the crashing low notes; and the command of the overarching structure.  It is a shame that neither Horowitz (because of the age of the recording) nor Richter (because all his recordings are from live concerts) has a record of their monumental performances in good sound.  Nevertheless, your ears do adapt to the noise and you can't help but appreciate Horowitz's achievement.

There are several transfers available of this 1932 performance, but I think the Naxos recording from their Great Pianists series is the best.  There has been only a minimal attempt at noise reduction leaving it with more hiss than on some others, but the sound of the piano is the best I've heard and the performance comes across much better.

Horowitz revisited the work in 1977, but that performance is no where near as compelling as this one from 1932. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 06, 2015, 09:51:20 PM
 Have you heard Cortot's?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 07, 2015, 01:58:49 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 06, 2015, 09:51:20 PM
Have you heard Cortot's?

Yes; from YouTube, but need to revisit it along with a few other of the older recordings.  I am thinking of buying one of the box sets of his recordings.  There's also Ernst Levy (Spotify), Arthur Friedheim (YouTube) which is a piano roll from 1905 the oldest I've found, Clifford Curzon (YouTube), and Gunnar Johansen (YouTube).  Johansen's is not as old as the others but done under less than ideal audio circumstances.  I am planning on covering these in an "historical recordings" post.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 05:30:35 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 07, 2015, 01:58:49 AM
Yes; from YouTube, but need to revisit it along with a few other of the older recordings.  I am thinking of buying one of the box sets of his recordings.  There's also Ernst Levy (Spotify), Arthur Friedheim (YouTube) which is a piano roll from 1905 the oldest I've found, Clifford Curzon (YouTube), and Gunnar Johansen (YouTube).  Johansen's is not as old as the others but done under less than ideal audio circumstances.  I am planning on covering these in an "historical recordings" post.

Thanks.

Yes I'd forgotten about Curzon who did a really good one live in Edinburgh in 1961, on BBC Legends. I think the studio recording was less successful.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 07, 2015, 05:55:49 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 05:30:35 AM
Yes I'd forgotten about Curzon who did a really good one live in Edinburgh in 1961, on BBC Legends. I think the studio recording was less successful.

You prefer the Edinburgh over the studio recording two years later?  Peter J. Rabinowitz in Fanfare disagreed (not that he is an infallible authority) when he reviewed that BBC disc:

Curzon is normally an elegant if low-key player; but this high-speed Edinburgh assault on the Liszt Sonata (faster, overall, than even Argerich's famous DG account) finds him floundering as he pushes himself well beyond his capacity. It's not simply the fistfuls of wrong notes or even the nine measures or so he drops when he fumbles the fugue. Over and above that, the performance is marred by poor balances (the melody is buried by the accompanying chords in the first statement of the Grandioso theme), odd choices of articulation, and a frequent disregard for the music's rhetorical structure (note, for instance, how he plays down the contrasts between the chorale passages and the recitatives, measures 297 ff). Yes, there are moments of impressive fury and infectious passion, as well as episodes of seductive beauty (the pages before that disastrous fugue are set out magnificently)—but on the whole, this is no match for Curzon's studio account two years later, and it does no honor to his reputation.

I've only heard the studio version, and I consider it a very good account; I will need to find the BBC disc and give it a listen.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: jlaurson on July 07, 2015, 08:14:39 AM
While the Lisztians are all in one room: Does anyone have information as to the pianos used in the various recordings of the LvB Transcriptions of the Sonatas?


Katsaris = Steinway, Bechstein, Allen (thanks Mandryka!)
HMU Various = Pludermacher, Badura-Skoda et al. Steinways, apparently. Not certain about Badura-Skoda.
Hungaroton Various = ??
Scherbakov = Steinway ?? Maybe the Naxos Music Library will help out.
Biret = Steinway! (thanks Mandryka) The picture on the covers shows one; the liner notes of the IBA edition v.9 say nothing.
Howard = Steinway (thanks mc ukrneal)
Martynov = 1837 Erard & ~1867 Blüthner
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 07, 2015, 10:24:25 AM
Quote from: jlaurson on July 07, 2015, 08:14:39 AM
While the Lisztians are all in one room: Does anyone have information as to the pianos used in the various recordings of the LvB Transcriptions of the Sonatas?


Katsaris = Steinway???
HMU Various = Pludermacher, Badura-Skoda et al. Steinways, apparently. Not certain about Badura-Skoda.
Hungaroton Various = ???
Scherbakov = Steinway ??? Maybe the Naxos Music Library will help out.
Biret = Steinway??? The picture on the covers shows one; the liner notes of the IBA edition v.9 say nothing.
Howard = Steinway???
Martynov = 1837 Erard & ~1867 Blüthner


Sorry; can't help. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: mc ukrneal on July 07, 2015, 10:29:51 AM
Quote from: jlaurson on July 07, 2015, 08:14:39 AM
While the Lisztians are all in one room: Does anyone have information as to the pianos used in the various recordings of the LvB Transcriptions of the Sonatas?


Katsaris = Steinway???
HMU Various = Pludermacher, Badura-Skoda et al. Steinways, apparently. Not certain about Badura-Skoda.
Hungaroton Various = ???
Scherbakov = Steinway ??? Maybe the Naxos Music Library will help out.
Biret = Steinway??? The picture on the covers shows one; the liner notes of the IBA edition v.9 say nothing.
Howard = Steinway???
Martynov = 1837 Erard & ~1867 Blüthner

Howard is Steinway.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 07, 2015, 10:44:06 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71-hfw205nL._SY355_.jpg)

George-Emmanuel Lazaridis
Linn ECHO - BKD282 (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Sonata-Etudes-George-Emmanuel-Lazaridis/dp/B00RBTOZRW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436293486&sr=1-1&keywords=George-Emmanuel+Lazaridis+liszt&pebp=1436293485327&perid=12YG6MWPQWM41T2VY2BE) (2006)

George-Emmanuel Lazaridis is a young, London-based Greek pianist whose Liszt recital enters a crowded, fiercely competitive field. Even so, his performance of the B minor Sonata, one of the great milestones of keyboard literature, is of such drama, power and concentration that it holds its own even when you stop to consider tirelessly celebrated recordings by Horowitz (his early 1932 version), Argerich, Brendel and Zimerman. I should also add that it is sufficiently personal and poetically committed (notably in the Sonata's still centre) that it defies comparison, speaking on its own highly individual yet unfailingly serious terms. The opening octaves are prolonged like muffled timpani strokes rather than a bleakly familiar staccato alternative and the fugue commencing the last section (so often a trouble-spot) is awe-inspiringly cogent and propulsive. (Jed Distler, Classics Today)

Add to that the beautiful audio of the Linn recording - and there's not much to dislike.  Somewhat slower than average, and he will not knock Hamelin or Argerich off my top tier, Lazaridis is a pianist to watch, especially when he is playing works from the Romantic literature.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: jlaurson on July 07, 2015, 11:12:55 AM
Quote from: mc ukrneal on July 07, 2015, 10:29:51 AM
Howard is Steinway.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 11:18:56 AM
According to Robert Layton's review in Gramophone

"The Fifth was the first of the Beethoven symphonies Liszt transcribed, at a time (1837) when this revolutionary masterpiece was not in common currency in the concert hall. Cyprien Katsaris has left it to the last in his cycle, not surprisingly since this is the work that really strains at the medium and bursts at the seams, even more than the Eroica or surprisingly, the Ninth. In his first recording (the Pastoral) in 1981 he played an instrument by Mark Allen which he used for all but Nos. 1-3 (Bechstein) and in this he uses a Steinway."

Horrible performances

According to Idil's website


"An almost impossible task had now been set for Biret. Precious time was lost with the stoppage of work and only three months remained to complete the recording and editing of the tapes. As outlined in the enclosed newspaper article, after six weeks of intensive preparation, four more symphonies were recorded in March. Following a further ten days preparation the last two symphonies were recorded in early April. Since the Steinway concert grand piano had to be brought to the location, the recordings were done  on consecutive days  – without free days in between – to keep costs to a minimum."

Wonderful performances.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 11:21:00 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 07, 2015, 10:44:06 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71-hfw205nL._SY355_.jpg)

George-Emmanuel Lazaridis
Linn ECHO - BKD282 (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Sonata-Etudes-George-Emmanuel-Lazaridis/dp/B00RBTOZRW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436293486&sr=1-1&keywords=George-Emmanuel+Lazaridis+liszt&pebp=1436293485327&perid=12YG6MWPQWM41T2VY2BE) (2006)

George-Emmanuel Lazaridis is a young, London-based Greek pianist whose Liszt recital enters a crowded, fiercely competitive field. Even so, his performance of the B minor Sonata, one of the great milestones of keyboard literature, is of such drama, power and concentration that it holds its own even when you stop to consider tirelessly celebrated recordings by Horowitz (his early 1932 version), Argerich, Brendel and Zimerman. I should also add that it is sufficiently personal and poetically committed (notably in the Sonata's still centre) that it defies comparison, speaking on its own highly individual yet unfailingly serious terms. The opening octaves are prolonged like muffled timpani strokes rather than a bleakly familiar staccato alternative and the fugue commencing the last section (so often a trouble-spot) is awe-inspiringly cogent and propulsive. (Jed Distler, Classics Today)

Add to that the beautiful audio of the Linn recording - and there's not much to dislike.  Somewhat slower than average, and he will not knock Hamelin or Argerich off my top tier, Lazaridis is a pianist to watch, especially when he is playing works from the Romantic literature.

I enjoyed this one probably more than Argerich and Hamelin, partly because of the beauty of tone. Today I listened to Annie Fischer play it and what she does with timbres is really interesting -- percussive and very colourful. I thought this helped to separate the musical lines and make it sound a bit less like a sentimental romantic outpouring .

I should say that I agree that Argerich is thrilling, thanks for making me go to it again.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: jlaurson on July 07, 2015, 11:28:57 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 11:18:56 AM
According to Robert Layton's review in Gramophone

"The Fifth was the first of the Beethoven symphonies Liszt transcribed, at a time (1837) when this revolutionary masterpiece was not in common currency in the concert hall. Cyprien Katsaris has left it to the last in his cycle, not surprisingly since this is the work that really strains at the medium and bursts at the seams, even more than the Eroica or surprisingly, the Ninth. In his first recording (the Pastoral) in 1981 he played an instrument by Mark Allen which he used for all but Nos. 1-3 (Bechstein) and in this he uses a Steinway."

Horrible performances

According to Idil's website


"An almost impossible task had now been set for Biret. Precious time was lost with the stoppage of work and only three months remained to complete the recording and editing of the tapes. As outlined in the enclosed newspaper article, after six weeks of intensive preparation, four more symphonies were recorded in March. Following a further ten days preparation the last two symphonies were recorded in early April. Since the Steinway concert grand piano had to be brought to the location, the recordings were done  on consecutive days  – without free days in between – to keep costs to a minimum."

Wonderful performances.

Brilliant. Thanks much. But really... you think Katsaris' are "horrible performances"? And Biret's "wonderful"?

Lest I am being played tricks on by my memory, I find Katsaris satisfying above all others, save Martynov, and Biret pedestrian, bordering competent. (Or was that the Scriabin, which sounded so awful?)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 07, 2015, 11:32:35 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 11:21:00 AM
I enjoyed this one probably more than Argerich and Hamelin, partly because of the beauty of tone. Today I listened to Annie Fischer play it and what she does with timbres is really interesting -- percussive and very colourful. I thought this helped to separate the musical lines and make it sound a bit less like a sentimental romantic outpouring .

I should say that I agree that Argerich is thrilling, thanks for making me go to it again.

I have Fischer's recording cued up and will report on it soon.  Yes, this Lazaridis disc is very good, I wish all piano recordings could sound like it; not to take away any from his playing. 

You know, I think Liszt has gotten a bum rap about the "romantic outpouring" charge (we will probably never agree on this).  This work is very rigorously composed, no padding - what attracted me to it from the outset was how he spun out of the limited amount of thematic material a 30 minute work that is rock solid.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 07, 2015, 11:34:54 AM
Quote from: jlaurson on July 07, 2015, 11:28:57 AM
Brilliant. Thanks much. But really... you think Katsaris' are "horrible performances"? And Biret's "wonderful"?

Lest I am being played tricks on by my memory, I find Katsaris satisfying above all others, save Martynov, and Biret pedestrian, bordering competent. (Or was that the Scriabin, which sounded so awful?)

I find Katsaris (peculiar I was thinking of his B minor sonata); his transcriptions are very strong, although I am not a fan of the doubling.  Scherbakov is the stilll the one I like.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 12:12:25 PM
I liked Biret more than Katsaris because she's slower, more reflective than virtuoso. I haven't heard Scherbakov. I'm not really into the music.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 07, 2015, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 07, 2015, 12:12:25 PM
I liked Biret more than Katsaris because she's slower, more reflective than virtuoso. I haven't heard Scherbakov. I'm not really into the music.

I think the Beethoven transcriptions are fantastic!  Scherbakov's sound on Naxos is huge and much more resonant than the too closely miked (IMO) sound for Katsaris.  I haven't listened to Biret, but have her 10-CD set on order, so will spending some time with her Liszt.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on July 07, 2015, 06:53:44 PM
Quote from: jlaurson on July 07, 2015, 08:14:39 AM
While the Lisztians are all in one room: Does anyone have information as to the pianos used in the various recordings of the LvB Transcriptions of the Sonatas?


Katsaris = Steinway, Bechstein, Allen (thanks Mandryka!)
HMU Various = Pludermacher, Badura-Skoda et al. Steinways, apparently. Not certain about Badura-Skoda.
Hungaroton Various = ??
Scherbakov = Steinway ?? Maybe the Naxos Music Library will help out.
Biret = Steinway! (thanks Mandryka) The picture on the covers shows one; the liner notes of the IBA edition v.9 say nothing.
Howard = Steinway (thanks mc ukrneal)
Martynov = 1837 Erard & ~1867 Blüthner

Scherbakov was reissued on Steinway's own label (I think in fact it may have been the first release for the label) so it was definitely recorded on a Steinway.
If you need more precision you will need to wait until I get back to Florida and have a chance to dig through my CDs next week.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: jlaurson on July 08, 2015, 03:54:52 AM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on July 07, 2015, 06:53:44 PM
Scherbakov was reissued on Steinway's own label (I think in fact it may have been the first release for the label) so it was definitely recorded on a Steinway.
If you need more precision you will need to wait until I get back to Florida and have a chance to dig through my CDs next week.

And indeed that issue is called: "Symphonies on a Steinway (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004WO6GMG/goodmusicguide-20)". I think that answers the question alright. :-) Thanks.
Came in one of those unwieldy high sets. Almost as bad as the too-high-and-waaaay-too-deep Berlin Phil sets. Lovely... and useless, filing-wise.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 08, 2015, 04:37:29 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Znav5a%2B5L._SX425_.jpg)

David Fray
Atma - ACD2 2360 (http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Wanderer-Fantasy-Sonata-transcriptions/dp/B000EQ4G5U/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436358466&sr=1-1&keywords=David+Fray+Liszt) (2006)

On evidence here, David Fray is an excellent musician, technically very well equipped but willing to place his virtuosity entirely in the service of the music. His Liszt Sonata has something of the magisterial quality typical of, say, Claudio Arrau, and an equivalent richness and beauty of tone. Fray manages the most thunderous octave passages without banging, sails through the central fugato with confidence and clarity, and integrates the whole structure very satisfyingly. In the final analysis he is not as exciting as the more volatile Argerich, or Richter perhaps, but this is still playing and interpretation of the first rank, and whether or not you prefer a more purely physical approach there are no dead spots here. (David Hurwitz, Classics Today)

While I generally agree with Hurwitz, there are patches where his concentration flags, e.g. the fugue seems a bit flat and the following sections, which in the hands of performers truly of the "first rank" will swell in dynamism, Fray keeps the level controlled.  Still it's a very good performance by a young pianist and one who I will watch with anticipation of even greater things to come.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 08, 2015, 02:39:51 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91D4HpEpbnL._SX425_.jpg)

Nikolai Demidenko
Hyperion (http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDH55184) (1992)

Even in an impossibly competitive field his Liszt Sonata stands out among the most imperious and articulate. His opening is more precisely judged than by Pizarro in his recent and absorbing Collins debut recital (see above) and once the Sonata is under its inflammatory way his virtuosity is of a kind to which few other pianists could pretend. The combination of punishing weight and a skittering, light-fingered agility makes for a compulsive vividness yet his economy in the first cantando espressivo, sung without a trace of luxuriance or indulgence, is no less typical. There are admittedly times when he holds affection at arms length, but just as you are wondering why he commences the central Andante so loudly he at once withdraws into a wholly apposite remoteness or reticence. Earlier, his pedalling at 1'33'' (one of several striking instances) is deeply imaginative. Predictably, the fugue is razor-sharp and in the storming pages just before the retrospective coda the sense of concentration becomes almost palpable. The final climax, too, is snapped off not only with a stunning sense of Lisztian drama but with an even truer sense of Liszt's score and instructions. (Bryce Morrison, Gramophone)

I have to admit, there have been rave reviews in Gramophone for a recording for which I didn't think was anything to rave about.  Not so with Nikolai Demidenko's recording of the Liszt Sonata.  Easily one to join my gold medal group, in fact it is so good I am going to have to revisit my current top choices to see if he might be the best.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 09, 2015, 11:14:56 AM
Overview and Analysis of the Liszt Piano Sonata in B Minor, S. 178

It is likely that Liszt derived the idea of thematic transformation as a unifying process from Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, a work which he himself transcribed for piano and orchestra in 1851.  Schubert's themes run through all four movements of the fantasy in varied forms  The four movements are played without a break, and outline a symmetrical key scheme— C, E, A flat, C.  This kind of formal plan held a strong attraction for Liszt, and many of the works of his Weimar period follow this model, besides the Piano Sonata in B Minor also the first piano concerto is another example.

The sonata was published in the spring of 1854 and dedicated to Robert Schumann.  Liszt meant this as a reciprocal gesture to Schumann in response to his being the dedicatee of the latter's Fantasy in C major (1839), a work that Liszt described as sublime.  However, Schumann never knew of the B Minor Sonata's existence since by the time a copy of the newly published work arrived at the Schumann's home in May, 1854, Schumann was already at the asylum at Endenich.

Clara Schumann could have included the work in her repertory, if she had been so inclined, but she chose not to do so. In her diary she described the sonata as "a blind noise ... and yet I must thank him for it. ... It really is too awful." (Litzmann, Berthold, 1902-08)

Unfortunately, Clara's opinion was not atypical.  During this period, and especially in this part of Germany, Liszt was often treated to an unkind dismissal by the musical society.  When the work received its première performance, in Berlin, on January 22, 1857, nearly four years after its composition, it provoked a minor scandal among the conservative critics, from which it recovered with difficulty. Rarely did such great music get off to a less promising start.  (Walker, 1983)

Liszt always felt that the new music he and his group (Chopin, Berlioz, Wagner) were writing needed new forms for expression.  He did not see the sense in merely pouring their "new pudding" into an old form.  Consequently he created new forms which would allow him greater flexibility while still maintaining unity (and echoing the old sonata form in basic structure). This he did with the Sonata, the Concerto in E flat and the Faust Symphony.

The principle which he established was an important one for future generations; the serial technique of Schoenberg, for instance, uses precisely the methods of Liszt's thematic transformation within the framework of an entirely different language, and it is even possible that future twelve-note composers will turn to forms resembling Liszt's rather than those of the classical composers in the search for a type of framework to correspond to their new methods of expression. In any case Liszt's Sonata remains a landmark in the history of nineteenth-century music, not only as a highly successful application of new technical methods, but as a fine, moving and dramatic work in itself. (Buechner and Searle, 2013)

No other work of Liszt has attracted anything like the same amount of scholarly attention as the B-minor Sonata.  The number of divergent theories it has provoked from those of its admirers who feel constrained to search forbidden meanings are many.

The sonata is a musical portrait of the Faust legend , with "Faust," "Gretchen," and "Mephistopheles" themes symbolizing the main characters. (Ott, 1981)
The sonata is autobiographical; its musical contrasts spring from the conflicts within Liszt's own personality. (Raabe, 1931)
The sonata is about the divine and the diabolical; it is based on the Bible and on Milton's Paradise Lost. (Szász, 1984)
The sonata is an allegory set in the Garden of Eden; it deals with the Fall of Man and contains "God," "Lucifer," "Serpent," "Adam," and "Eve" themes. (Merrick, 1987)
The sonata has no programmatic allusions; it is a piece of "expressive form" with no meaning beyond itself— a meaning that probably runs all the deeper because of that fact. (Winklhofer, 1980)
Liszt was generally silent about this work and offered no words of any kind on the question of its program - or lack of it. (Walker, 1983)

The sonata unfolds in approximately 30 minutes of unbroken music. While its four distinct movements are rolled into one, the entire work is encompassed within the traditional Classical sonata scheme— exposition, development, and recapitulation.  Liszt has effectively composed a sonata within a sonata, which is part of the work's uniqueness.

Liszt was very economical with his thematic material, indeed, the very first page contains the three motivic ideas that provide the content, transformed throughout, for nearly all that follows.

RTRH (https://musicakaleidoscope.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/overview-and-analysis-of-the-liszt-piano-sonata-in-b-minor-s-178/)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 10, 2015, 08:41:02 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Fb5YxaeKL._SX355_.jpg)

Sergei Edelmann (2011)
Triton - EXCL00038 (SACD) (http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Sonata-Minor-Fantasia-Wanderer/dp/B0038LAJMC/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1436544154&sr=1-1&keywords=Edelmann+Liszt&pebp=1436544154728&perid=1WNNRGXJ9JQWVN16PK0G)

It is a shame that this recording by Sergei Edelmann has flown under the radar of all the classical music review magazines. I could find nothing in Fanfare, Gramophone, Classics Today, MusicWeb International, and the BBC Classical-music.com. 

Born in Lvov, Ukraine in 1960, Sergei Edelmann was taught to play by his father, Alexander Edelmann, a renowned pianist and teacher who had links to Vladimir Horowitz and Sviatoslav Richter. His BMG Classics/RCA Red Seal CDs feature recordings of both Mendelssohn concertos and the Strauss Burlesque, and his series of solo recordings of Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin and Prokofiev, have garnered enthusiastic critical acclaim. In recent times he has made several recordings for Triton including discs devoted to the music of Schumann (EXCL00025), and Chopin (OVCT00058).

His performance of the Liszt sonata rings with technical command and interpretative polish. His performance will not challenge Argerich, Hamelin, Demidenko or Zimerman, but Edelmann turns in a solid nothing-to-be-ashamed-of performance all the same.  Better than average, however, at over 32 minutes the performance seems too slow, mainly because of his luxurious stretching of time during the andante sostenuto section (something to which many also fall prey) and his too careful playing of the octave passages.  The piano is beautifully recorded in a super audio CD.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 10, 2015, 08:46:50 PM
As far as the sonata, no question it's a warhorse. When a pianist sets out to record it these days, there's really only one question: how to make it fresh? Well, if you're Sophie Pacini, the simple solution is to take it to Martha Argerich and see what she thinks!!

Well, that's not quite the whole story, as the accompanying booklet to this CD recounts. Apparently one day the stars aligned themselves just right and Pacini and Argerich bumped into each other while staying in the same hotel. At some point Pacini asked if she might play for Argerich (apparently on a piano in the hotel) and Argerich obliged. Impressed, Argerich then asked Pacini to play, you guessed it, the warhorse.

From this a budding friendship emerged and Argerich has since invited Pacini to play at her festival in Lugano as well as giving Pacini a little tutelage in the choice of repertoire she should record (Schumann's piano concerto for Onyx, as it turns out).

How's that for a head start in a crowded field? ;D

HOW...

...EVER...


There's still the matter of the piece itself and if Pacini even REALLY knows her way around it. Unconditionally, she does.

This is one mighty performance. There's not a single bar in this performance that sounds hackneyed. From the very...first...notes...there's the sense of something unique unfolding. The poetry is apparent.

Onward into the piece. Suddenly all technical hurdles great and small reveal themselves. It's make or break time. Much of what Pacini is all about will be revealed here. It's merciless. Can she tackle/tame it? Thankfully, she can.

Next the big slow down. She's already shown something of her poetic side in the opening. But this is different terrain. Great vistas open up and now a pianist is asked to fill in the spaces with his/her meddle. Again, no place for the timid. Can she cross the divide? As it turns out, she can. Poetry everywhere.

Then, musical sparks anew. Wave after wave of sparks, asserting themselves between the mischievous gear shifts into the slow lane. Impressive. What agility!

On to the end. By this time I didn't want it to end. But HOW would it end? Just like it opened, as it turns out. Soft, gentle, whispery, laid right to rest.

Ya, I really want to hear this one again!




[asin]B008VOJGPW[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 11, 2015, 06:35:28 AM
Well, that was enjoyable play-by-play  :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 11, 2015, 01:18:50 PM
I listened again to Pletnev's 1st recording of the big sonata.  I think there's something quite distinctive going on there, and it has to do with the phrasing and the silences. I also listened to the second recording, which seems more restrained and more nuanced in terms of colours.

I also listened to the live Curzon again, which is like he's bearly able to control himself because he's so overwhelmed, it made me think of Furtwangler/Fischer Brahms 2 for some reason.

I also listened to Markus Groh - someone on another forum mentioned him. It's very distinctive because it's almost classical, objective, expressive enough but very controlled, like the inverse of Curzon 61.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 11, 2015, 03:58:49 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 11, 2015, 06:35:28 AM
Well, that was enjoyable play-by-play  :)

Thanks, Karl. Glad it could be of use to at least one. :)


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 11, 2015, 05:59:30 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 10, 2015, 08:46:50 PM
As far as the sonata, no question it's a warhorse. When a pianist sets out to record it these days, there's really only one question: how to make it fresh? Well, in the case of Sophie Pacini, simply take it to Martha Argerich and see what she thinks!!

Well, that's not quite the whole story, as the accompanying booklet to this CD goes on to relate. Apparently one day the stars aligned just right and Pacini and Argerich bumped into each other while staying in the same hotel. At some point Pacini asked if she might play for Argerich (apparently on a piano in the hotel) and Argerich obliged. Impressed, Argerich then asked Pacini to play, you guessed it, the warhorse.

From this a budding friendship emerged and Argerich has since invited Pacini to play at her festival in Lugano as well as giving Pacini a little tutelage in the choice of repertoire she should record (Schumann's piano concerto for Onyx, as it turns out).

How's that for a head start in a crowded field? ;D

HOW...

...EVER...


There's still the matter of the piece itself and if Pacini even REALLY knows her way around it. Unconditionally, she does.

This is one mighty performance. There's not a single bar in this performance that sounds hackneyed. From the very...first...notes...there's the sense of something unique unfolding. The poetry is apparent.

Onward into the piece. Suddenly all technical hurdles great and small reveal themselves. It's make or break time. Much of what Pacini is all about will be revealed here. It's merciless. Can she tackle/tame it? Thankfully, she can.

Next the big slow down. She's already shown something of her poetic side in the opening. But this is different terrain. Great vistas open up and now a pianist is asked to fill in the spaces with his/her meddle. Again, no place for the timid. Can she cross the divide? As it turns out, she can. Poetry everywhere.

Then, sparks anew. Wave after wave of sparks, asserting themselves between every jarring gear shift into the slow lane. Impressive. What agility!

On to the end. By this time I didn't want it to end. But HOW would it end? Just like it opened, as it turns out. Soft, gentle, whispery, laid right to rest.

Ya, I really want to hear this one again!




[asin]B008VOJGPW[/asin]

Thanks for that - I had heard that story and her recording is in my to-listen pile.  The competition is so intense it will be interesting to see if I agree that hers is a standout performance.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 11, 2015, 07:07:23 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 11, 2015, 01:18:50 PM
I also listened to Markus Groh - someone on another forum mentioned him. It's very distinctive because it's almost classical, objective, expressive enough but very controlled.....

This description reminds me of the Gilels version on RCA. Russian pianist, yes, but proportion is the name of the game.

In conception it's miles away from the Pacini's. But there's no doubt he makes it his own.


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 11, 2015, 07:19:26 PM
I just listened to both Sophie Pacini and Polina Leshchenko, both young female pianists who have been promoted by Martha Argerich.  Leshchenko's first CD was issued as "Martha Argerich Presents."

I will collect my thoughts and post more indepth tomorrow, but already I know I prefer the Leshchenko recording (2008).  I will need to go back and re-listen to Khatia Buniatishvili, but I don't think either Pacini or Leshchenko outplays her; odd as that may sound.

Re Markus Groh, I recently saw a unflattering review of his recording but haven't listen to it yet.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 11, 2015, 11:22:03 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 11, 2015, 07:19:26 PM

Re Markus Groh, I recently saw a unflattering review of his recording but haven't listen to it yet.

I'm curious to see the review if you'd let me know where it is.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 12, 2015, 02:33:33 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 11, 2015, 07:07:23 PM
This description reminds me of the Gilels version on RCA. Russian pianist, yes, but proportion is the name of the game.


Yes, I can see that, but Groh is a more thoroughgoing denial of the bravura/romantic conception than Gilels RCA.

I'm not sure about this, but I think part of the reason is that  there's something about Gilels' tone, the Russian way he has of digging deep into the keys, which makes it sound less challenging and more romantic than Groh. Voicing too, Gilels may be more melody/acompaniment, Groh more open to other voice leading ideas.

I don't want to get too distracted by Liszt, I have other listening priorities, so these ideas may be just shallow impressions.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 12, 2015, 04:53:45 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 11, 2015, 11:22:03 PM
I'm curious to see the review if you'd let me know where it is.

Sorry, I had him mixed up with Mikhail Rudy.  Listening to Groh right now.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 12, 2015, 07:34:29 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Mjv2TQBkL._SX425_.jpg)

Sophie Pacini
Avie Music - AVI8553269
Presto Classical
After a chance meeting in a hotel in Italy, pianist Sophie Pacini has become firm friends and concert partner with Martha Argerich who has said of her performance style: "You very much remind me of myself." (Fanfare)

Impressive praise from someone who has possibly given us the best recorded performance of the Liszt Piano Sonata in B Minor, however, Argerich was generous and gracious to younger pianists and on more than one occasion offered her mentorship.  This is not to take away anything from the performance by Sophie Pacini, which is very good indeed.

It should go without saying that all pianists who record this work do so with the requisite technical mastery.  But that is the minimal standard.  Once the technical demands, which are prodigious, are achieved, the next hurdle, which is the more difficult, concerns the musical demands. 

A pianist can perform this work with technical perfection, i.e. finger perfect, thrilling for sure; or they can play the work with virtuosic abandon, i.e. taking risks which may push them beyond their technical control.  They cannot do both except on rare occasions, e.g. Martha Argerich's amazing recording.  Ms. Pacini chose the former path: finger perfect but not playing with the demonic abandon that defines the greatest performances.

The Liszt Sonata is unfortunately a very big disappointment. Predictably, Pacini has no trouble negotiating the score's myriad obstacles, but beyond virtuoso sizzle I hear little in this performance that will make me remember it. Put simply, ... Pacini barely scratches the surface of this monumental work's monumental spiritual content. (Fanfare, Radu A. Lelutiu)

This is the first review by Mr. Lelutiu I've read and I don't know much about his Liszt opinions, he did make a derogatory comment about Argerich I surely don't share.  And to be fair, those comments were made after raves for the two Schumann pieces on the same recording -  but I do share his opinion of how she handles the Liszt.  Pacini turns in a very good performance, but there are too many better ones out there to single hers out.



(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vAAJlnWcL._SX425_.jpg)

Markus Groh
Avie - AV2097
Here is Liszt playing of rare passion and musical integrity. There is no tip-toeing round the great B minor Sonata, no imposition of self-conscious effects or losing the thread through over-interpretation. Over and above its masterful construction and ingenious thematic interplay, it is a virtuoso vehicle that should thrill the listener - and Groh scintillates. More thunder and fireworks follow in Liszt's solo version of his Totentanz, its transcendent difficulties brushed aside with aplomb and exuberant relish. (Gramophone Magazine, July 2006)

I generally agree but he seems to run out of steam after the fugue during the passages that demand just the opposite.  The Stretto quasi Presto especially seems exhausted and it is the place where a pianist like Richter brings the music to a level of almost a psychological break down before the final cathartic grandioso theme's return and the final apotheosis.

There is a growing number of young pianists who have recorded this work, and most seem to have the same defect: not enough abandon.



(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41DE6ZG0tnL._SX425_.jpg)

Polina Leschenko
Avanti Classic 1027
Polina Leschenko's Liszt Sonata may be the most stunning—in its sheer clangtint, incandescent volatility, or revelatory animation, its interpretive compulsion—since the 1932 Horowitz recording changed the lives of pianists everywhere. Think I've spent another debauched weekend with Hyperbole? Hear Leschenko and see if you don't feel more than a little tipsy afterward—and desperately inclined to ransack your repertoire of superlatives! (Adrian Corleonis, Fanfare)

Approximation will not do. And certainly not in a great work like the Sonata, about which the least said the better. To ride roughshod over Liszt's agogics and ignore important structural devices (at 6'26", for instance, when the left hand has the main subject in counterpoint) can be construed as careless, but when faced with a litany of quite perverse ideas and frequent rhythmic instability, then Miss Leschenko really should go back and think it through again. (Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone)

This klind of divergence of opinion by experienced reviewers signals one thing to me  – Leschenko's is not your run of the mill Liszt sonata.  And, in fact, it is quite perverse in some regards.  But for me that is a good thing.  The last thing we need is yet another technically perfect performance.  If a pianist is not going to take some risks and do something with the music that is individual, then really, why bother?

Leschenko's performance is audacious and will ruffle your feathers.  Highly enjoyable nonetheless.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Leo K. on July 12, 2015, 11:27:02 AM
I really appreciate and love this discussion. Aces! Hopefully I'll have more to add when I listen to my newest Liszt sonata acquisitions. :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 12, 2015, 01:47:32 PM
See what you think of this one from Tatyana Pikaizen, which I liked because of the timbres, percussive.

http://www.youtube.com/v/RST0juG46X8



Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 12, 2015, 04:27:54 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 12, 2015, 01:47:32 PM
See what you think of this one from Tatyana Pikaizen, which I liked because of the timbres, percussive.

http://www.youtube.com/v/RST0juG46X8

There were some things I liked, but too many sections where I felt she was pushing too hard.  E.g., the marcato section with the fast passagework leading up to the octaves just before the grandioso theme.  She was very rough with the motives above and below the arpeggios, and her fingers seemed to be behind her brain with the passage work.  Liszt would comment to his students about not playing these fast passages like macaroni and I think this is kind of playing he was referring to.  I also did not like how she took the fugato, all the energy seemed to seep out. 

I had not heard of her before, so thanks for bringing her to my attention.  I will be on the look-out if she ever has an opportunity to record it.  Hopefully she will re-think some of her interpretive ideas.  She seems to have the chops for the work, but there is a kind of abruptness in many areas that I think could be done much better.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 12, 2015, 07:16:24 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 12, 2015, 07:34:29 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Mjv2TQBkL._SX425_.jpg)


Avie Music - AVI8553269
Presto Classical

FYI, it should be noted here that the label is actually Cavi, not Avie. :)

QuoteA pianist can perform this work with technical perfection, i.e. finger perfect, thrilling for sure; or they can play the work with virtuosic abandon, i.e. taking risks which may push them beyond their technical control.  They cannot do both except on rare occasions, e.g. Martha Argerich's amazing recording.  Ms. Pacini chose the former path: finger perfect but not playing with the demonic abandon that defines the greatest performances.

I've enjoyed reading your overview of recorded performances of the sonata sanantonio but I don't agree with the premise that for a performance to be "one of the greatest" it must blow the walls off the hall with "demonic abandon". That only gives half the picture of the music. It's not all swashbuckling razzle-dazzle, much to the chagrin of many a keyboard wizard wannabe.

For a performance to really take off there needs to be a meeting of the minds of sorts between the pianist and Liszt's poetic side - in other words, no backing away from Liszt's helter-skelter psyche (much like approaching Schubert). Without a fearless dip into Liszt's electrically crackling emotional world there's no chance the sonata will ever become all it can be.

That's exactly the sensation I get from Pacini's performance - that she's traversed the rocky road and managed to uncover just what makes Liszt the man tick (how a woman can do this I couldn't say! ;D).

But Pacini doesn't work the poetic angle as a simple end in itself. She's got chops (Argerich doesn't give her approval lightly...EVER). That should be evident. To me this performance works because it's EXACLY what a snapshot of Liszt's psyche must look like: the fiery, the cliff-hanging, the slightly schizoid, and yes, the intense raining beauty. It's a true window into Liszt's soul. And thanks to Pacini I feel I've gotten to know Liszt just that much more.

QuotePacini turns in a very good performance, but there are too many better ones out there to single hers out.

Not on your life, buster. ;D


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 12, 2015, 07:40:47 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 12, 2015, 07:16:24 PM
FYI, it should be noted here that the label is actually Cavi, not Avie. :)

Thanks.  I will update my notes

QuoteI've enjoyed reading your overview of recorded performances of the sonata sanantonio but I don't agree with the premise that for a performance to be "one of the greatest" it must blow the walls off the hall with "demonic abandon". That only gives half the picture of the music. It's not all swashbuckling razzle-dazzle, much to the chagrin of many a keyboard wizard wannabe.

I may have overstressed my wish for fearless abandon in the playing (which can only be acomplisheed by pianists with no technical limitations).  To be more accurate, what I really think brings a performance of this work to the greatest level is a combination of virtuosic power, complete mastery of the "poetry" and a no-fear approach so that even a pianist like Richter would miss notes etc. while turning in an overwhelming performance.  To do otherwsie, i.e. pull back from the edge in order to get the right notes, I think leaves the performance wanting.

QuoteFor a performance to really take off there needs to be a meeting of the minds of sorts between the pianist and Liszt's poetic side - in other words, no backing away from Liszt's helter-skelter psyche (much like approaching Schubert). Without a fearless dip into Liszt's electrically crackling emotional world there's no chance the sonata will ever become all it can be.

We might be looking for the same things but saying it in different ways.

QuoteThat's exactly the sensation I get from Pacini's performance - that she's traversed the rocky road and managed to uncover just what makes Liszt the man tick (how a woman can do this I couldn't say! ;D).

But Pacini doesn't work the poetic angle as a simple end in itself. She's got chops (Argerich doesn't give her approval lightly...EVER). That should be evident. To me this performance works because it's EXACLY what a snapshot of Liszt's psyche must look like: the fiery, the cliff-hanging, the slightly schizoid, and yes, the intense raining beauty. It's a true window into Liszt's soul. And thanks to Pacini I feel I've gotten to know Liszt just that much more.

It just happens that I am not as strong on her performance as you are.  It's not like there's a hard and fast "right or wrong"; it's not unusual for two people hear the same recording differently. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 12, 2015, 08:26:36 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 12, 2015, 07:40:47 PM
I may have overstressed my wish for fearless abandon in the playing (which can only be acomplisheed by pianists with no technical limitations).  To be more accurate, what I really think brings a performance of this work to the greatest level is a combination of virtuosic power, complete mastery of the "poetry" and a no-fear approach so that even a pianist like Richter would miss notes etc. while turning in an overwhelming performance.  To do otherwsie, i.e. pull back from the edge in order to get the right notes, I think leaves the performance wanting.

I can understand the "thrill" of hearing a passage momentarily derailed (yeah, I own many Richter recordings ;D) but unless it's Richter doing it no one else need apply. So that narrows down the playing field...a ton!!

What other pianists do you feel bring more to the table in this piece (or any other piece) when they hit a wrong note (or two or ten) or miss a note(s)?

QuoteWe might be looking for the same things but saying it in different ways.

I wouldn't say so. But it is what it is, I suppose.

QuoteIt just happens that I am not as strong on her performance as you are.  It's not like there's a hard and fast "right or wrong"; it's not unusual for two people hear the same recording differently.

I'm happy to leave anyone to their own preferences but when a premise is forwarded as a basis for an argument........well......let's just say there's too much gray area here for my comfort... :)

 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 12, 2015, 10:04:46 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 12, 2015, 08:26:36 PM
What other pianists do you feel bring more to the table in this piece (or any other piece) when they hit a wrong note (or two or ten) or miss a note(s)?

My standard is not hitting wrong notes.  I think I've explained what kind of performances I find the most compelling. 

These are the performances I've ranked so far. 

Gold
Martha Argerich
Nikolai Demidenko
Marc-André Hamelin
Krystian Zimerman

Silver
Boris Berezovsky
Vladimir Feltsman
George-Emmanuel Lazaridis
Paul Lewis
Maurizio Pollini

Bronze
Daniel Barenboim
Alfred Brendel
Katia Buniatishvili
Yundi Li
Louis Lortie

This is not a final list but is how it has shaped up.  I have changed my first impression for some after revisiting their recordings - Boris Berezovsky, e.g. - and will no doubt alter this list some more.  I have a rather long list of "honorable mentions" which I will try to pare down.  But given the huge number of recordings including a goodly amount of really good performances, I am making an effort to be very picky and narrow down the ones I think are truly special. And, I am not even including what I call "Recordings Emeritus" because I wish to focus on the current generation of performers.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 13, 2015, 05:05:35 AM
Quote from: Adrian Corleonis
Polina Leschenko’s Liszt Sonata may be the most stunning—in its sheer clangtint, incandescent volatility, or revelatory animation, its interpretive compulsion—since the 1932 Horowitz recording changed the lives of pianists everywhere.

"Clangtint"?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 13, 2015, 05:24:34 AM
Yeah, I don't know exactly what he means either but her performance is something to behold; very audacious.  She will have a place on my list (not that it's important), I just trying to decide where hers fits.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on July 13, 2015, 05:28:35 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 13, 2015, 05:05:35 AM
"Clangtint"?

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,19564.msg907057.html#msg907057 (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,19564.msg907057.html#msg907057)  ;D

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 13, 2015, 05:37:34 AM
Well, I am undecided if we should take it as some sort of German import, or as a typo for clanging . . . .
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on July 13, 2015, 05:41:28 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 13, 2015, 05:37:34 AM
Well, I am undecided if we should take it as some sort of German import, or as a typo for clanging . . . .

That´s ok, but what do you make of incandescent volatility, revelatory animation, interpretive compulsion?  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 13, 2015, 05:51:14 AM
Well, it snowballs out of control . . . but at first, anyway, incandescent volatility seems [potentially] a positive  8)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 13, 2015, 05:52:35 AM
If you have access to a  streaming service, just listen.  It will all make sense.  Adrian Corleonis along with Peter Rabinowitch review (or at least have for the last 30 years) most of the Liszt recordings for Fanfare - I have come to trust Corleonis as being simpatico with my own taste.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: North Star on July 13, 2015, 07:02:48 AM
Clangtint, hm. I suppose it means the tonal colour of the piano. (klang + tint)
"incandescent volatility, or revelatory animation, its interpretive compulsion" is gibberish, plain and simple, though.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on July 13, 2015, 07:11:56 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 13, 2015, 05:52:35 AM
If you have access to a  streaming service, just listen.  It will all make sense.  Adrian Corleonis along with Peter Rabinowitch review (or at least have for the last 30 years) most of the Liszt recordings for Fanfare - I have come to trust Corleonis as being simpatico with my own taste.

Be honest! If you had never read Corleonis, would you have described the performance as incandescent volatility, or revelatory animation, its interpretive compulsion? I doubt it.  ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 13, 2015, 07:15:06 AM
Quote from: Florestan on July 13, 2015, 07:11:56 AM
Be honest! If you had never read Corleonis, would you have described the performance as incandescent volatility, or revelatory animation, its interpretive compulsion? I doubt it.  ;D ;D ;D

No, I never would have used those kinds of phrases, but I understand what he is getting at (and you will too if you would just listen to her).  This is how I did describe it:

QuoteAnd, in fact, it is quite perverse in some regards.  But for me that is a good thing.  The last thing we need is yet another technically perfect performance.  If a pianist is not going to take some risks and do something with the music that is individual, then really, why bother?

Leschenko's performance is audacious and will ruffle your feathers.  Highly enjoyable nonetheless.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on July 13, 2015, 07:22:24 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 13, 2015, 07:15:06 AM
No, I never would have used those kinds of phrases, but I understand what he is getting at (and you will too if you would just listen to her).  This is how I did describe it:

I like your description much more. It doesn´t use the kind of smarter-than-thou, adjective-ridden, bombastic, interchangeable and ultimately meaningless verbiage which is the trademark of professional reviewers and of which you have supplied plenty in the last pages of this thread.  :D :D :D
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 13, 2015, 07:31:36 AM
Quote from: Florestan on July 13, 2015, 07:22:24 AM
I like your description much more. It doesn´t use the kind of smarter-than-thou, adjective-ridden, bombastic, interchangeable and ultimately meaningless verbiage which is the trademark of professional reviewers and of which you have supplied plenty in the last pages of this thread.  :D :D :D

I understand how you feel.  But in the case of the Liszt B Minor sonata, which has been recorded over 200 times, reviewers I guess search for something new to say in order to characterize each recording.  The reason I often quote from reviews is to construct a critical context for the recording; I try to add my own comments as well, for what it's worth. 

What I find especially interesting is when there is a strong disagreement between two critics whose opinion I have come to respect.  That was the case with Ms. Leschenko's recording.  I am also interested when reviewers in the UK have different reaction than do those in the US to the same recordings.  I have not put my finger on exactly why that is, but it occurs fairly often.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on July 13, 2015, 07:36:47 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 13, 2015, 07:31:36 AM
I understand how you feel.  But in the case of the Liszt B Minor sonata, which has been recorded over 200 times, reviewers I guess search for something new to say in order to characterize each recording.  The reason I often quote from reviews is to construct a critical context for the recording; I try to add my own comments as well, for what it's worth. 

What I find especially interesting is when there is a strong disagreement between two critics whose opinion I have come to respect.  That was the case with Ms. Leschenko's recording.  I am also interested when reviewers in the UK have different reaction than do those in the US to the same recordings.  I have not put my finger on exactly why that is, but it occurs fairly often.

Far from me to dismiss (professional) reviews as completely worthless, yet I fully subscribe to the dictum Writing about music is like dancing about architecture, whoever it was who said it first (sources vary).  :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 13, 2015, 10:46:30 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 12, 2015, 10:04:46 PM
My standard is not hitting wrong notes.  I think I've explained what kind of performances I find the most compelling.

Well, this sort of lengthy horse race invites discussion, I would think. That's half the fun. So don't blame me for inquisitively pestering! ;)

Anyway, not to flog a dead horse, but I'd like to add a couple thoughts before I bug out:

This work is fundamentally about poetry first, virtuosity second. Here's what Liszt himself had to say about his own transformation as a composer: "The time has come for me to break the chrysalis of my virtuosity and give free reign to my thought".

Wagner on the sonata: "[it] is indescribably beautiful; great, worthy of love, deep and noble - sublime as you yourself are".

Liszt's biographer Peter Raabe on the sonata: "Hardly anywhere else in the whole of his works has he so uncompromisingly laid bare the sorrow of struggle as in this psalm...that speaks with the same intimacy of jubilation and lament, of defiance and humility".

Chicago critic Claudia Cassidy on Gilels's playing of the sonata: "...here is the Byronic darkness of [the sonata's] vaulting imagination, its spendthrift technique, its black shifts of mood, its utter conviction that the piano is...a singing instrument...".

Not to mention it's hardly coincidental that the sonata is dedicated to Schumann, one of the top handful of pianistic poets.


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 13, 2015, 11:11:34 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 13, 2015, 10:46:30 AM
Well, this sort of lengthy horse race invites discussion, I would think. That's half the fun. So don't blame me for inquisitively pestering! ;)

No worries.  Your "pestering" (your word) helps me to clarify my own thinking about what are often illusive concepts.

QuoteThis work is fundamentally about poetry first, virtuosity second.

Despite the evidence you bring with the quotes, I think this work, which was mid-period Liszt, not late, still is a virtuosic work.  The technical demands are Herculean, and while I agree with the idea that the work is much more than that, I do not think it accurate to completely deny that aspect.

Here's some of my thinking taken from my current draft introduction to a much longer "critical discography" I am doing on the work:

QuoteLiszt's Piano Sonata in B Minor is a monumental work for solo piano.  There are over 200 recordings of it, but only a fraction of that number present a performance that will have mastered both the technical demands and the musical problems. 

"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." (Professor E. J. Dent from his book on Ferruccio Busoni quoted in Buechner , Searle, "The Early Works (1822-39)")

Only the best pianists can completely manage that kind of playing, but when they do, it transforms the Piano Sonata in B Minor into something vastly more than a recital showpiece.

Much has been made in the critical writing concerning Liszt, in general, and this sonata in particular, about the musical demands his music presents to performers.  There is the idea of its possessing a spiritual or philosophical aspect (Liszt was well known to have been an intellectual with a deep theological bent).  And it is expected that a pianist must solve the problem of conveying this aspect of the sonata in order to turn in a fully realized performance.

This is not to imply that the work is programmatic; Liszt gave no indication that the work is based on any text, or set of ideas or even characters, despite much speculation in this regard.  The oft cited "poetry" of the work is definitely there, in various sections, set off, usually before and after, by virtuosic passages of immense technical difficulty.  A general plan of attack for the work is for a pianist to convey these virtuosic sections with dramatic flair, abandon even, in order to contrast and present a foil for the more introspective or "poetic" sections.

The cliché about Liszt performance is that his music can be done in a Dionysian or an Apollian manner. While these are crude platitudes, there is something to this idea which is based in  Liszt's personality, and which comes out in his music.  I think a successful performance will be a combination of both, just as the technical demands go from virtuosic to poetic, so is the matching attitude to be deployed.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 13, 2015, 07:46:05 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51AuSJ8E5UL._SS380.jpg)

A recording new to me.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 14, 2015, 10:43:17 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vM0CtrwoL.jpg)

Hélène Grimaud (2010). 
Deutsche Grammophon  001515402 
Grimaud plays the work as a serious and substantive piece of music and not as a vehicle for virtuoso technical showmanship. Unfortunately, whatever her particular gifts are, they do not include a grasp of true Lisztian style.  (James A. Altena, Fanfare)

I have no idea what Mr. Altena is hearing but Grimaud plays this music perfectly fine to my ears.  There is a tautness during the first movement into and through the Grandioso theme.  Her manner with the Andante sostenuto is enchantingly well done.  Overall, I have to say hers is a very well balanced and nuanced performance of this sonata.  One thing that sticks out, I hear too much use of the sustain pedal at the end of the Stretto quasi Presto section which clouds and damages the effect of the build up to the climax that occurs just before the final bars.  Her recording boasts a very well put together program, starting off with a robust and biting performance of the Sonata for Piano no 8 in A minor, K 310 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then the Sonata for Piano, Op. 1 by Alban Berg, leading up to the Liszt sonata and closing out the recording with the Romanian Folkdances (6) for Piano, Sz 56 by Béla Bartók.  All very well played.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 14, 2015, 12:30:48 PM
(http://www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/non-muze2/large/1625116.jpg)

Angela Hewitt (2014)
Hyperion - CDA68067
Angela Hewitt's recordings of this major work for piano has received mixed reviews.  While the British critics have generally thought highly of her performance, at least one American, Adrian Corleonis who is Fanfare magazine's Liszt specialist most certainly did not: Where everyone from Horowitz to Hough evinces lift, tension, electricity, trajectory from the sonata's opening bars, Hewitt is ruminative, cautious, finicky. Readings of the sonata generally time in somewhere between 30 and 32 minutes: Hewitt's runs 34:23, which introduces more than a dab of aural flab, compounded by occasional uncalled for rubato, without expressive gain. (Adrian Corleonis,  Fanfare)

Bryce Morrison, writing in Gramophone magazine, felt differently: Her superbly serious performance, one that eschews all personal vanity, all preening mannerism and flamboyance but which, with strength in abundance, locates the still centre at the heart of Liszt's raging heroics. What enviable poise and expressive beauty to launch the central Andante, what muffled and sustained opening octaves (in this she follows both her own inclination and also Brendel's rather than Horowitz's sharp cut-off), what concentrated focus rather than a breathless hurtle through the final section's fugue.

I did not hear anything "off" throughout the entire first movement until the big chords with the recitatives just before the Andante sostenuto.  These are marked fff and ff and I felt she under played them, leaving the recitatives offset without the kind of contrast others have achieved, somewhat marring their effect.  However, the section coming into these measures she handled extremely well, and it is a section that many pianists fail to put across with the kind of aplomb Hewitt manages. 

As one would expect she plays the Andante sostenuto movement achingly beautifully.  From her Bach training she handles the fugue nicely (it possibly could have benefitted from a slightly quicker pace) but she gets stranded where many pianists run into trouble during the energico.  After this, she doesn't regain the energy she lost at the end of the fugue until the stretto quasi presto.  While she stumbles again in this section, she brings the work home nicely.  However, I was very happy to hear her make the transition from the big arpeggio against the right-hand tremolo before the last andante sostenuto exactly how I like it: by holding the sustain pedal down (not indicated) and letting the built up sound slowly ebb away until the dynamic level is sufficiently quiet, before continuing.

Interestingly, Corleonis complained about the length, he cited a timing of 34:23.  However, there is a full minute of silence at the end of the track. I wonder why?

A noteworthy albeit flawed performance.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 15, 2015, 08:44:10 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61aNarhItRL._SL500_SY300_.jpg)  (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71WJdIhBBlL._SY300_.jpg)

Daniel Barenboim
Warner Classics 4674403

Originally released in 1982, Barenboim's recording of the sonata has been repackaged with other works and re-released for the Liszt 200th anniversary year of 2011.

Here is something very rare: from the intimate to the heroic, Barenboim has grasped Liszt with an intellectual passion. Barenboim's Liszt is profoundly meditative (Hamlet, not Faust) and exactingly premeditated with a care usually reserved for late Beethoven. Everything is integrated.  [M]eticulously wrought in line, detail, and timbre into great dramatic arches—though it is an introspective drama, all soliloquy and interior monologue.  (Fanfare)

Daniel Barenboim is a fantastic Liszt pianist.  Despite his career as an exceptional conductor, after listening to this recording of the sonata I almost wish he had continued as a concert pianist.  He brings the long view of a conductor to his performance of the work, he does not miss any of his marks, and all the big moments land nicely.  And while he does not have his heart on his sleeve, there is a real Romantic zeitgeist in his playing to an extent that I get the sense that Barenboim plays this sonata much like Liszt himself might have done.

Barenboim performed both Liszt piano concertos with Pierre Boulez leading the Staatskapelle Berlin in 2011 proving that he has not lost anything with his piano skills.  The program was rounded out with two Wagner orchestral works, Siegfried Idyll and the Faust Overture, which were not included on the CD, but can be heard in the DVD of the concert. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 15, 2015, 11:03:13 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/418KRj1Xs%2BL.jpg)

Yury Boukoff
BOURG BGC 19 (1974)
This is virile, sometimes brusque, pianism, not without nuance and tonal refinement, but intent on seamlessly narrative forward motion which strikes a masterful balance, in the sonata, between Johansen's incandescence and Argerich's impetuous impatience. (Fanfare, Adrian Corleonis)

A finely wrought performance, in the style of Richter, sometimes verging on feeling rushed.  A lost gem, it is a shame for this recording to languish in obscurity.  This recording is very hard to find, but is on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/v/-6j3io8i94I
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 16, 2015, 07:14:11 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GwXWw-yCL._SX355_.jpg)

Ketevan Sepashvili
GRAMOLA 98952
The young Georgian pianist Ketevan Sepashvili joins Martin Cousin (Fanfare 30:2) and Hannes Minnaar (35:6) as newcomers whose debut CDs feature the titanic and rarely-performed Rachmaninoff First Sonata. Sepashvili raises the stakes by coupling the Rachmaninoff with Liszt's B-Minor Sonata.  Sepashvili can certainly play fast and loud, her octaves in the Liszt are formidable. ... The Liszt receives a convincing performance, this one's worth hearing, but I doubt it will supplant your favorite version. (Fanfare, Richard A. Kaplan)

I am very strong on this recording, and not just because it is a debut recording from an unknown (to me) pianist.  First of all there is the program, which couples the Rachmaninoff Sonata in D Minor with the Liszt.  Sepashvili  tries to make the case that both works are programmatic related to the Faust story.  Liszt never sanctioned any of the various programmatic theories about his work, and I don't know if Rachmaninoff was writing with the Faust story in mind, but in any event her argument is unconvincing.  Nevertheless these works make nice bedfellows.  There is plenty to like about how she handles the Liszt work: as mentioned by Kaplan her technique is up to what Liszt demands, but she also expresses the more ephemeral aspects very well.  If I wanted to pick the recording apart I would point out that the fff pesante chords and their answering recitativo passages are not carried off very well, also as is true for many pianists the energico section after the fugue does not remain aloft.  But these complaints aside, while her programmatic theories fail to convince her playing surely does.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 16, 2015, 07:22:30 AM
And indeed, it is the musicianship which counts.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 16, 2015, 03:01:36 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81RMwCT3mjL._SX425_.jpg)

Nelson Goerner
Cascavelle VEL 3101 (2007)
Even in a catalog bursting at the seams with excellent Liszt Sonata recordings, Goerner's stands out with distinction. His innate dramatic sense, judicious tempo relationships, and characterful yet subtle contrasting themes add up to a most satisfying whole. What is more, he finds the right balance between Liszt's explicit expressive markings and his own instincts in regard to nuance and rhetorical projection. For example, the big chorale theme's return at the end, often vulgarly drawn out, is played in tempo yet retains its full grandeur. (Jed Distler, Classics Today)

The Argentine virtuoso has an innate empathy with the Lisztian idiom and, since he has power and technique to spare, can spend time illuminating these works from within. The Sonata's "first movement" is a model of clarity and judicious pacing, its various motifs, used in such ingenious contrapuntal combinations, are subtly referred to without being hammered home; the fugue bubbles along dancelike, while a keen observation of the score means that a passage such as the final statement of the big chorale theme, for example, is played a tempo (as requested) and not with the customary ritardando. (Gramophone)

It is extremely unfortunate that Nelson Goerner's recording of Liszt is currently out of print.  His masterful rendition is at once powerfully athletic and poetically balletic.  Everything one wishes to hear he accomplishes, and then some.  The recording itself boasts sumptuous sound, and Goerner makes the most of it with his robust but sensitively nuanced interpretation.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 17, 2015, 02:22:10 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kiEh9IU2L._SL500_SX425_.jpg)

Cécile Ousset (1985)
EMI Classics 7475142
Ousset's way with the sonata is intensely dramatic, its momentum rising unhurriedly over wan lyricism to a replete grandeur.  Of course, Ousset's is one among many strong performances of the sonata, and more vivid readings of individual études could be cited, but in terms of overall satisfaction this is one of the best Liszt recitals of recent years. Sound was close and clear on silent surfaces.  (Fanfare)

A very strong performance.  Not often listed anymore as a reference recording, Ousset is hardly bettered by any of those that are.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on July 17, 2015, 08:37:24 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 17, 2015, 02:22:10 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kiEh9IU2L._SL500_SX425_.jpg)

Cécile Ousset (1985)
EMI Classics 7475142
Ousset's way with the sonata is intensely dramatic, its momentum rising unhurriedly over wan lyricism to a replete grandeur.  Of course, Ousset's is one among many strong performances of the sonata, and more vivid readings of individual études could be cited, but in terms of overall satisfaction this is one of the best Liszt recitals of recent years. Sound was close and clear on silent surfaces.  (Fanfare)

A very strong performance.  Not often listed anymore as a reference recording, Ousset is hardly bettered by any of those that are.

The real stand out of this CD is the Paganini Etudes. This is my favourite version outranking Hamelin, Abbey Simon and Idil Biret of those I've heard. I had an LP by Maria Varro which I really  liked but this performance has never made it to CD.

Surprisingly, Cziffra appears to have only recorded the ubiquitous #3.

I must listen to the Liszt performance on the Ousset CD.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 19, 2015, 07:39:39 AM
I have been struggling with how to encompass all the recordings of the Sonata in B Minor, and to make meaningful comparisons between the various recordings, encompassing nearly 100 years, and being as objective as I could.  I have come up with what I think is a workable rating system.

The Martha Argerich recording divides the sonata into 11 tracks, based on sections of the score, which gave me my basic outline.  I added another category for "sound":

Lento assai
Grandioso
Cantando espressivo
Pesante - Recitativo
Andante sostenuto
Quasi Adagio
Allegro energico
Più mosso
Cantando espressivo senza slentare
Stretta quasi Presto - Presto - Prestissimo
Andante sostenuto - Allegro moderato - Lento assai
Sound

Using a scoring system of 10 as the best and grading performances in each of these categories, a perfect score would be 120.  It will involve a lot more listening, and listening more critically - but a lot of the work has already been done, for many of the recordings I will just need to tweak my notes and devote most of the time to recordings I've not heard or not listened to more than once. 

I have identified about 140 recordings that have received some kind of critical notice, but once I get done with those, I know there are  others, about 40 that have flown under the review radar - I will include as many of them I can get to.

I have given myself the deadline of two more weeks on this project - and hope to publish the results then.

:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: North Star on July 19, 2015, 08:25:13 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 19, 2015, 07:39:39 AMThe Martha Argerich recording divides the sonata into 11 tracks, based on sections of the score, which gave me my basic outline.  I added another category for "sound":
But should you also take into account how the interpretation works as a whole?
In any case, looking forward to it.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 19, 2015, 09:46:13 AM
Quote from: North Star on July 19, 2015, 08:25:13 AM
But should you also take into account how the interpretation works as a whole?
In any case, looking forward to it.

Besides execution and interpretative choices for a particular section, a good part of the score for a section is how successfully one section transitions to the next, which will influence how the whole piece hangs together as a performance.

Thanks. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 20, 2015, 08:05:28 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51HBVZjYN8L._SS380.jpg)

Haiou Zhang (2011)
Hänssler - HAEN98625
This Chinese pianist studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He continued his studies in Hannover. He has won many prizes and scholarships, including a silver medal in the International Vladimir Horowitz Piano Competition in Kiev. His Liszt recital includes Sonata in B minor and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. (Presto Classical)

"For [Zhang], Liszt is never a springboard for personal or preening excess, and even when you marvel at his velocity in the treacherous fugue, it is in the slow descending scale...and the glassy sighs and menaces of the retrospective coda that he creates a truly haunting and spacious impression...Zhang is a most serious artist" (Gramophone)

Haiou Zhang has recorded one of the best performances of the Liszt sonata ever - might make my top 5 list.  I very much will look forward to future releases by this pianist.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography MY LISZTOGTAPHY
Post by: snyprrr on July 20, 2015, 12:11:30 PM
snyprrr's Lisztography: (I could have sworn there was another Thread where we were going over these things?)

12 Hung. Rhaps./ Mischa Ditcher (Philips)
Nelson Friere recital (Decca)
Mikhail Rudy recital (EMI)
Fantasy, ariations, Funeral Odes, Concert Solo, etc./Leslie Howard (Hyperion)
Kun Woo Paik recital (Virgin)
Mephisto Waltzes/Cyprien Katsaris (Teldec)
Stephen Hough recitals (2) (Virgin 2CD)
Dances and Marches/Leslie Howard (Hyperion)
Arnaldo Cohen recital Vol.1 (Naxos)
Volodos recital (SONY)
Late Masterpieces/Michele Campanella (Brilliant Classics)

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 20, 2015, 12:25:50 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51NyOJ5-lTL._SS380.jpg)

Francois-René Duchable (1984)
ERATO NUM 75177
This is virile, technically super-powered playing, fraught with impetuous élan, raw tone, drumming crispness, and peremptory phrasing which add up to resoundingly perfunctory—in a word, virtuoso—performances affording an undeniable visceral satisfaction offset by angular glibness. (Fanfare, Adrian Corleonis)

Generally, a very good performance although I'd like to hear more power in some places, e.g., the pesante chords.  But he plays the quasi adagio extremely well building to a wonderful climax and then bringing the ending down nicely.  The fughetto is taken at a fairly fast tempo which Duchable holds through the difficult energico section.  The manner in which Duchable plays the piu mosso is suspenseful and finely done, although it would have been even better had the not the bass material been played as loudly.  However after this the cantando section sounds four-square and some energy is lost.   The stretta is taken at a real presto - prestissimo and Duchable holds it together well. 

I have no idea what Adrian Corleonis means by "angular glibness."
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography MY LISZTOGTAPHY
Post by: San Antone on July 20, 2015, 12:29:55 PM
Quote from: snyprrr on July 20, 2015, 12:11:30 PM
snyprrr's Lisztography: (I could have sworn there was another Thread where we were going over these things?)

12 Hung. Rhaps./ Mischa Ditcher (Philips)
Nelson Friere recital (Decca)
Mikhail Rudy recital (EMI)
Fantasy, ariations, Funeral Odes, Concert Solo, etc./Leslie Howard (Hyperion)
Kun Woo Paik recital (Virgin)
Mephisto Waltzes/Cyprien Katsaris (Teldec)
Stephen Hough recitals (2) (Virgin 2CD)
Dances and Marches/Leslie Howard (Hyperion)
Arnaldo Cohen recital Vol.1 (Naxos)
Volodos recital (SONY)
Late Masterpieces/Michele Campanella (Brilliant Classics)

There is a Franz Liszt thread in the composer section, but I started this one specifically for recordings.  I am going through them systematically, beginning with the Sonata in B Minor.

If you haven't heard Arnaldo Cohen's second Liszt recording from 2004, it is better than the earlier one, IMO.  Your other choices are all good recommendation, especially the Friere (he didn't record the B Minor so I haven't spent much time with it recently). 

Thanks.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography MY LISZTOGTAPHY
Post by: Wakefield on July 20, 2015, 12:42:14 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 20, 2015, 12:29:55 PM
There is a Franz Liszt thread in the composer section, but I started this one specifically for recordings.  I am going through them systematically, beginning with the Sonata in B Minor.

If you haven't heard Arnaldo Cohen's second Liszt recording from 2004, it is better than the earlier one, IMO.  Your other choices are all good recommendation, especially the Friere (he didn't record the B Minor so I haven't spent much time with it recently). 

Thanks.

As an aside: you are doing a great work starting and taking care of this thread, sanantonio. I have never been a big Liszt fan, but two or three suggestions have opened my ears to some beauties of his music. Thanks.  :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography MY LISZTOGTAPHY
Post by: San Antone on July 20, 2015, 12:52:03 PM
Quote from: Gordo on July 20, 2015, 12:42:14 PM
As an aside: you are doing a great work starting and taking care of this thread, sanantonio. I have never been a big Liszt fan, but two or three suggestions have opened my ears to some beauties of his music. Thanks.  :)

Wonderful to hear.  Thanks!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: ZauberdrachenNr.7 on July 22, 2015, 06:27:26 AM
Sanantonio, what do you think of Nelson Freire's performance of the B minor? I didn't see him - sob - in your listing of Olympian rings for that work! :(
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 22, 2015, 06:44:45 AM
Quote from: ZauberdrachenNr.7 on July 22, 2015, 06:27:26 AM
Sanantonio, what do you think of Nelson Freire's performance of the B minor? I didn't see him - sob - in your listing of Olympian rings for that work! :(

I haven't heard it, but need to check Apple Music - I am assuming he does an admirable job, and gets a good review in Fanfare.  I would like to find it outside of purchasing his big box.  Thanks for the reminder.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 22, 2015, 06:48:15 AM
Quote from: Gordo on July 20, 2015, 12:42:14 PM
As an aside: you are doing a great work starting and taking care of this thread, sanantonio.

+ 1
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 22, 2015, 06:53:48 AM
Thanks Gordo and Karl - it has taken on a Moby Dick aspect, but I am enjoying the process immensely nonetheless.

:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on July 22, 2015, 06:56:40 AM
Well, and I am a great fan of Moby-Dick!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 22, 2015, 07:05:09 AM


(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wi3%2BA04bL._SY355_.jpg)

Michael Korstick (2009)
CPO - 7774782
Tremendous swagger and élan carry one through this banefully familiar soundscape with flash and sizzle aplenty, deftly projected in radiant color, with a multi-voiced eloquence making all new, welcoming, refreshing. One would have to go back to Polina Leschenko's phenomenal performance for comparable alchemy. Ambience is detectable in quieter passages, leaving distance for Korstick's fullness at climactic moments. Enthusiastically recommended! (Adrian Corleonis, Fanfare)

I am immediately struck during the Lento assai (not with the descending scales so much as with the jagged theme that follows) of a rushed quality and then during the Grandioso section extreme dynamic fluctuations.  There is some very nice playing in the first Cantando espressivo section, especially in how Korstick handles the trills - but the rushed sensation persists, however, I sense that he is getting better as he goes along.  Then the rushed quality emerges again in the Quasi adagio, which is the worst possible section to rush.  And it only gets worse from there: the fugue and following sections have a tense franticness that does not well serve the music.  After a refreshingly well done second Cantando section the Stretta quasi Presto is just over the top. 

He brings it back down for the final page, but this was not a performance I thought was very good, contrary to Adrian Corleonis.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on July 22, 2015, 07:28:12 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 22, 2015, 06:44:45 AM
I haven't heard it, but need to check Apple Music - I am assuming he does an admirable job, and gets a good review in Fanfare.  I would like to find it outside of purchasing his big box.  Thanks for the reminder.

Youtube has a 1982 performance
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lrZ9cswKfi0

The Sony Friere box is not really big, and has enough goodness to be worth purchasing.  The Sonata recording in that box is from 1972.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 22, 2015, 07:33:31 AM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on July 22, 2015, 07:28:12 AM
Youtube has a 1982 performance
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lrZ9cswKfi0

The Sony Friere box is not really big, and has enough goodness to be worth purchasing.  The Sonata recording in that box is from 1972.

Thanks for the YT clip - I will add it to my playlist of B minors.  You're right about the box, after checking Amazon I realized that I had Wish-listed his Columbia collection, which is going for just over $25 - so, into the cart it goes.  That 1972 performance in it is the one I will cover since it has already gotten some critical attention.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 22, 2015, 09:06:31 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51K13eXrOgL._SS380.jpg)

Paul Lewis (2004)
Harmonia Mundi 2908456
The poetry and grandeur of his playing put Paul Lewis's Liszt among the greats. Eschewing all obvious display, he concentrates on the Sonata's monumental weight, grandeur and ever-elusive inner poetry. His sense of drama is dark and intense and his reading of the central Andante sostenuto alone puts his performance in the highest league. Lewis's octaves in the final Prestissimo blaze before the retrospective coda are of a pulverising strength; with him the Sonata regains its stature among music's most formidable milestones.  (Gramophone)

Right from the start, this Paul Lewis recording promises plenty with his ominous descending octaves, but he seems to have some trouble getting settled during first section which finds him sounding a bit distracted.  However, arriving at the Grandioso theme he performs it with grandeur and nobility perfectly suited to the music.  Aside from some crashing chords that are out of proportion to his dynamics for the passages that lead up to them, his handling of the section prior to the pesante-recitativo is nicely done although a similar over-big effect was created with those chords.  The Andante sostenuto and Quasi adagio sections were played with an smoldering intensity and from the fughetto through to the final measures Lewis's account is hardly bested by anyone.  Harmoni Mundi provides him with excellent sound resulting in some very fine Liszt.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 22, 2015, 12:28:01 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412t1aAjb2L._SY355_.jpg)

Pierre-Laurent Aimard (2011)
DG - 4779439
While the Liszt Sonata's rapid figurations benefit from the heightened clarity of Aimard's nimble left hand, his literal minded interpretation lacks the bravura, dynamism, and dramatic sweep that pianists so disparate as Arrau, Argerich, Richter, and Hamelin bring to the score. You particularly notice this via Aimard's dry treatment of the notoriously difficult octave sections and the lack of melodic animation in lyrical parts. (Classics Today)

That assessment is entirely fair, I believe.  Aimard does a good job with this work, granted he does hold back in places where one would like to hear more abandon.  And a couple of the bigger moments are sacrificed to his desire to present a more restrained account.  This will not be a performance that dedicated Lisztians would prefer, but overall I think this is a very worthwhile interpretation.  The sections which prove the most problematic, from the standpoint of the tradition of Liszt performance, are the more virtuosic, bravura, sections, e.g. Stretta quasi Presto.  These he purposely plays without the kind of electric passion a Richter brings to the music.  But those more contemplative and poetic sections, like the Quasi adagio, he plays with crystalline delicacy, almost as if this were Ravel.

Taking into account his theme of pairing specific Liszt works with the 20th century composers, Berg, Bartok and Prokofiev, the larger concept succeeds and might be a path to get some people to listen to Liszt who may otherwise feel that he is a composer they should avoid.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 22, 2015, 05:38:07 PM
Hope it's okay to interrupt. :) Just couldn't resist after listening again after a long while to this stunning Ogdon recital disc from various dates & places. All studio. All well recorded from 1961-68. (Should've mentioned it earlier).

Ogdon clearly knows what he wants, and he gets it. He transforms Funérailles into a granitic beast with no eyes which lives - at least during the music - in the recessed corners of my house. I kept looking for places to dart off to the moment the beast lunged, making sure to guard my bum in case it needed a snack. Although definitely that's what made the listening so much fun. Would do it again anytime.

Unfortunately this is the one track that suffers a bit from "shattering" in the loud passages, a consequence of putting the mikes too close, no doubt in an effort capture the quiet stretches. In that though the sound succeeds wonderfully.

The high-wire works make a solid impression, too. No thrill is undersold. Flair I think is the word, along with a super-charged imagination. Just what Liszt needs. 




[asin]B0000067UK[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 22, 2015, 05:48:15 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 22, 2015, 05:38:07 PM
Hope it's okay to interrupt. :) Just couldn't resist after listening again after a long while to this stunning Ogdon recital disc from various dates & places. All studio. All well recorded from 1961-68. (Should've mentioned it earlier).

Ogdon knows what he wants and he gets it. He transforms Funérailles into a granitic beast with no eyes which lives in the shadows. I kept looking for places to dart off to the moment the beast appeared, making sure to guard my bum in case it needed a snack. Although definitely that's what made the listen so much fun. Would do it again anytime.

Unfortunately this is the one track that suffers a bit from "shattering" in the loud passages, a consequence of putting the mikes too close, no doubt in an effort capture the quiet stretches. In that though the sound succeeds wonderfully.

The high-wire works make a solid impression, too. No thrill is undersold. Flair I think is the word, along with a super-charged imagination. Just what Liszt needs. 




[asin]B0000067UK[/asin]

Many thanks for this - I need to get some Ogdon recordings, I don't own any, and have heard only a smattering via streaming, the B minor in a couple of concert settings, but not much else.  Please don't feel like you are interrupting!  I more than welcome others to review Liszt recordings and wish more would do so.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 22, 2015, 06:42:14 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 22, 2015, 05:48:15 PM
Please don't feel like you are interrupting! 

Ah, cool, in that case...

I also listened to some Liszt by Richter today: the non-sonata recordings from the Philips "Authorized" set (the third disc). I wish I had happier news to report, though.

Here's a cut and paste of the tracks:


1. Polonaise No. 2 In E, S. 223 No. 2
2. Scherzo In G Minor, S. 153
3. Trube Wolken, S. 199
4. Consolatioin, S. 172 No. 6
5. Hungarian Rhapsody, S. 242 No. 17
6. Klavierstuck In F Sharp, S. 193
7. Mephisto Polka, S. 217
8. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 1 Prelude. Presto
9. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 2 Molto vivace
10. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 3 Paysage. Pcoc adagio
11. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 5 Feux follets. Allegretto
12. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 7 Eroica. Allegro
13. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 8 Wilde Jagd - Chasse sauvage - Presto furioso
14. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 11 Harmonies du soir. Andantino
15. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 10 Allegro agitato molto
16. 3 Etudes de concert, S. 144: No. 3 Un sospiro
17. 2 Etudes de concert, S. 145: No. 2 Gnomenreigen - Ronde des lutins


Tracks 1-15 are from a March 10, 1988 concert in Cologne. Tracks 16 & 17 are from four days earlier in Rosenheim. I wish it had been the Rosenheim concert that had been recorded in total and not the Cologne. The thee tracks in bold are the tracks which are right on the money as far as being successful performances. In fact, they're absolutely crackling and very much worth hearing/preserving.

Unfortunately the rest of the disc - almost the entirety of the Cologne concert - at least for this listen, fizzles. This is known to happen to Richter while on tour. One recital he's "on" and another he's...stumbling. It probably doesn't help that the sound for the Cologne concert isn't as clear as the Rosenheim concert, but that certainly doesn't stop the Mephisto Polka from being an absolute romp! Dynamite for sure. It could be that this piece was an encore, though, as Richter is also known for shoring up a weak concert with liberal doses of encores. Whatever the case, it succeeds.

The two pieces from the Rosenheim concert nearly vault this entire volume into "mandatory purchase" status all by their little lonesomes. They are that good. Everything that Richter is known for is 100% present, here, and when he's "feeling it" - as he clearly is here - it's always a unique experience.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 23, 2015, 05:59:10 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41JLsDTjQFL._SS380.jpg)

Thomas Hitzlberger (2009)
Ambronay 008
Thomas Hitzlberger, ... plays his programme on Liszt's own 1873 Steingraber instrument.

His performances, too, are of an exceptional breadth and seriousness. He is very much at the heart of the ever-elusive B minor Sonata. A true rather than flamboyant Lisztian, he would surely be among the first to salute Jorge Bolet's dictum that "speed is the enemy of excitement". All these performances are deeply committed and finely recorded.  (Gramophone)

Fussy and episodic, in places Hiltzlberger played so haltingly the music almost had no forward propulsion.  It takes more than performing on a period instrument in order to imbue a performance with meaning.  Jorge Bolet he's not.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 23, 2015, 06:58:02 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 22, 2015, 06:42:14 PM
Ah, cool, in that case...

I also listened to some Liszt by Richter today: the non-sonata recordings from the Philips "Authorized" set (the third disc). I wish I had happier news to report, though.

Here's a cut and paste of the tracks:


1. Polonaise No. 2 In E, S. 223 No. 2
2. Scherzo In G Minor, S. 153
3. Trube Wolken, S. 199
4. Consolatioin, S. 172 No. 6
5. Hungarian Rhapsody, S. 242 No. 17
6. Klavierstuck In F Sharp, S. 193
7. Mephisto Polka, S. 217
8. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 1 Prelude. Presto
9. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 2 Molto vivace
10. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 3 Paysage. Pcoc adagio
11. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 5 Feux follets. Allegretto
12. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 7 Eroica. Allegro
13. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 8 Wilde Jagd - Chasse sauvage - Presto furioso
14. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 11 Harmonies du soir. Andantino
15. Etudes d'execution transcendante, S. 139: No. 10 Allegro agitato molto
16. 3 Etudes de concert, S. 144: No. 3 Un sospiro
17. 2 Etudes de concert, S. 145: No. 2 Gnomenreigen - Ronde des lutins


Tracks 1-15 are from a March 10, 1988 concert in Cologne. Tracks 16 & 17 are from four days earlier in Rosenheim. I wish it had been the Rosenheim concert that had been recorded in total and not the Cologne. The thee tracks in bold are the tracks which are right on the money as far as being successful performances. In fact, they're absolutely crackling and very much worth hearing/preserving.

Unfortunately the rest of the disc - almost the entirety of the Cologne concert - at least for this listen, fizzles. This is known to happen to Richter while on tour. One recital he's "on" and another he's...stumbling. It probably doesn't help that the sound for the Cologne concert isn't as clear as the Rosenheim concert, but that certainly doesn't stop the Mephisto Polka from being an absolute romp! Dynamite for sure. It could be that this piece was an encore, though, as Richter is also known for shoring up a weak concert with liberal doses of encores. Whatever the case, it succeeds.

The two pieces from the Rosenheim concert nearly vault this entire volume into "mandatory purchase" status all by their little lonesomes. They are that good. Everything that Richter is known for is 100% present, here, and when he's "feeling it" - as he clearly is here - it's always a unique experience.

1988 seems fairly late in his career?   I have this set so will listen down the road once I'm finished with the B Minor Sonatathon.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 23, 2015, 06:50:50 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 23, 2015, 06:58:02 AM
1988 seems fairly late in his career?   I have this set so will listen down the road once I'm finished with the B Minor Sonatathon.

Yes, it's quite late. So I try not to fall into the "it's not the Crusher Richter of Younger Years" trap. He's more contemplative at this stage of his career - while still maintaining a certain level of "Richter Intensity". But during this stage sonic considerations seem to carry more weight, for me, anyway, and the better recorded the piece the better it seems to come off.

For instance, there's a Beethoven Op.110 in the Philips (now Decca) set from 1991. It's good, but compared to his 1992 performance of the same work (on Live Classics), it pales. But the difference seems to be, as far as I can tell, not so much a sleepier Richter in 1991 as it is a much better RECORDED Richter in 1992. I love that 1992 Op.110. It's contemplative, yes, but thanks to the wide, crystal clear sound it comes off as much much deeper in conception (in fact, the sound on the Live Classics is the best I've ever heard for Richter. It's gorgeous!).

That may be what's happening with the Liszt, here. To test my theory I decided to spot check two works from the Philips/Decca (Hungarian Rhapsody no.17 and Consolation no.6) which happen to be contemporaneous with another release from a different concert on RCA. Here again the sound is MUCH better on the RCA and the both works are far more engaging than on the Philips/Decca.

So this could factor in to my perceptions. Or it could also be that his Liszt really is sleepier on Philips/Decca. Dunno...

BTW, the Liszt on this RCA disc is primo all the way.



(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/138/MI0001138540.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 23, 2015, 07:01:12 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 23, 2015, 06:50:50 PM
Yes, it's quite late. So I try not to fall into the "it's not the Crusher Richter of Younger Years" trap. He's more contemplative at this stage of his career - while still maintaining a certain level of "Richter Intensity". But during this stage sonic considerations seem to carry more weight, for me, anyway, and the better recorded the piece the better it seems to come off.

For instance, there's a Beethoven Op.110 in the Philips (now Decca) set from 1991. It's good, but compared to his 1992 performance of the same work (on Live Classics), it pales. But the difference seems to be, as far as I can tell, not so much a sleepier Richter in 1991 as it is a much better RECORDED Richter in 1992. I love that 1992 Op.110. It's contemplative, yes, but thanks to the wide, crystal clear sound it comes off as much much deeper in conception (in fact, the sound here is the best I've ever heard for Richter. It's gorgeous!).

That may be what's happening with the Liszt, here. To test my theory I decided to spot check two works from the Philips/Decca (Hungarian Rhapsody no.17 and Consolation no.6) which happen to be contemporaneous with another release from a different concert on RCA. Here again the sound is MUCH better on the RCA and the both works are far more engaging than on the Philips/Decca.

So this could factor in to my perceptions. Or it could also be that his Liszt really is sleepier on Philips/Decca. Dunno...

BTW, the Liszt on this RCA disc is primo all the way.



(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/138/MI0001138540.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)

I agree completely that recorded quality makes a difference in my appreciation of the performance.  And it is hard to evaluate a performance from earlier periods once you are used to modern recordings.  So, in my rating system I am computing two scores, one based only on the performance and the other adding in my subjective rating of the recording.  Richter's performance rates very high but once the recording quality is factored in his falls precipitously in the ranking. 

As far as I can tell Richter dropped the Liszt B Minor from his repertory after 1966 - and never recorded it under studio conditions.  A huge loss.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on July 23, 2015, 07:29:32 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 23, 2015, 07:01:12 PMAnd it is hard to evaluate a performance from earlier periods once you are used to modern recordings.



Not really.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 23, 2015, 08:48:18 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 23, 2015, 07:01:12 PM
I agree completely that recorded quality makes a difference in my appreciation of the performance.  And it is hard to evaluate a performance from earlier periods once you are used to modern recordings.  So, in my rating system I am computing two scores, one based only on the performance and the other adding in my subjective rating of the recording.  Richter's performance rates very high but once the recording quality is factored in his falls precipitously in the ranking.

Yes, this is very subjective, no question.

Certainly recorded sound isn't always the perfect conduit for what's being banged out at the keyboard. It can ruin a great performance or on the flip side perhaps enhance a poor one (some of those pirates are notorious for "inflating" the sound to maximize the effects).   

But I'm not the final arbiter in this, obviously (not with Todd lurking, anyway! ;D)


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 24, 2015, 10:33:09 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 23, 2015, 06:50:50 PM
Yes, it's quite late. So I try not to fall into the "it's not the Crusher Richter of Younger Years" trap. He's more contemplative at this stage of his career - while still maintaining a certain level of "Richter Intensity". But during this stage sonic considerations seem to carry more weight, for me, anyway, and the better recorded the piece the better it seems to come off.

For instance, there's a Beethoven Op.110 in the Philips (now Decca) set from 1991. It's good, but compared to his 1992 performance of the same work (on Live Classics), it pales. But the difference seems to be, as far as I can tell, not so much a sleepier Richter in 1991 as it is a much better RECORDED Richter in 1992. I love that 1992 Op.110. It's contemplative, yes, but thanks to the wide, crystal clear sound it comes off as much much deeper in conception (in fact, the sound on the Live Classics is the best I've ever heard for Richter. It's gorgeous!).

That may be what's happening with the Liszt, here. To test my theory I decided to spot check two works from the Philips/Decca (Hungarian Rhapsody no.17 and Consolation no.6) which happen to be contemporaneous with another release from a different concert on RCA. Here again the sound is MUCH better on the RCA and the both works are far more engaging than on the Philips/Decca.

So this could factor in to my perceptions. Or it could also be that his Liszt really is sleepier on Philips/Decca. Dunno...

BTW, the Liszt on this RCA disc is primo all the way.



(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/138/MI0001138540.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)

Thanks for those positive comments about the Beethoven on Live Classics, which I've just ordered -- I'm interested in Richter's music making from the last 10 years or so of his life. It's a long time since I listened to that CD with the Brahms sonata, I remember being disappointed by the Brahms (I've learned early Brahms is just not for me) and not very interested in the music by Liszt there. But I do remember that Harmonies du Soir was exceptionally intense. It used to be one of the recordings I played the most often. It's a very good example of a side of Richter's art.

Re the Ogdon discussed above, he was very variable but sometimes his recitals were extrarordinary. The Liszt recording that is completely astonishing for its virtuosity and sheer elan,  is a concert from Japan, publishe about four years ago now, in the Liszt year. It's one of the few things which have helped me see why some people really rate him.

Re sound and performance, I've learned from experience not to make any sort of judgement about baroque music and recent music until I hear it through my good hifi. On the bad system you can't judge what's going on with the voicing. For 19th century piano music I don't know.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 24, 2015, 11:32:11 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51t-YqQf2RL._SX355_.jpg)

Shura Cherkassky (1985)
Nimbus NI 7701
Originally taped in 1985, these ripe performances—differently coupled—were hailed with some ambivalence in Fanfare 10:4. Writing of the Chopin, Howard Kornblum cited a lack of "power, continuity, and passion"—but he was, in the end, seduced by the sheer beauty of Cherkassky's tone production, "as close as we'll hear these days to the kind of sound pianists of 60 to 70 years ago were famous for. " I found a similar medley of virtues and vices in the Liszt, but weighed them differently, concluding that Cherkassky's haphazard interpretive decisions, not to mention his frequent technical debilities, ultimately soured the positive impressions created by his often ravishing caress of certain details, especially details of texture. Returning seven years later, I can't say that things seem much different: it's easy to get caught up in the succulence of the second theme of the Chopin sonata's first movement—but only until the pedantic circumspection of the Scherzo shatters the reverie. And in his Liszt, the improvisatory snuggles up to the inattentive with such persistence that you're tempted to call for an artistic chaperone. (Fanfare)

This Nimbus release is a very toned-down account; sleepy almost.  Still, it is a performance that is not without its charm.  Utterly unique among so many performances which attempt to play the piece with as much drama as possible.  While it is not a recording I will come back to often, still it is one that I will remember fondly.  He's recorded the Liszt sonata before, and I would like to hear something from his earlier days to see if he was capable of playing this work with some fire.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 24, 2015, 11:02:37 PM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 24, 2015, 10:33:09 AM
Thanks for those positive comments about the Beethoven on Live Classics, which I've just ordered -- I'm interested in Richter's music making from the last 10 years or so of his life.

That Live Classics disc with Beethoven's op.109 and op.110 is a fine fine memorial. The Mozart is good, too. He can be spotty at this stage of his career but I can't think of anything that's an outright failure on disc. He's definitely "matured", though. ;D

QuoteIt's a long time since I listened to that CD with the Brahms sonata, I remember being disappointed by the Brahms (I've learned early Brahms is just not for me) and not very interested in the music by Liszt there. But I do remember that Harmonies du Soir was exceptionally intense. It used to be one of the recordings I played the most often. It's a very good example of a side of Richter's art.

There are definitely works by Brahms I enjoy more than his first two sonatas but I find them quite good listens in their own right. And the Liszt here I find overall wonderful. 

QuoteRe the Ogdon discussed above, he was very variable but sometimes his recitals were extrarordinary. The Liszt recording that is completely astonishing for its virtuosity and sheer elan,  is a concert from Japan, publishe about four years ago now, in the Liszt year. It's one of the few things which have helped me see why some people really rate him.

Do you have a link for that one, perchance? :)

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Mandryka on July 25, 2015, 05:24:25 AM
Here's the Ogdon recital I like

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Playlist?source=CTRV&cat=76429&label=RCA
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 25, 2015, 07:12:23 AM
Quote from: Mandryka on July 25, 2015, 05:24:25 AM
Here's the Ogdon recital I like

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Playlist?source=CTRV&cat=76429&label=RCA

Thank you!


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Pat B on July 25, 2015, 09:48:08 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 24, 2015, 11:02:37 PM
That Live Classics disc with Beethoven's op.109 and op.110 is a fine fine memorial. The Mozart is good, too. He can be spotty at this stage of his career but I can't think of anything that's an outright failure on disc. He's definitely "matured", though. ;D

trovar.com indicates that the Live Classics disc with both 109 and 110, plus Mozart, is from 1991.10.27 at Kiel. There is a different Live Classics disc with 110 from 1992.5.16 at Munich (with Haydn, Chopin, Scriabin, Debussy, and Ravel -- but no 109 or Mozart).

I think this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003DKN/?tag=goodmusicguideco) is the 1991 one and this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000025IM7/?tag=goodmusicguideco) is the 1992 one.

Could you confirm which one you're talking about? Sorry to be pedantic but your endorsement piqued my interest and I want to make sure I wishlist the right one.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 26, 2015, 07:43:45 AM
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4PVNT6084PI/VTZTWrft25I/AAAAAAAACNc/snjJgXmpd_I/s1600/Freire%2BChopin%2B%26%2BLiszt.jpg)

Nelson Freire (1972)
SONY 88875002282
Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, a work Freire didn't record again, although Decca released a very fine Liszt recital for the composer's bicentennial year that bears the fruits of a sage pianist's lifelong experience. The fact that the young Freire's sonata is almost as refined, deliberately avoiding Horowitz's high-wire bravado, indicates that this is the pianist's view of Liszt, preferring a rich sonority and measured phrasing to carry the day. His account is also admirable for its poetry and for how the episodes are so smoothly joined. (Fanfare)

Nelson Freire and Martha Argerich are linked in my mind as pianists with great technique and great capacity for passion in their playing.  They are friends and have recorded and performed together.  Argerich recorded the Liszt sonata in 1971 and Freire's came out a year later.  At once I am impressed with a similar approach to the work; Freire does not quite achieve the brilliance Argerich brings to her performance, still, his is nearly as good.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 26, 2015, 07:46:54 AM
Quote from: Pat B on July 25, 2015, 09:48:08 PM
trovar.com indicates that the Live Classics disc with both 109 and 110, plus Mozart, is from 1991.10.27 at Kiel. There is a different Live Classics disc with 110 from 1992.5.16 at Munich (with Haydn, Chopin, Scriabin, Debussy, and Ravel -- but no 109 or Mozart).

I think this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003DKN/?tag=goodmusicguideco) is the 1991 one and this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000025IM7/?tag=goodmusicguideco) is the 1992 one.

Could you confirm which one you're talking about? Sorry to be pedantic but your endorsement piqued my interest and I want to make sure I wishlist the right one.

No worries! Anything to help sort out the burgeoning, topsy-turvy Richterverse! ;D

Yes, it's the disc in your first link. Hadn't noticed before but apparently there's a misprint on the back cover of this disc which gives the year as 1992. But in the booklet itself 1991 is listed as the year. The part about October 27 apparently isn't in doubt no matter what the year.

Here's something from Youtube which purports to be the Op.110 from October 1991:



https://www.youtube.com/v/B_UR1VvxCFM


(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/036/MI0001036647.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 27, 2015, 04:20:14 AM
(http://www.cyprienkatsaris.net/covers/P21%20041-N2014-03-27_14-46-57.jpg)

Cyprien Katsaris (1973)
PIANO 21 041-N
Granted, by the stopwatch, this 29-minute reading is fairly centrist in overall timing. But it certainly doesn't feel centrist. Rather, the overall effect is vertiginous—passages of almost terrifying impetus made even more ferocious by the extremity with which Katsaris plays many of the slower. Yet for all the brinksmanship, for all the improvisatory bravura, there's never a sense of approximation.  And in part because he has such a good sense of the music's emotional architecture, the music has a consistent sense of direction.  (Fanfare)

It is tragic that such a magnificent performance of the Liszt sonata is only available in horrible sound.  Everything I look for is there in this Katsaris live performance from 1973: the sparkling, brilliant, passage work and octaves, the smoldering, poetic, evocative playing of the songlike sections, and a presentation of the architecture that leaves you convinced by the rhetoric of the composition.  Aside from just a few quirky interpretative choices, and the fugue section overly rushed, this is a performance that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Zimerman and Argerich.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Pat B on July 27, 2015, 10:47:38 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 26, 2015, 07:46:54 AM
No worries! Anything to help sort out the burgeoning, topsy-turvy Richterverse! ;D

Thanks for the clarification.

I re-listened to that RCA Liszt from 1988, and you're right, it's a good one. I think I liked it better on its own (vs. listening after the Brahms on the same disc).
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 27, 2015, 12:21:08 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ghtpTVxbL._SS380.jpg)

André Laplante (1995)
ANALEKTA FLEUR DE LYS FL 2 3030
Laplante's solid technique and stolid muscularity stand surety for these somewhat dilatory, pedestrian performances. Pedestrian is a step beyond toilsome, but Laplante exhibits neither sufficient élan to carry us away, nor the compelling grasp of detail which might bid us stay. En Rêve and Nuages gris are peculiarly wan, though this owes as much to the recessed recording in which they're nearly lost in large hall ambience. In the upshot, closely informed liner notes by Liszt's magisterial biographer, Alan Walker, are the best part of this production. (Fanfare)

I am more impressed with this recording than the reviewer for Fanfare.  The magisterial beginning fits the work, and the gradual build up to the Grandioso theme grows out of it in a tempered and effective manner.  LaPlante is helped in all this by the sumptuous sound of the Analekta recording - one of the best sounding recordings of this work I've heard.  LaPlante's is an expansive reading, lasting almost 33 minutes, but given his approach, there is no sense of dragging, possibly just a bit of lingering too long during the Andante sostenuto and Quasi Adagio.  But I'd rather hear a pianist linger than rush through some of the more poetic passages. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 28, 2015, 06:49:16 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71w%2BMt3s%2BoL._SY355_.jpg)

Ben Schoeman (2011)
Twopianists 2039091
Ben Schoeman is regarded as one of South Africa's foremost pianists. He has won major prizes, including the first grand prize in the 11th UNISA International Piano Competition, Pretoria (2008), first prize and gold medal in the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition, London (2009), the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music (2011) and the Contemporary Music Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, USA (2013).

Mr. Schoeman's solo album, featuring works of Franz Liszt, was released in 2011 under the TwoPianists label (sponsored by Standard Bank). His DVD recording of concertos by Mozart and Tchaikovsky with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa and conductor Arjan Tien was released by Salon music and UNISA. He received the Laureate Award from the University of Pretoria (2008) and he was also awarded the KykNet Fiesta and Kanna Awards in recognition of his performances of Liszt's music during the bicentenary of the composer (2011).
(Steinway Artists site)

Schoeman's playing of the Liszt sonata is not at all shabby.  This is a beautifully recorded and performed recording, it is unfortunate to have garnered very little attention from the critical press.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 28, 2015, 08:36:53 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61M7ui6CCYL._SL500_SX355_.jpg)

Dezsö Ránki (1975)
QUINTANA QUI 903024
Virtually identical in conception with Ranki's 1975 recording (Denon C37-7547), the sonata exhibits the same fluency, tonal refinement, and brisk pacing, though conviction has deepened and poetry flowered, drawing the artist's many estimable virtues together in a beautiful perfection—or confection—to make one of the most glowingly lapidary accounts on disc. (Adrian Corleonis, Fanfare)

I cannot find Ránki's recording of the Liszt sonata reviewed above (which appears to have a confused provenance: Harmonia Mundi HMA 1903024 (1994) / Quintana QUI 903024 (1991)) - but there is an LP transfer of his Denon recording on YouTube.  This is an elegant and powerful performance, and it is a crime for none of these recordings to be more easily available.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 28, 2015, 03:22:31 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511kQYD0bBL._SX425_.jpg)

Lazar Berman (1955)
Piano Classics Liszt 200 bicentenary edition - PCLD0022
His performance of the Sonata, Dante Sonata and especially the selection from the Transcendental Etudes shows not only his phenomenal technique but also his great sensitivity, beauty of tone (even in the biggest fortes) and innate poetry. (Piano Classics)

Berman was inconsistent but when he was "on" there was hardly a better Liszt interpreter.  This 1955 recording finds Berman "on".  It is one of the great performances.  Berman recorded the work several more times later in his career but never better.  It is not note-perfect, far from it – but it is spirit-perfect, so to speak.  Berman conveys the work in a manner which projects the kind of heroic Romanticism I want to hear come through the music.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 28, 2015, 09:33:32 PM
So what about that other Liszt sonata: the so-called Dante Sonata? It's a work not to be taken lightly...well, that should be a given. But what about its place alongside the daunting B minor sonata?

It would have never occurred to me to compare the two works. Why try? What's the point anyway? The two works are their own destinations on the musical map and need no special pleading.

But when a performance of the Dante comes along that actually challenges the hegemony of the B minor, well...it's new territory for me, anyway!

But that's just what Mr. Nemoto gives us, here. Stop the press........

Yeah, stop the press...for me, anyway. This is just the sort of performance I crave. One that tears down the walls of convention and erects something completely new in its place. A performance that speaks in a completely new language yet never gets lost in its own cleverness. It puts its best honest foot forward and tasks the listener to come to terms with it, or get out of the way. If it works, the end result should be both inimitable and indelible.

And man, indelible is the word (well, inimitable, too).

Liszt's sweaty, tripped-out, kaleidoscopic workshop of a piece is given totally new garb and burrows right into the psyche. It simply glows. And glows...on and on....

Time to repeat! ;D

Repeat indeed but just as Nemoto dazzles in the Dante he also sings with an appropriately poetic voice in the rest of the music. The entire disc is a winner. It's Italian living in all its glory.   

Oh, and the issue of sound came up earlier. It's definitely worth mentioning here since it plays an active role in relaying Nemoto's intentions. Dynamics are best described as wide, wider, and WIDEST. Wider dynamics I've never heard before on a piano recording (even from Connoisseur Society). It actually took some getting used to as the left hand/bass, when it gets low, gets lower than I'd have thought possible - on records or in person. But it didn't take long before everything made perfect sonic sense and the great sound went hand-in-hand with Nemoto's striking conception. Would like to hear more from this company...and soon will...as all three books of Années are available with different pianists.




[asin]B00GXE8EVO[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 29, 2015, 03:53:52 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 28, 2015, 09:33:32 PM
So what about that other Liszt sonata: the so-called Dante Sonata? It's a work not to be taken lightly...well, that should be a given. But what about its place alongside the daunting B minor sonata?

It would have never occurred to me to compare the two works. Why try? What's the point anyway? The two works are their own destinations on the musical map and need no special pleading.

But when a performance of the Dante comes along that actually challenges the hegemony of the B minor, well...it's new territory for me, anyway!

But that's just what Mr. Nemoto gives us, here. Stop the press........

Yeah, stop the press...for me, anyway. This is just the sort of performance I crave. One that tears down the walls of convention and erects something completely new in its place. A performance that speaks in a completely new language yet never gets lost in its own cleverness. It puts its best honest foot forward and tasks the listener to come to terms with it, or get out of the way. If it works, the end result should be indelible.

And man, indelible is the word.

Liszt's sweaty, tripped-out, kaleidoscopic workshop of a piece is given totally new garb and burrows right into the psyche. It simply glows. And glows...on and on....

Time to repeat! ;D

Repeat indeed but just as Nemoto dazzles in the Dante he also sings with an appropriately poetic voice in the rest of the music. The entire disc is a winner. It's the Italian countryside in all its pastoral glory.   

Oh, and the issue of sound came up earlier. It's definitely worth mentioning here since it plays an active part in relaying Nemoto's intentions. The dynamics are WIDE, WIDE, WIDE. Wider dynamics I've never heard before in a piano recording. It actually took some getting used to as the left hand/bass, when it gets low, gets lower than I'd have thought possible - on records or in person. But it didn't take long before everything made perfect sonic sense and the great sound went hand-in-hand with Nemoto's striking conception. Would like to hear more from this company...and soon will...as all three books of Années are available with different pianists.




[asin]B00GXE8EVO[/asin]

Sounds very interesting.  I am about finished with my survey of the B Minor and haven't even listened to the Dante Sonata, but have read a little about the work.  Thanks for the review, I will try to hear this recording before I take a hiatus from Liszt.  I need a break before embarking on the next stage of my discography.

What I've found interesting is that a pianist who excels in one work(s) by Liszt might fail miserably with others.  For example, Mūza Rubackytė does a great job, some feel the best modern recording, with the Annees, but I've read nothing but bad things about her recording of the B Minor Sonata, which is impossible to find anyway.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 29, 2015, 12:54:41 PM
I am winding up my survey of as many of the recordings of the B Minor Sonata as I could find.  Over the course of the last month or so I have listened to 138 recordings - with about a dozen more to go.  But I doubt that any of these that remain will effect the Top Ten List.

Krystian Zimerman
Martha Argerich
Sviatislav Richter
Cécile Ousset
Nikolai Demidenko
Marc-André Hamelin
Vladimir Horowitz
Jorge Bolet
Louis Lortie
Maurizio Pollini


I will publish reviews of these ten on my blog as well as offer the entire 54-page discography as a downloadable PDF file by Sunday or early next week.  Separately I will write a "Performance Synopsis" which will include examples from the score and possibly some audio clips to demonstrate certain aspects of the kind of performance I think works best. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Pat B on July 29, 2015, 01:45:04 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 28, 2015, 08:36:53 AM
I cannot find Ránki's recording of the Liszt sonata reviewed above (which appears to have a confused provenance: Harmonia Mundi HMA 1903024 (1994) / Quintana QUI 903024 (1991)) - but there is an LP transfer of his Denon recording on YouTube.  This is an elegant and powerful performance, and it is a crime for none of these recordings to be more easily available.

Quintana was a short-lived Hungarian branch of Harmonia Mundi. That should explain the two releases of Ránki's second recording.

I see two "videos" on youtube (here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP9M9zfsmt8) and here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTNzSfVGx0). These both seem to be the later HM recording.

Amazon marketplace has 3 reasonably-priced copies of the Denon CD (link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004EJPNRS/?tag=goodmusicguideco)). Unfortunately the HM one, even in reissued form, is priced more as a collector's item. A reissue is probably too much to hope for, but maybe they'll get it onto the streaming services soon.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Pat B on July 29, 2015, 04:06:45 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 29, 2015, 12:54:41 PM
I am winding up my survey of as many of the recordings of the B Minor Sonata as I could find.  Over the course of the last month or so I have listened to 138 recordings - with about a dozen more to go...

I will publish reviews of these ten on my blog as well as offer the entire 54-page discography as a downloadable PDF file by Sunday or early next week.  Separately I will write a "Performance Synopsis" which will include examples from the score and possibly some audio clips to demonstrate certain aspects of the kind of performance I think works best.

100+ in a month, with something interesting to say about many of them -- I'm impressed. And I'm looking forward to those blog posts.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 29, 2015, 06:46:10 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 29, 2015, 03:53:52 AM
What I've found interesting is that a pianist who excels in one work(s) by Liszt might fail miserably with others.  For example, Mūza Rubackytė does a great job, some feel the best modern recording, with the Annees, but I've read nothing but bad things about her recording of the B Minor Sonata, which is impossible to find anyway.

Yeah, Rubackyte's Années isn't easy to find, ether! Well, except for the sets that pop up on the Amazons for sky-high prices.

In the interim, I'm really happy with my cobbled Années: Fiorentino in the first book, Nemoto in the second, and Kocsis in the third.

Kocsis is the real sleeper, here. He was the "Wiz Kid" years ago who grew into a thoughtful - if individual - interpreter but I don't think his third book of Années ever got the attention it deserved. This may be partly due to the fact it's, well, it's the third book, the one book of Années that (from all I've read) doesn't enjoy the mainstream popularity of the other two books.

The third book seems to suffer from something of an image problem: it's on the experimental side, giving much attention to making quality music out of the sparsest of phrases and the bleakest of textures. But that's the greatness of the writing. Just give it an interpreter the caliber of Kocsis and it'll blossom in full.   




[asin]B00000HY8L[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 29, 2015, 07:14:28 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on July 29, 2015, 06:46:10 PM
Yeah, Rubackyte's Années isn't easy to find, ether! Well, except for the sets that pop up on the Amazons for sky-high prices.

In the interim, I'm really happy with my cobbled Années: Fiorentino in the first book, Nemoto in the second, and Kocsis in the third.

Kocsis is the real sleeper, here. He was the "Wiz Kid" years ago who grew into a thoughtful - if individual - interpreter but I don't think his third book of Années ever got the attention it deserved. This may be partly due to the fact it's, well, it's the third book, the one book of Années that (from all I've read) doesn't enjoy the mainstream popularity of the other two books.

The third book seems to suffer from something of an image problem: it's on the experimental side, giving much attention to making quality music out of the sparsest of phrases and the bleakest of textures. But that's the greatness of the writing. Just give it an interpreter the caliber of Kocsis and it'll blossom in full.   




[asin]B00000HY8L[/asin]

I went for the MP3 of Rubackyte's Années and am happy I did.  I also have that three CD set with Brendel for the first two years and Kocsis for the third.  I really enjoy Kocsis Liszt playing, his Sonata was also very good. 

There are now a number of very good complete sets of the Annees.  Bertrand Chamayou is another wonderful set, in great sound; as is Nicholas Angelich.  I like the 2nd and 3rd years more than the 1st, which may be a result of over exposure.  Stephen Hough has done an excellent 1st year and I wonder if he will continue.  Russell Sherman did the first two years, but no 3rd as far as I can tell, it received positive reviews.  Louis Lortie's is also very good.   Aldo Ciccolini did a wonderful job with the complete Annees.

I have the Fiorentino but not Nemoto - will try to find it as a streaming file.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on July 29, 2015, 08:09:16 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 29, 2015, 07:14:28 PM
I went for the MP3 of Rubackyte's Années and am happy I did.  I also have that three CD set with Brendel for the first two years and Kocsis for the third.  I really enjoy Kocsis Liszt playing, his Sonata was also very good. 

There are now a number of very good complete sets of the Annees.  Bertrand Chamayou is another wonderful set, in great sound; as is Nicholas Angelich.  I like the 2nd and 3rd years more than the 1st, which may be a result of over exposure.  Stephen Hough has done an excellent 1st year and I wonder if he will continue.  Russell Sherman did the first two years, but no 3rd as far as I can tell, it received positive reviews.  Louis Lortie's is also very good.   Aldo Ciccolini did a wonderful job with the complete Annees.

I have the Fiorentino but not Nemoto - will try to find it as a streaming file.

Wait...out of all that you haven't yet heard the Dante sonata?:

Quote from: sanantonio on July 29, 2015, 03:53:52 AM
...and haven't even listened to the Dante Sonata, but have read a little about the work.

Was it omitted from each of these sets? ;D


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 30, 2015, 01:28:03 AM
Hah!   ;D  Before I began the sonata comparisons, I was comparing Annees in a much less formal manner.  There are huge patches of Liszt I have not heard.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 30, 2015, 04:49:51 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61zGKl3eg3L._SX425_.jpg)

Igor Ardasev (1992)
Supraphon 11 1519-2
This recital, taped live from a concert in 1991, has Igor Ardasev playing one of the fastest Liszt sonatas available.  Ardasev has ample technique for the work and there is a wonderful vibrancy to his performance.  But there are many very good recordings that simply disappear without making much of a splash.  Unfortunately, this is one of them.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 30, 2015, 09:54:26 AM
https://www.youtube.com/v/dwPViUY5g7w

Roberto Cappello
Italia ITL 70006 (LP) (1975)
Roberto Cappello has recently released (6/2015) a wonderful recording of Liszt paraphrases and other works which is widely available, but his recording of the sonata has never been transferred from LP to CD.  This is unfortunate since he has shown himself to be an estimable Liszt interpreter.  His technical fluency is highlighted by the close miked engineering, but the recording retains a warm acoustic, and his performance displays a natural affinity for Liszt's style.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 30, 2015, 03:28:35 PM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51U-ixn0F%2BL._SX425_.jpg)

Janina Fialkowska
RCA FRL 1 0142 (1973)
A specialist of the Classic and Romantic repertoires, Janina Fialkowska has garnered especially high praise for her interpretations of the works of Chopin and Liszt. For the past 30 years, she has also championed the music of contemporary Polish composers including Lutoslawski, Panufnik and Mozetich.

Fialkowska possesses the whole bag of tricks, technically speaking—every hurdle in this vast and treacherous obstacle course is met crisply, authoritatively, brilliantly, precipitately, and often with great tonal finesse. Yet she seldom vaults into that transcendental realm where technique dissolves in poetry. (Fanfare)

I found her playing to be very good; pristine passagework, power when necessary and, contrary to the Fanfare reviewer, I heard the poetry as well.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on July 31, 2015, 03:17:55 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 29, 2015, 12:54:41 PM
I am winding up my survey of as many of the recordings of the B Minor Sonata as I could find.  Over the course of the last month or so I have listened to 138 recordings - with about a dozen more to go.  But I doubt that any of these that remain will effect the Top Ten List.

Krystian Zimerman
Martha Argerich
Sviatislav Richter
Cécile Ousset
Nikolai Demidenko
Marc-André Hamelin
Vladimir Horowitz
Jorge Bolet
Louis Lortie
Maurizio Pollini


I will publish reviews of these ten on my blog as well as offer the entire 54-page discography as a downloadable PDF file by Sunday or early next week.  Separately I will write a "Performance Synopsis" which will include examples from the score and possibly some audio clips to demonstrate certain aspects of the kind of performance I think works best.

Change of plans.  I discovered a French site that did much of the work of assembling all the recordings, over 250 of them.  So even though many of these have not been reviewed, I was able to find recordings of almost all of them through a combination of YouTube and streaming services.  There's about 80 that I want to listen to and write some kind of short review, and make my discography as complete as possible.

So I will push off publishing it for a week or ten days.  Again, I doubt I'll hear any recording to change the top positions, but you never know.  I have already heard some really good ones that I did not expect.

For example Carlo Grante, whose performance is captured in three Youtube clips.  Here is the conclusion of the work:

https://www.youtube.com/v/4SMKkZbRcYQ

Carlo Grante
Esperia P004 (1997)
Carlo Grante has already been gathering superlatives from critics for a while. Firmly in the bracket of the super-pianist (think the likes of Hamelin), for the present recital he intelligently links some of Liszt's most taxing works and some of his most lyrical with art and literature. Grante's own booklet notes are an absolute model of their kind, and he justifies the art and literature theme more than persuasively.  (Fanfare)

An excellent account, just a little under the very best performances.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on July 31, 2015, 06:17:42 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on July 02, 2015, 07:57:40 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41W1Vhs2KdL._SY355_.jpg)


Krystian Zimerman
DG 431 780-2 (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Sonata-lugubre-gondola-Fun%C3%A9railles/dp/B000001GF5/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435852301&sr=1-3&keywords=zimerman+liszt) (1991 CD)
2005 DG collection (http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Recordings-Franz/dp/B004RJZ9K6/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1435852301&sr=1-2&keywords=zimerman+liszt&pebp=1435852301436&perid=0BP9J5JGMMBGNR955DBH)

There have only a handful of  recordings in the last 20 years that have risen to the standard of the great performances of the past.  Martha Argerich (1971), Sviatoslav Richter (1965), and Vladimir Horowitz (1932) have reigned supreme in this work for decades.  But with Kyrstian Zimerman's account of the sonata from 1991 we arrive at a performance that can truly stand should to shoulder with the above mentioned greats.

A couple of quotes from the critics:

From the descending octaves of the sonata's opening one senses the impress of a powerful personality which, as the epic horizon looms, assumes Liszt's utterance as its own. What at first seems perhaps mannered takes on bar by bar the color of unique authority and by some indefinable, irresistible compulsion—one is spellbound. Zimerman is a phenomenon. He commands a sonorous spectrum embracing angry growls and aquarelle-tinted delicacy, ringing plangency and airy showers of scintillae, easily projected with stunning clarity. Fanfare, Adrian Corleonis, Sept/Oct 1992.

It is to be expected that an artist who has made one of the outstanding recordings of the Liszt concertos (DG, 11/88) should also give us one of the finest ever B minor Sonatas. Whether you think it is the finest ever may depend on your priorities (and on whether you think it is sensible to venture such opinions). What can surely be said is that Zimerman brings to bear a combination of ardour, forcefulness, drive and sheer technical grasp which are tremendously exciting and for which I can think of no direct rival.  Gramophone 10/1991

There is not much to add to those comments other than to point out that DG issued this recording coupled with his equally excellent recordings of the concertos in 2005.  That set would be the way to go, if you wish to hear some of the best modern performances of the great Liszt works for piano.

Red Alert!  Red Alert!
This double CD is on sale at Arkivmusic this weekend (meaning through Sunday midnight, August 2) for $5.99
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 01, 2015, 06:13:03 PM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on July 31, 2015, 06:17:42 PM
Red Alert!  Red Alert!
This double CD is on sale at Arkivmusic this weekend (meaning through Sunday midnight, August 2) for $5.99

A fantastic recording - this is a no-brainer for anyone who wishes to have a great recording of the sonata and the concertos.  Great deal, thanks for the alert.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: bob_cart on August 02, 2015, 12:31:56 AM
Haven't had the time to list through all the 14 pages of the topic, but if it has not been mentioned already, I rather enjoyed André Laplante's recording of Liszt's works. Haven't had the pleasure to actually own the recording, or listen to everything on it, but judging by this one, though I have not listened to Liszt as much as I wanted to, nor do I have skill in judging good or bad piano playing, I'd say he's pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/v/KJbg9V2KnD8

I love the Mephisto Waltz so much, it's pure love on sheet music, but maybe that's just me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liszt-Piano-Works-Andre-Laplante/dp/B000009CWJ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438504027&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=andre+leplante+mephisto

Sadly I didn't find any review of it worth mentioning.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 02, 2015, 03:07:11 AM
Quote from: bob_cart on August 02, 2015, 12:31:56 AM
Haven't had the time to list through all the 14 pages of the topic, but if it has not been mentioned already, I rather enjoyed André Laplante's recording of Liszt's works. Haven't had the pleasure to actually own the recording, or listen to everything on it, but judging by this one, though I have not listened to Liszt as much as I wanted to, nor do I have skill in judging good or bad piano playing, I'd say he's pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/v/KJbg9V2KnD8

I love the Mephisto Waltz so much, it's pure love on sheet music, but maybe that's just me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liszt-Piano-Works-Andre-Laplante/dp/B000009CWJ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438504027&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=andre+leplante+mephisto

Sadly I didn't find any review of it worth mentioning.

Her's my entry on Laplante's recording of the B Minor sonata from the same dsic that has the Mephisto Waltz.  He is a very good Liszt interpreter and I look forward to investigating more of his recordings.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ghtpTVxbL._SS380.jpg)

André Laplante (1995)
ANALEKTA FLEUR DE LYS FL 2 3030
Laplante's solid technique and stolid muscularity stand surety for these somewhat dilatory, pedestrian performances. Pedestrian is a step beyond toilsome, but Laplante exhibits neither sufficient élan to carry us away, nor the compelling grasp of detail which might bid us stay. En Rêve and Nuages gris are peculiarly wan, though this owes as much to the recessed recording in which they're nearly lost in large hall ambience. In the upshot, closely informed liner notes by Liszt's magisterial biographer, Alan Walker, are the best part of this production.  (Fanfare)

I am more impressed with this recording than the reviewer for Fanfare.  The magisterial beginning fits the work, and the gradual build up to the Grandioso theme grows out of it in a tempered and effective manner.  LaPlante is helped in all this by the sumptuous sound of the Analekta recording - one of the best sounding recordings of this work I've heard.  LaPlante's is an expansive reading, lasting almost 33 minutes, but given his approach, there is no sense of dragging, possibly just a bit of lingering too long during the Andante sostenuto and Quasi Adagio.  But I'd rather hear a pianist linger than rush through some of the more poetic passages. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 02, 2015, 12:46:12 PM
(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/v_fLCsN6ZeE/hqdefault.jpg)

Edith Farnadi
Westminster WL 5266 (1953)
Edith Farnadi (b. Sept. 25, 1921 - d. Dec. 12 or 14, 1973) was a Hungarian pianist. She was born in Budapest and began her studies at the age of 7 at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. She studied with Professor Arnold Székely (also a teacher of Louis Kentner). At the age of 9, she made her musical debut as a child prodigy. At the age of 12, she played the C Major Concerto of Beethoven, directing the orchestra from the piano. She received her diploma from the Musical Academy in Budapest when she was 17 years old. During her studies at the Music Academy she won the Franz Liszt Prize twice. She became a professor at the Budapest Franz Liszt Academy where she remained until 1942. She then concertized widely throughout Europe in the 1950s and made recordings with the Westminster Label. In ensemble she performed with the Barylli Quartet.  It was while still a student in Budapest that she became a steady musical partner with the great Hungarian violinist Jenö Hubay. At the International Musical afternoons at the Budapest Palais, she performed many times with Bronislaw Huberman.

About her recording of the Hungarian Rhapsodies, "in her gutsy, heartfelt, sometimes refreshingly hokey way, Farnadi—alternately thrashing and coaxing the music—captures its earthy spirit and swooning lyricism with a welcome abandon and lack of condescension."  (Fanfare)

As one would expect from a pianist who specializes in Liszt, Edith Farnadi has recorded a very good performance of the sonata: noble and intense when called for and expressively sensitive in the poetic sections.  Sound for this 1953 recording is surprisingly good.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 02, 2015, 04:04:11 PM
https://www.youtube.com/v/fKG7dVYyujo

Lukas Geniusas
Concert Saint Petersbourg, February 2011, concert recording
Born in Moscow in 1990, Lukas Geniušas started piano studies at the age of 5 at the preparatory department of F. Chopin Music College in Moscow, going on to graduate with top honours in 2008.  He was born into a family of musicians which played a major role in Lukas' swift musical development. His grandmother, Vera Gornostaeva, the prominent teacher and professor at the Moscow Conservatory, became his first mentor. This culminated in Lukas winning the Silver medal at the Chopin International Piano Competition in 2010 and, in 2012; Lukas was nominated and became the recipient of the German Piano Award in Frankfurt am Main.   (Artist website)

Lukas Geniusas channels his considerable technique towards musical ends and plays with such assurance and precision that this concert recording of the Liszt sonata is catapulted into the top tier performances.  He is a pianist to watch, especially in the Romantic literature for piano.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 03, 2015, 07:27:32 AM
(http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Music/v4/2e/42/9b/2e429b19-f41d-b361-98ce-5628eaaf4f07/cover170x170.jpeg)

Chu Fang Huang
Van Cliburn Foundation (2005)
The Chinese pianist Chu-Fang Huang took first prize in 2005 in the Cleveland International Piano Competition and was a finalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. One year later she won first prize in the 2006 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Her worldwide appearances have included recitals at the Morgan Library and Zankel Hall in New York, the Mustafa Kemal Centre in Istanbul, and the Louvre Museum in Paris, and concerto performances at Lincoln Center and in Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, Colorado, and California  in the United States, with the Victoria Symphony in Canada, the Sydney Symphony in Australia, and the Chenzhen and Liaoning Philharmonics in China. She has performed chamber music at the Young Concert Artists Festival in Tokyo and with Charles Wadsworth and Friends in the United States. Chu-Fang Huang studied at the Shenyang Conservatory and made her United States début in the La Jolla Music Society's Prodigy Series. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music under Claude Frank, she received her Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School under Robert McDonald. (Naxos Classical)

It is no wonder she was a finalist at the 2005 Cliburn competition based in part on this performance of the Liszt sonata: it is a very well done; plenty of spirit and character.  She lives up to this description from a 2007 New York Times review of her performance of the Schumann Fantasy in C (Op. 17), "Chu-Fang Huang has done well on the piano competition circuit, and it's easy to see why. At Zankel Hall on Monday evening, she demonstrated a steely technique and a huge, powerful sound of the sort usually associated with burly Russian players, although Ms. Huang is fairly petite and was trained in China and the United States. The only teachers listed in her program biography, Claude Frank and Robert McDonald, are gentler, more subtle players than she is." 

Since 2007, I see that she's recorded Scarlatti sonatas for Naxos and a disc of Chopin, Ravel and Haydn.  She deserves to be heard more.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 04, 2015, 07:46:16 AM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51N8NAsR%2BXL._SS380.jpg)

Olga Koszlova
AVI Music 8553012 (2008)
On 9 April 2011 Olga Kozlova was awarded the Second Prize and the Press Prize of the 9th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht, The Netherlands.  Having started to play the piano at the age of five, Olga Kozlova (Russia, 1986) was admitted as a pupil at the Moscow Gnessin Special School of Music in 1994. 10 years later she went on to study at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where she completed her studies cum laude.  During last years she continues her studies in Europe. Her teachers are Natalia Zdobnova, Vera Gornostaeva (Russia), Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (Germany), Bernard Ringeissen (France) and she was one of the last students of Rian de Waal (the Netherlands).  (Artist website)

The programming of Olga Koszlova's 2008 debut recording is somewhat unusual: coupling the piano sonata with an orchestral version.  I, for one, would have preferred a different choice.  However, her playing of the sonata is good enough to still make this a desirable recording.  The first thing I noticed about Olga Koszlova's performance of the Liszt sonata was the clarity of her playing: the octaves were sparkling and perfectly articulated.  Koszlava has no obvious technical deficiencies and the only problems, if any, would involve solving the musical questions.  But after listening through the grandioso and cantando sections, it would appear that Ms. Koszlova is on her way to handling the musical issues well.  What remains, of course, are the quasi adagio, which poses the most serious musical problems, and the technically difficult sections after the fugue.  But, I must report that she played these difficult sections fantastically.  Her recording must be among the best in the last ten years.  Since 2005, hers is only bettered by Hamelin (in my opinion), and if her performance in 2011 only earned a silver medal, I would like to know who won the gold (I looked it up, it was Masataka Goto, Japan).
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 04, 2015, 09:16:57 PM
Somebody in Japan is cultivating a wonderful Liszt tradition. First there was Nemoto's standout second year of Années de pèlerinage and now we have Ms. Kuwahara's first year.

The first year of Années is designed to paint the most delicate portrait of the Swiss countryside. None of which escapes Kuwahara. She's right in tune with each and every pastoral-esk sensation. Whether it's an aroma, a sound, a mood, or a puff of wind, all is perfectly transmitted at the keyboard. Her playing is all poetry yet it coarsens up at the appropriate points, as if to point out that no countryside is without its rugged stretches.

Simply an outstanding interpretation in every way.   

Amazon link is here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007211FAY?ref_=pd_ybh_2) with a proper pic below:




(http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/74468088/Franz+Liszt+Annes+de+plerinage+Premire+Anne+Suisse.jpg)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 05, 2015, 04:42:59 PM
So, the Hungarian Rhapsodies. Primo Liszt. What are everyone's favorite recordings?


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on August 05, 2015, 05:55:17 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on August 05, 2015, 04:42:59 PM
So, the Hungarian Rhapsodies. Primo Liszt. What are everyone's favorite recordings?

Jando.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 05, 2015, 05:59:10 PM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on August 05, 2015, 04:42:59 PM
So, the Hungarian Rhapsodies. Primo Liszt. What are everyone's favorite recordings?

Since I've been completely absorbed with the sonata, I haven't listened to the HR much - but liked Pizarro, and have heard good things about Jando.  It's a toss up which will be the the next stage of the discography. I've thought of the HR or the Transcendental Etudes, with the TE having a slight edge.  I am curious how many pianists have recorded all of the HR?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 05, 2015, 08:42:28 PM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 05, 2015, 05:55:17 PM
Jando.

Thanks! Onto the sample list.


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 05, 2015, 09:00:33 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 05, 2015, 05:59:10 PM
Since I've been completely absorbed with the sonata, I haven't listened to the HR much - but liked Pizarro, and have heard good things about Jando.

Sounds interesting!

QuoteIt's a toss up which will be the the next stage of the discography. I've thought of the HR or the Transcendental Etudes, with the TE having a slight edge.

Loads of good stuff in each set. Good luck with the choice.

QuoteI am curious how many pianists have recorded all of the HR?

Good question. My only complete is set Cziffra's first stereo set from 1957-58 and it's a definite barn-burner. My interest in another set is mainly for something in more up-to-date sonics. Not that the Cziffra is sonically bad - it's quite good, actually. So might be a worthwhile venture, might not.




[asin]B000024ZHH[/asin]

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2015, 03:01:45 AM
I checked my notes and two more names appear: Roberto Szidon and Misha Dichter.  Both have received good reviews but Szidon's might be the set to try first.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2015, 03:03:40 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on August 05, 2015, 09:00:33 PM
Sounds interesting!

Loads of good stuff in each set. Good luck with the choice.

Good question. My only complete is set Cziffra's first stereo set from 1957-58 and it's a definite barn-burner. My interest in another set is mainly for something in more up-to-date sonics. Not that the Cziffra is sonically bad - it's quite good, actually. So might be a worthwhile venture, might not.




[asin]B000024ZHH[/asin]

I didn't think Cziffra recorded all 19 - he left out 4 or 5 I think.  But you're right, it's a fiery set; I have it in the five disc box.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on August 06, 2015, 03:07:54 AM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 05, 2015, 05:55:17 PM

Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on August 05, 2015, 04:42:59 PM
So, the Hungarian Rhapsodies. Primo Liszt. What are everyone's favorite recordings?

Jando.

Jandó Jenő's was the first set which made me love the entire set of Rhapsodies, so he is perforce first on my lis(z)t, as well.  Now, I add both Artur Pizarro & Cziffra György.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on August 06, 2015, 03:09:32 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 06, 2015, 03:03:40 AM
I didn't think Cziffra recorded all 19 - he left out 4 or 5 I think.

You must be right!  In my defense, I've not yet finished my first cup of tea for the day . . . .
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on August 06, 2015, 03:23:47 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 06, 2015, 03:01:45 AM
I checked my notes and two more names appear: Roberto Szidon and Misha Dichter.  Both have received good reviews but Szidon's might be the set to try first.

FWIW, Szidon's was the first recording I had, and it didn't win me over.  But, my ears may have been odd back at that time . . . .
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2015, 03:47:23 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on August 06, 2015, 03:23:47 AM
FWIW, Szidon's was the first recording I had, and it didn't win me over.  But, my ears may have been odd back at that time . . . .

I haven't heard Szidon's set and he's not everyone's pick; but then, none of them are.   ;)   There does not seem to be one set that everyone agrees is the best.  Michele Campanella has recorded a full set, but I've seen at least one disparaging review.  Mostly there are more good choices for semi-complete sets, like Cziffra.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2015, 07:26:12 AM
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OMH%2BPyrlL._SX425_.jpg)

Marylin Frascone
Integral Classic INT 221.1678 / MRL/XCP 7000 (2001)
A very reverberant acoustic clouds some of the clarity of Frascone's passagework, but this is a very strong performance. 

The Gradioso has nobility which suits the music perfectly, and the Cantando espressivo is done tenderly with a yearning quality that is very convincing.  I would have preferred for the Quasi adagio to have been more expansive, there was just the slightest sense that she pushed a couple of the bigger phrases that could have been more effective had she given them more breathing room.  Frascone takes the fugue at a spritely tempo and does not back off when the energico section arrives.  The Piu mosso gets even bigger leading into the Cantando section. 

Pairing the Liszt work with Ravel's Gaspard de La Nuit is a huge plus in my book.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2015, 11:59:20 AM
(http://www.marianmigdal.de/Haydn****.jpg) (http://www.marianmigdal.de/Liszt****.jpg)

Marian Migdal
EMI/HMV 061-34346 (Suède) (1975)
Swedish Society Discofil SLT 33268 (1984)
Marian Migdal, born in Poland, his piano studies began in Warsaw. After emigrating in 1964, he studied with Hans Leygraf in Stockholm, then with Bruno Seidlhofer in Cologne and finally at Ania Dorfman at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. There he received his concert diploma in 1973 at the same time the LOEB AWARD as the highest honor for outstanding piano playing.  1971 Marian Migdal won the International Piano Competition of broadcasters (ARD) in Munich, two years later the International Schumann Competition in New York. His concert tours have taken him since then by the United States, Europe and Asia.

I listened to the 1975 EMI/HMV recording.  Very dry acoustic and close-miked engineering do not provide Migdal with a pleasant environment, but, his technical proficiency is obvious.  What has become disturbingly plain after listening to over 235 available recordings is that there are dozens of very good performances of the Liszt sonata which have gone missing since the digital era. Few of these recordings have made it to disc, which is our loss.  Migdal's 1976 recording is an example: a very good performance that you simply can't find other than on YouTube.  His 1984 recording is not even available in that manner.  I would love to hear the later recording, since the one from 1976 shows him to have the necessary technical skills to bring the work off without a problem. The more mature musical approach might represent an improvement over an already strong performance, and more importantly it in all likelihood capture his playing in better recorded sound.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2015, 03:52:22 PM
(http://cdn.discogs.com/sJjeMA5LrwLeW6bgirJd1bpKyWc=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb()/discogs-images/R-5564350-1396887790-7062.jpeg.jpg)

Rafael Orozco
Philips 6500 432 (1972)
Valois V4643 (1991)
Rafael Orozco came from a musical family in Córdoba and studied with José Cubiles, Alexis Weissenberg and Maria Curcio, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel His professional career began after he won first prize in the 1966 Leeds International Piano Competition in the UK.  His large repertoire included works by Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Manuel de Falla, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Isaac Albéniz. He gave recitals on five continents and participated as soloist with the world's great orchestras, including Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London. Orozco also participated in music festivals at Osaka, Praga, Berlin, Santander, Edimburg, Spoleto, and Aldeburgh.

It is a real shame that this recording from 1972 was never transferred from LP to CD because it is truly one of the great recordings.  Orozco plays with fire and technical brilliance but sadly his early recording of the Liszt sonata has disappeared from the catalog.  Orozco's life was short, from 1946-1996, and as a younger contemporary of Martha Argerich they must have known each other. With Argerich hailing from Argentina and Orozco from Columbia, they would have been seen as two young lions of the concert stage from South America.  Their playing is also very much alike: both possessed a huge technique but always employed in service to the music. 

Orozco's recording of the Liszt sonata came one year after Argerich's, when he was 5 years younger but his is of the same caliber.  His was the 240th recording of the Liszt sonata I have listened to.  There were so many good to very good recordings that, because of the sheer volume couldn't crack the top 50 that I had grown to doubt I'd discover a recording to challenge one of the top ten recordings.  But that is exactly what has happened, and one by a largely forgotten pianist.  Orozco's is that good.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 06, 2015, 05:07:22 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 06, 2015, 03:03:40 AM
I didn't think Cziffra recorded all 19 - he left out 4 or 5 I think.  But you're right, it's a fiery set; I have it in the five disc box.

Ah, that's correct. Odd. I wonder why he omitted the last four?


Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on August 06, 2015, 07:07:16 PM
My first complete set was Szidon and I really liked it until........I heard Cziffra!

I also have a set of the HR on LP which has never made it to CD which is unfortunate. They are by that great Liszt interpeter Louis Kentner and while they don't display the firs and brimstone of the Cziffra they have much to say about how to play these works. I got a company to transcribe these onto CD for me but the results weren't great.

Here is an example of his playing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPozXy31YKY

There are other HRs by Kentner on Youtube
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 06, 2015, 07:17:39 PM
Quote from: Holden on August 06, 2015, 07:07:16 PM
My first complete set was Szidon and I really liked it until........I heard Cziffra!

I also have a set of the HR on LP which has never made it to CD which is unfortunate. They are by that great Liszt interpeter Louis Kentner and while they don't display the firs and brimstone of the Cziffra they have much to say about how to play these works. I got a company to transcribe these onto CD for me but the results weren't great.

Here is an example of his playing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPozXy31YKY

There are other HRs by Kentner on Youtube

I agree about Kentner, here's what I wrote about his recording of the B minor sonata:

There is a majesty to Kentner's playing that is rarely heard, a sound which hearkens back to the great age of virtuoso pianists.  A fantastic performance, I only wish it had been captured in better sound.  Bryce Morrison, writing in Gramophone in a review of another Liszt recital by Kentner, put it this way, "This glorious recital is a timely reminder of Louis Kentner's greatness, his richness and enterprise during his heyday. Here is playing which in its life-affirming sweep and opulence makes accusations concerning Liszt's theatricality doubly misleading. What expansiveness, what true molto espressivo Kentner achieves in the Second Hungarian Rhapsody, what poetic warmth and freedom in the more heartfelt, soaring melodies of the First Polonaise and Second Ballade." 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 07, 2015, 12:13:09 PM
I am finally finished listening to all of the sonata recordings I could find wihtout too much trouble or expense (actually, there's a few I could still buy, but won't) - all told, I've listened to 250 recordings.  I am now going to attach images to each entry in the discography and do a read through for typos and editing.

This has been a rewarding exercise, and one I plan on repeating for other works - but will take a break for more casual listening.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: bluemooze on August 07, 2015, 10:20:37 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 07, 2015, 12:13:09 PM
I am finally finished listening to all of the sonata recordings I could find wihtout too much trouble or expense (actually, there's a few I could still buy, but won't) - all told, I've listened to 250 recordings.  I am now going to attach images to each entry in the discography and do a read through for typos and editing.

This has been a rewarding exercise, and one I plan on repeating for other works - but will take a break for more casual listening.

;)

A wonderful thread.  Thanks so much.   :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on August 08, 2015, 06:17:06 AM
Again, I applaud you!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on August 08, 2015, 12:03:55 PM
But surely now we turn our attention to other works. The Transcendental Etudes would be a good place to start with some wonderful performances out there
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 08, 2015, 05:58:37 PM
Quote from: Holden on August 08, 2015, 12:03:55 PM
But surely now we turn our attention to other works. The Transcendental Etudes would be a good place to start with some wonderful performances out there

I've thought the etudes would be a good next project.  Contrary to the Hungarian Rhapsodies, they are often recorded complete, and arguably conceived as a large work, again, unlike the HR.  I know Arrau's set has been praised and I heard Alice Sara Ott's recording which impressed me - but what sets do you like?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 08, 2015, 09:09:14 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 08, 2015, 05:58:37 PM
I've thought the etudes would be a good next project.  Contrary to the Hungarian Rhapsodies, they are often recorded complete, and arguably conceived as a large work, again, unlike the HR.  I know Arrau's set has been praised and I heard Alice Sara Ott's recording which impressed me - but what sets do you like?

I actually have Arrau's set but I can't think of another disc that's been given decent press that I dislike more. It's cautious, pale, and far from "transcendent".

Most impressive for me is Laszlo Simon on BIS. Great sound and dazzling in all the right ways.




[asin]B000027ENQ[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 09, 2015, 04:09:55 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on August 08, 2015, 09:09:14 PM
I actually have Arrau's set but I can't think of another disc that's been given decent press that I dislike more. It's cautious, pale, and far from "transcendent".

Most impressive for me is Laszlo Simon on BIS. Great sound and dazzling in all the right ways.




[asin]B000027ENQ[/asin]

I felt Arrau's sonata recording did not live up to the reputation, same feeling about being too reserved. He did wait until late in life to record the sonata, not sure about the etudes.  But I haven't listened to them just relying on reviews.  I'll try to put together a list of recordings and start on a listening campaign after a break.  I am still putting the final touches on the sonata discog  texts and will be putting that material up on my blog, and in limited form here, later this week.

Thanks for your Laszlo Simon recommendation; a new name to me.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on August 09, 2015, 04:07:53 PM
Conversely, I really like the Arrau set with one of the best Harmonies du Soir I've ever heard. Then of course there is Cziffra. The other two I recommend are Ovchinnikov and Kemal Gekic if you can get it. Haven't heard the Laszlo Simon.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 09, 2015, 06:12:55 PM
Quote from: Holden on August 09, 2015, 04:07:53 PM
Conversely, I really like the Arrau set with one of the best Harmonies du Soir I've ever heard. Then of course there is Cziffra. The other two I recommend are Ovchinnikov and Kemal Gekic if you can get it. Haven't heard the Laszlo Simon.

Second the Ovchinnikov. He's on the extrovert side, with plenty of fireworks. I haven't heard Cziffra (complete) excepting for a few extracts of various provenances.

Another one I have is Bolet's first recording from 1970. It's a complete 180º from Simon or Ovchinnikov. Sparkle and introspection are the name of the game, yet not lacking charisma. This one too gave me problems at first but later I grew to love it. Something to look forward to with Arrau, perhaps. :)

       
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 10, 2015, 07:41:09 AM
As I am editing my main text, and comparing it to other sources for completeness, I sometimes find a recording that slipped through the cracks.  Usually these are yet another good but not great performance; not so with the one by Gina Bachauer from 1954.

(http://patachonf.free.fr/musique/img/couv/e/emi/emi-clp1057.jpg)

Gina Bachauer
EMI/HMV CLP 1057 (1954)
Greek pianist. Her father was from an Austrian family which had settled in Greece in 1877, while her mother came from near Trieste. Bachauer studied at the Athens Conservatory under Woldemar Freeman and later at the Ecole Normale, Paris, with Cortot. Freeman introduced her to Rachmaninoff, with whom she also took lessons. Her French solo début took place in the Salle Chopin, Paris, in 1929, and she first played in England in 1932 at the Aeolian Hall, London. In 1933 she won the medal of honour at an international piano competition in Vienna, and in the 1930s played concertos with the Paris SO conducted by Monteux and the Athens SO under Mitropoulos. For several years following her marriage in 1936 to John Christodoulo she lived in Alexandria, giving over 600 concerts for allied troops in various parts of northern Egypt during World War II. In 1946 she made her British orchestral début at the Albert Hall, London, playing Grieg's Piano Concerto with the New London Orchestra under Alec Sherman. Following her American début at New York's Town Hall in 1950, she undertook many coast-to-coast tours of the USA. After the death of her first husband she married Alec Sherman in 1951.

Bachauer was at her most formidable in the 19th- and early 20th-century repertory, impressing with the strength and breadth of her keyboard command and essentially balanced musicianship. Her recordings of concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Grieg, as well as solo works by Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, have been re-issued on compact disc.


This is an amazing performance of the sonata.  Gina Bachauer was a well-known and respected concert pianist during the mid-20th century, but has become largely forgotten today, which is exceedingly unfortunate.  Much of her discography is out of print, and only a few LPs made it to digital transfer.  However, the level of her playing was very high and I would like to see all of them, this one in particular, re-issued.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on August 10, 2015, 06:23:58 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 10, 2015, 07:41:09 AM
As I am editing my main text, and comparing it to other sources for completeness, I sometimes find a recording that slipped through the cracks.  Usually these are yet another good but not great performance; not so with the one by Gina Bachauer from 1954.

(http://patachonf.free.fr/musique/img/couv/e/emi/emi-clp1057.jpg)

Gina Bachauer
EMI/HMV CLP 1057 (1954)
Greek pianist. Her father was from an Austrian family which had settled in Greece in 1877, while her mother came from near Trieste. Bachauer studied at the Athens Conservatory under Woldemar Freeman and later at the Ecole Normale, Paris, with Cortot. Freeman introduced her to Rachmaninoff, with whom she also took lessons. Her French solo début took place in the Salle Chopin, Paris, in 1929, and she first played in England in 1932 at the Aeolian Hall, London. In 1933 she won the medal of honour at an international piano competition in Vienna, and in the 1930s played concertos with the Paris SO conducted by Monteux and the Athens SO under Mitropoulos. For several years following her marriage in 1936 to John Christodoulo she lived in Alexandria, giving over 600 concerts for allied troops in various parts of northern Egypt during World War II. In 1946 she made her British orchestral début at the Albert Hall, London, playing Grieg's Piano Concerto with the New London Orchestra under Alec Sherman. Following her American début at New York's Town Hall in 1950, she undertook many coast-to-coast tours of the USA. After the death of her first husband she married Alec Sherman in 1951.

Bachauer was at her most formidable in the 19th- and early 20th-century repertory, impressing with the strength and breadth of her keyboard command and essentially balanced musicianship. Her recordings of concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Grieg, as well as solo works by Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, have been re-issued on compact disc.


This is an amazing performance of the sonata.  Gina Bachauer was a well-known and respected concert pianist during the mid-20th century, but has become largely forgotten today, which is exceedingly unfortunate.  Much of her discography is out of print, and only a few LPs made it to digital transfer.  However, the level of her playing was very high and I would like to see all of them, this one in particular, re-issued.

She makes several appearances in the Mercury Living Presence I box, mostly concertos. Perhaps in the other two as well... don't have them so can't confirm that suspicion.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 11, 2015, 05:35:44 AM
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on August 10, 2015, 06:23:58 PM
She makes several appearances in the Mercury Living Presence I box, mostly concertos. Perhaps in the other two as well... don't have them so can't confirm that suspicion.

I wonder how available those are as individual discs?  I rated her performance of the sonata second only to Horowitz's among those recordings made prior to 1960 and hers came in at #11 of all recordings.  Of course these are just my own very subjective ratings, nevertheless, it speaks to the relative strength I placed on her playing.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 11, 2015, 07:39:49 AM
Well, so much for my discography - at least for the time being. 

In the process of cleaning up the portable drive that contained all the documents - I accidentally deleted the primary folder.  Nothing was in the Recycle bin, either, since after talking with a tech guy - deleting from a portable drive is a permanent deletion.  I have an older version - and will use that to reconstruct.  Actually, this will give me an opportunity to revisit the recordings and listening a second time, especially with the previous experience under my belt, will surely prove to render more meaningful results.

I will go at it more slowly, now that the push to publish is off the table.  And I am sure the reconstructed version will be superior to the one I lost.

:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on August 11, 2015, 10:18:03 AM
You've found the silver lining!

Sorry about that errant mouse-click; we've all been there . . . .
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 11, 2015, 11:11:42 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on August 11, 2015, 10:18:03 AM
You've found the silver lining!

Sorry about that errant mouse-click; we've all been there . . . .

Thanks, Karl.  I am pretty pissed at myself.  Lesson learned about the importance of backing up portable drives, especially.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Pat B on August 11, 2015, 12:19:51 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 11, 2015, 11:11:42 AM
Thanks, Karl.  I am pretty pissed at myself.  Lesson learned about the importance of backing up portable drives, especially.

It's probably recoverable, even though your tech guy said it wasn't. If you want to consider that, stop using the drive immediately. Then read this (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2147668/how-to-recover-deleted-files.html) (skip down to the "Try file recovery software" section).

OTOH, it sounds like you might be looking forward to the revisit.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 11, 2015, 12:52:16 PM
Quote from: Pat B on August 11, 2015, 12:19:51 PM
It's probably recoverable, even though your tech guy said it wasn't. If you want to consider that, stop using the drive immediately. Then read this (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2147668/how-to-recover-deleted-files.html) (skip down to the "Try file recovery software" section).

OTOH, it sounds like you might be looking forward to the revisit.

Thanks for this information; I've already used the drive some but will try the free software option.  While I am not giving up on the project, it is probably an exaggeration to say I am "looking forward" to reconstructing the documents. 

Hey, it could be worse.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 14, 2015, 06:02:29 AM
Once I got over the forehead smack of deleting my files, and committed myself to a reconstruction, I decided to make this discography even better than the one I lost.  Originally I never intended to make it complete, choosing to concentrate only on recordings since 1970, but that soon gave way to a creeping sense of completeness - but one which I did not entirely achieve. 

This new reconstruction has already borne fruit: I have found 5 of the 7 Claudio Arrau recordings in various places and may purchase the other two; also I will include both Daniel Barenboim performances, the one from 1985 I already owned but his earlier one on DG  from 1979 is on YouTube.  Since I will be taking my time with this reconstruction, one way I will relieve the tedium and frustration will be to hunt down all the recordings and truly make this discography as complete as possible.

:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on August 14, 2015, 06:12:55 AM
Kudos for the making of lemonade!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Cato on August 14, 2015, 06:57:12 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on August 11, 2015, 12:52:16 PM
Thanks for this information; I've already used the drive some but will try the free software option.  While I am not giving up on the project, it is probably an exaggeration to say I am "looking forward" to reconstructing the documents. 

Hey, it could be worse.

;)

According to my mathematician/computer expert son, the information is there, unless you have hammered the drive or melted it: it simply is a matter of knowing how to retrieve it, for which then you need experts.   0:)

Gina Bachauer!!!  Yes, she was one of the giants in the good ol' days!

I found this:

https://www.youtube.com/v/gYWTI7fynjU

and this curiosity!  Not Liszt, but perhaps of interest:

https://www.youtube.com/v/rkpPHxlZI5Q
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 14, 2015, 07:34:50 AM
Quote from: Cato on August 14, 2015, 06:57:12 AM
According to my mathematician/computer expert son, the information is there, unless you have hammered the drive or melted it: it simply is a matter of knowing how to retrieve it, for which then you need experts.   0:)

Gina Bachauer!!!  Yes, she was one of the giants in the good ol' days!

I found this:

https://www.youtube.com/v/gYWTI7fynjU

and this curiosity!  Not Liszt, but perhaps of interest:

https://www.youtube.com/v/rkpPHxlZI5Q

Gina Bachauer is a great discovery I made through this process.  Simply fantastic.  Hers is just one of many recordings I've found, uploaded to YouTube from OOP vinyl, which are great recordings.  It is a real shame that many of these LPs either never made to disc or long deleted and hard to find, if that.

Regarding the thumb drive - I tried a file retrieval program which found the files, but which reported that they had been overwritten (my mistake was continuing to use the drive) and not recoverable.  I've made peace with the mistake, and am backing up every night, and now begining to look forward to re-creating my discography, but even better this time.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: kishnevi on August 14, 2015, 10:08:23 AM
Quote from: Cato on August 14, 2015, 06:57:12 AM
and this curiosity!  Not Liszt, but perhaps of interest:

https://www.youtube.com/v/rkpPHxlZI5Q

That is one of the recordings included in the Mercury LP I box.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Holden on August 14, 2015, 01:11:12 PM
A version from Annie Fischer has been added to NML recently. That might be interesting. Haven't heard it myself yet.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 14, 2015, 02:09:34 PM
Quote from: Holden on August 14, 2015, 01:11:12 PM
A version from Annie Fischer has been added to NML recently. That might be interesting. Haven't heard it myself yet.

That's what I thought too, but I felt it wasn't as good as I expected.  Still worth a listen, I'd be interested to hear what you thought.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on August 26, 2015, 09:40:21 PM
Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses.

Not the usual Liszt fair, at least in total. Scattered around various recital discs bits and pieces from this set do turn up - usually as filler. Funérailles of course is an island unto itself and easily justifies its popularity on disc. 

But the rest of the music is esoteric fair, to say the least. But it's Liszt. 'Nuff said.

What a thankless job it must be to perform this forbidding music. Like the third book of Années, it's not exactly material to inspire a second date from someone. Maybe a one-timer to the drive-in out of pity, but nothing beyond that.

What's lacking? Sex appeal. What's REALLY lacking? In all honesty, a sympathetic crowd.

But this is NOT crowd-pleasing music. Liszt has put the full brakes to his usual Elvis act, here, and fans anticipating a mad swing of his metaphoric hips will be left high and dry.

Liszt instead has something...easier...to communicate with this set. Easier in the sense that there's more than one way to cast a spell over a listener and if it can be done without blitzing the listener's senses with a million notes per minute then this is the way to do it. Shocking. But it works.

Liszt whips up his usual dazzle here but it's resolutely pitched at a low low speed with little to disrupt the overarching sense of melancholia dominating each and every bar. It's not easy listening, at least not at all times. And it simply won't work if the listener's attention is diverted elsewhere.

I can't think of any other music requiring more from the listener than what's on display here (even the moderns). The lone exception to this, as noted earlier, might be Funérailles.

Music like this won't make many friends. It doesn't give up its secrets without a little return work from the "crowd". But once acclimated the rewards are as plentiful as any in Liszt (or anywhere else).

Hat tip to Amoyel below for opening my eyes to the importance of this set as a whole. Fantastical Liszt needn't always come with a swing of the hips. 




[asin]B005KLN0HY[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 28, 2015, 08:47:55 AM
B Minor Sonata Update

Step one is complete: reconstructing the discography, i.e the listing of recordings with images and some/many reviews attached.  Now I will begin the fun part, listening to (what has now become) the 298 recordings

???

Wish me well.

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on August 28, 2015, 08:53:03 AM
Pace yourself, brother  0:)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on August 28, 2015, 08:57:13 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on August 28, 2015, 08:53:03 AM
Pace yourself, brother  0:)

For sure.  I might complete it by the end of the year; but I am in no hurry. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Spineur on January 23, 2016, 11:05:52 AM
Here is another great Liszt recording not yet mentioned.

Sorry I havent figured out how to add amazon link yet
[asin]B00000157J[/asin]

Minoru Nojima is a rare artist, even rarer in the west.  I find his reading of the B minor sonata stunning.  And I had heard many before.

This particular recording has been re-issued in hires and the sound is beautiful.  It has become my favorite recording of the B minor.
Mephisto valse is also great, although I prefer the orchestral version.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Pat B on January 23, 2016, 04:51:14 PM
Quote from: Spineur on January 23, 2016, 11:05:52 AM
Here is another great Liszt recording not yet mentioned.

Good call! I got that a little while ago and just realized it's in my "only listened once" pile. I listen to it tonight.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Spineur on January 28, 2016, 11:40:00 AM
Via Crucis is a beautiful composition written by Franz Liszt at the end of his life.  It mixes piano and Gregorian singing which in his times was quite daring.  Its been discussed in other GMG threads so, I will simply share with you my admiration for this recording
[asin]B00B1VP2QO[/asin]
which I downloaded in hires on qobuz.  This group "Vox Clamantis" delivers all the tension and the compassion expressed in this beautiful composition.

There seems to be some quotes from the "harmonies poetiques et religieuses" in Via Crucis.  Anybody knows the history  behind the composition of these two works ?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Angelos_05 on January 30, 2016, 07:59:21 AM
I have a very fiery linking to Liszt's piano works, as I do for his pupils : Carl Tausig, August Stradal, Moriz Rosenthal, Eugen D'Albert, Hans Von Bulow, 
However, I also have a special fondness for Liszt's orchestral oeuvres.


(http://www.theclassicalshop.net/download_file.aspx?file=C7%200090.jpg)
(http://www.capriccio.at/images/382.jpg)
http://www.capriccio.at/franz-liszt-orchestral-pieces
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Aug05/liszt_masterpieces_49450.htm
http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/liszt-dante-symphonie-mr0002728158
Capriccio recorded  the very rare orchestral version of À la Chapelle Sixtine S. 360 (LW G26)

http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=C7%200090
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=C1%200736
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=C4%209450
(http://www.theclassicalshop.net/download_file.aspx?file=C1%200736.jpg)





(http://www.gerd-albrecht.com/wp-content/uploads/51RQLgvxUXL._SL500_AA300_620x620.jpg)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/liszt-l%C3%A9gendes-no1-2-cantico-del-sol-di-san-francesco-dassisi-mr0002113585
http://www.gerd-albrecht.com/franz-liszt-sonnenhymnus-des-hl-franziskus-franziskus-legenden/





(http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/jpegs/150dpi/034571178561.png)
http://classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=9019
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67856
http://www.classical-music.com/review/liszt-funeral-odes






(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Dec02/Liszt_Brilliant.jpg)
(https://geocdn.fotex.net/www.hungarotonmusic.com/images/artworks/13/1813-500px.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Dec02/Liszt_SymphonicPoems.htm
https://www.hungarotonmusic.com/classical/symphonic-poems-p1813.html






(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0000/954/MI0000954910.jpg)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/liszthungarian-rhapsodies-nos-1-6-r%C3%A1k%C3%B3czy-march-ungarischer-sturmmarsch-mw0001342975





(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Sn-acW4KL.jpg)
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/m/msr01210a.php





(https://geocdn.fotex.net/www.hungarotonmusic.com/images/artworks/18/3918-500px.jpg)
https://www.hungarotonmusic.com/classical/leo-weiner-original-p3918.html


===================================================================================================
And of course, a couple of recordings involving Liszt's piano output.

(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Sept13/Wagner_transcriptions_ABCD353.jpg)
http://www.audaud.com/wagner-and-the-piano-severin-von-eckardstein-p-mdgmagic-fire-and-other-wagner-transcriptions-risto-matti-marin-p-alba/
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/8762
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/8628
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Sept13/Wagner_transcriptions_ABCD353.htm




(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Nov01/Hommage_Horowitz.jpg)
http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-7902/
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Nov01/Homage.htm



(http://www.alba.fi/assets/images/product_images/abcd240.jpg)
http://www.alba.fi/en/shop/products/4278



(http://www.alba.fi/assets/images/product_images/abcd305.jpg)
http://www.alba.fi/en/shop/products/4733


(http://www.alba.fi/assets/images/product_images/abcd270.jpg)
http://www.alba.fi/en/shop/products/4324




(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/June10/Liszt_tocc0035.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/June10/Liszt_Stradal_Tocc0035.htm
https://toccataclassics.com/product/liszt-stradal-symphonic-poems-1/


(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/May13/liszt_stradal_TOCC0092.jpg)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/May13/Liszt_transcriptions_TOCC0092.htm
https://toccataclassics.com/product/liszt-stradal-symphonic-poems-2/
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on October 05, 2016, 02:25:09 AM
High time to bump this thread.

(http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/thumbs_550/034571167718.png)

Vol. 26 (2 CDs) of the Leslie Howard Complete Piano Music series.

In general, this or that composer´s juvenilia and early works often get a dismissive treatment, as irrelevant and uninteresting trifles. This might be true in some cases, but certainly not in Liszt´s (nor Mozart´s, for that matter). And the best evidence for that is the fact that in his mature years he incessantly reworked and recycled themes or even whole works from his youth, finding in them an inexhaustible reservoir of inspiration. Young Liszt certainly had ideas which mature Liszt used time and again.

The most consistent of the lot are the Twelve Etudes op. 6, S 136 (if you think Hoboken numbering is confusing, try Searle: it´s baffling), which later were to become the Douze Etudes d´execution transcedentale, composed in 1826, and the Apparitions S 155, from 1834, which contain the first version of Liebestraeume No. 2. I wonder how many of those who dismiss on principle (or rather prejudice) any juvenilia would infer, upon hearing the former without any background information, that they are the work of a 15-year teen?

To be sure, there are many feuillets d´album, variations and other minor pieces here which are not profound or challenging, but then again neither they were meant to be: Liszt composed them for his own pleasure, and charming undoubtedly they are. One can imagine the boy sitting at the piano, coming up with a little waltz or bagatelle.

The soundworld of the works recorded here is not always recognizably Lisztian but always unmistakably Romantic, a mixture of poetry and elan painted on the canvas of youthful dreams and hopes.

Excellent sonics and performance. Highly recommended.

Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on October 05, 2016, 02:26:33 AM
Quote from: Florestan on October 05, 2016, 02:25:09 AM
High time to bump this thread.

(http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/thumbs_550/034571167718.png)

Vol. 26 (2 CDs) of the Leslie Howard Complete Piano Music series.

In general, this or that composer´s juvenilia and early works often get a dismissive treatment, as irrelevant and uninteresting trifles. This might be true in some cases, but certainly not in Liszt´s (nor Mozart´s, for that matter). And the best evidence for that is the fact that in his mature years he incessantly reworked and recycled themes or even whole works from his youth, finding in them an inexhaustible reservoir of inspiration. Young Liszt certainly had ideas which mature Liszt used time and again.

The most consistent of the lot are the Twelve Etudes op. 6, S 136 (if you think Hoboken numbering is confusing, try Searle: it´s baffling), which later were to become the Douze Etudes d´execution transcedentale, composed in 1826, and the Apparitions S 155, from 1834, which contain the first version of Liebestraeume No. 2. I wonder how many of those who dismiss on principle (or rather prejudice) any juvenilia would infer, upon hearing the former without any background information, that they are the work of a 15-year teen?

To be sure, there are many feuillets d´album, variations and other minor pieces here which are not profound or challenging, but then again neither they were meant to be: Liszt composed them for his own pleasure, and charming undoubtedly they are. One can imagine the boy sitting at the piano, coming up with a little waltz or bagatelle.

The soundworld of the works recorded here is not always recognizably Lisztian but always unmistakably Romantic, a mixture of poetry and elan painted on the canvas of youthful dreams and hopes.

Excellent sonics and performance. Highly recommended.

I still have his complete Liszt in my shopping cart at Hyperion.  One of these days ....

;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Florestan on October 05, 2016, 02:33:08 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on October 05, 2016, 02:26:33 AM
I still have his complete Liszt in my shopping cart at Hyperion.  One of these days ....

;)

It´s a monumental endeavour, a true work of love.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on October 05, 2016, 02:33:14 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on October 05, 2016, 02:26:33 AM
I still have his complete Liszt in my shopping cart at Hyperion.  One of these days ....

;)

If the price dips, let a chap know  ;)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on October 05, 2016, 02:33:56 AM
Quote from: Florestan on October 05, 2016, 02:33:08 AM
It´s a monumental endeavour, a true work of love.

You are the second friend of mine whom I know to have invested in this set  :)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on January 26, 2017, 08:22:39 PM
I bought the disc below primarily for a complete set (of four) of the Valses oubliée. The Valses are highly obtuse in nature, venturing far afield from Liszt's "madcap showman" persona. This is exploratory Liszt, and there's no finer Liszt. 

Sham's playing is superlative, feeling her way around these works with a sure hand, working the obtuseness to its fullest.

But there's a novelty to this disc. Eight of the eighteen tracks are played on two "period" pianos, one an 1840 London Érard grand and the other an 1845 Paris Érard grand. According to the booklet notes, Liszt favored an Érard and loved working with the latest and greatest the company had to offer as upgrades became available.

Frankly, I could have done without them. Fortunately the Valses (along with the remaining six the works) are played on a modern Steinway.

I don't levy my criticism of the period pianos lightly. The "plain-n-simple" of it is the period pianos lack the nuance ability of the modern Steinway. I find zero of the "hidden insight" into the pieces purported to be virtually unattainable without the use of a period instrument. On the contrary, I find immense insight listening to the modern Steinway and frankly got bored with the period pianos.

The period pianos simply can't match the modern Steinway in important areas such as shading, finely-etched nuance, and color. Not to sound patronizing but it's no wonder Liszt favored all the upgrades in pianos throughout his career! :blank:

However, it's the REST of the disc which gets the highest recommendation. To put Sham to the test I played a live Valse oubliée no. 4 from Cziffra, thinking surely she'd be schooled by an old master at Liszt, only to find it's the young lady who could do some schooling of her own (actually they're both excellent, just different). 

So get this disc. The playing is up to snuff (no matter which piano is used) and obviously the period pianos might make much more of an impact on a someone with perhaps a more sympathetic ear.



[asin]B015GH036C[/asin] 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on January 28, 2017, 08:43:17 PM
Another gorgeously played (and recorded) recital disc, the highlight being the uniquely sublime second Légende, S.175, depicting St. Francis of Paola crossing a body of water using only his cloak and staff.

Liszt plumbs the depths of his descriptive powers and produces wave after wave (no pun, really) of disorienting mood-thrashing effects.

One of his greatest works bar none.



[asin]B002JIBCCG[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on January 29, 2017, 02:27:20 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on January 28, 2017, 08:43:17 PM
Another gorgeously played (and recorded) recital disc, the highlight being the uniquely sublime second Légende, S.175, depicting St. Francis of Paola crossing a body of water using only his cloak and staff.

Liszt plumbs the depths of his descriptive powers and produces wave after wave (no pun, really) of disorienting mood-thrashing effects.

One of his greatest works bar none.

You are posting some Liszt I will need to check out, and of some works I've not heard too much.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: zamyrabyrd on January 29, 2017, 05:17:21 AM
For all you Liszt collectors, the three volume bio by Alan Walker is a must have:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/417ZMD14D5L._SX312_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214 (https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214)

I am the proud owner of 3 hardbacks, bought a few years ago.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on January 29, 2017, 05:40:03 AM
Quote from: zamyrabyrd on January 29, 2017, 05:17:21 AM
For all you Liszt collectors, the three volume bio by Alan Walker is a must have:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/417ZMD14D5L._SX312_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214 (https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214)

I am the proud owner of 3 hardbacks, bought a few years ago.

I bought the eBooks last year and have read parts of them depending upon which work I am interested in at the moment.  I agree, the best out there for Liszt.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on January 29, 2017, 04:33:27 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on January 29, 2017, 02:27:20 AM
You are posting some Liszt I will need to check out, and of some works I've not heard too much.

Yes, there's lots to explore!
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Karl Henning on January 30, 2017, 09:06:08 AM
Quote from: sanantonio on January 29, 2017, 05:40:03 AM

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on January 29, 2017, 05:17:21 AM
For all you Liszt collectors, the three volume bio by Alan Walker is a must have:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/417ZMD14D5L._SX312_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214 (https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214)

I am the proud owner of 3 hardbacks, bought a few years ago.

I bought the eBooks last year and have read parts of them depending upon which work I am interested in at the moment.  I agree, the best out there for Liszt.

I have the e-book edition, too.  Need to read it!  Maybe now that I've finally laid the Pickwick Papers to rest . . . .
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on February 14, 2017, 08:13:53 PM
Earlier on this thread I wrote about Pascal Amoyel's spectacular recording of Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses. Well here's another, purchased after I saw Todd list it on the WAYLT thread. It is a complete 180º from Amoyel. If Amoyel is something of a tonic, Favorin is a twisting sand storm. There's more impulse, with more dramatically infused visions of the other-world with Favorin, telling a tale in sounds to send shivers.

NOT that he displaces Amoyel (and not that he's trying to). But such a singular vision of the music cries out to be heard.




(http://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/63/30/5425019973063_600.jpg)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on March 19, 2017, 05:51:37 PM
Another off-the-beaten-track Liszt disc, a disc which I mentioned some time ago on the WAYLT thread. Just posting it here for a little more permanence. 

Late Liszt is like no other Liszt. Generations have passed without this small epoch in Liszt's timeline making much of an impact. And according to Ms. Krausz, the reason for this isn't solely due to the public's allergy to it. Musicians themselves have needed time to really wrap their heads around the utter obtuseness of it.

Thankfully things are changing. What's also changing is the impression that the obtuseness of the music is just an end in itself. Familiarity is bringing a new clarity on just what Liszt is attempting to say in this phase. It goes without saying there's nothing, zilch, nada of the swashbuckling. Instead, the lights have been turned on to what is a singularly shadowy yet sophisticated world (so to speak).

Hearing it is best. Deciphering it is up to the listener! 8)



[asin]B00530GMRC[/asin] 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on March 21, 2017, 02:06:03 AM
Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on March 19, 2017, 05:51:37 PM
Another off-the-beaten-track Liszt disc, a disc which I mentioned some time ago on the WAYLT thread. Just posting it here for a little more permanence. 

Late Liszt is like no other Liszt. Generations have passed without this small epoch in Liszt's timeline making much of an impact. And according to Ms. Krausz, the reason for this isn't solely due to the public's allergy to it. Musicians themselves have needed time to really wrap their heads around the utter obtuseness of it.

Thankfully things are changing. What's also changing is the impression that the obtuseness of the music is just an end in itself. Familiarity is bringing a new clarity on just what Liszt is attempting to say in this phase. It goes without saying there's nothing, zilch, nada of the swashbuckling. Instead, the lights have been turned on to what is a singularly shadowy yet sophisticated world (so to speak).

Hearing it is best. Deciphering it is up to the listener! 8)



[asin]B00530GMRC[/asin]

I have been listening to this disc for the last month, I think after seeing your post in the listening thread, and enjoying it quite a lot.  Thanks for posting it here.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: springrite on March 21, 2017, 02:13:54 AM
Quote from: zamyrabyrd on January 29, 2017, 05:17:21 AM
For all you Liszt collectors, the three volume bio by Alan Walker is a must have:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/417ZMD14D5L._SX312_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214 (https://www.amazon.com/Franz-Liszt-Virtuoso-Years-1811-1847/dp/0801494214)

I am the proud owner of 3 hardbacks, bought a few years ago.
I am also the proud owner, as well as ashamed non-reader (so far) of this set.

I should get to it soon... very soon...
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on March 21, 2017, 07:08:01 PM
Quote from: sanantonio on March 21, 2017, 02:06:03 AM
I have been listening to this disc for the last month, I think after seeing your post in the listening thread, and enjoying it quite a lot.  Thanks for posting it here.

Thanks, yes, it deserves its time in the limelight. :)

Another peach of a (mostly) late-Liszt disc is the Fiorentino disc below. The playing is totally sympathetic to the uniqueness of the music but unfortunately it's in pretty dated sound, which is not even up to mid-'60s standards. Obviously, though, the playing trumps all.



[asin]B000026BB6[/asin]
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Brian on May 31, 2017, 01:32:34 PM
Are there any recommended recordings of the complete series of "Soirées de Vienne" after Schubert?
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on May 31, 2017, 01:58:12 PM
Pickings are slim for the complete set.  I've got Gabriela Imreh's set, and it's not the most compelling Liszt I've heard.

There's a set by France Clidat, which I recommend every human on earth avoid, save perhaps Kim Jong-un, but even then it might be a war crime if he listened.

Philippe Cassard's version piques my interest, and apparently Jeno Jando recorded it for Hungaroton.  I have to think there's a Leslie Howard set out there, too.

The other names that pop up at Amazon are new to me, with Ingeborg Baldaszti the most intriguing because she has some Schubert proper discs.

I'd gamble on Cassard if I were in your position.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Pat B on May 31, 2017, 08:40:22 PM
Quote from: Todd on May 31, 2017, 01:58:12 PM
Pickings are slim for the complete set.  I've got Gabriela Imreh's set, and it's not the most compelling Liszt I've heard.

There's a set by France Clidat, which I recommend every human on earth avoid, save perhaps Kim Jong-un, but even then it might be a war crime if he listened.

Philippe Cassard's version piques my interest, and apparently Jeno Jando recorded it for Hungaroton.  I have to think there's a Leslie Howard set out there, too.

The other names that pop up at Amazon are new to me, with Ingeborg Baldaszti the most intriguing because she has some Schubert proper discs.

I'd gamble on Cassard if I were in your position.

I'm not familiar with this music but the Cassard album, its title notwithstanding, apparently does not include the complete set:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81luCoSVahL._SL600_.jpg)
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Todd on June 01, 2017, 05:07:19 AM
Quote from: Pat B on May 31, 2017, 08:40:22 PM
I'm not familiar with this music but the Cassard album, its title notwithstanding, apparently does not include the complete set:


I guess I should have checked the contents.  That almost leaves Imreh as the default choice. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: merlin on January 20, 2018, 10:09:22 AM
I did not see Daria Telizyn mentioned for the sonata.  Marvelous performance.
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: San Antone on January 20, 2018, 03:06:55 PM
Quote from: merlin on January 20, 2018, 10:09:22 AM
I did not see Daria Telizyn mentioned for the sonata.  Marvelous performance.

This is what I have in my discography:
Daria TELIZYN
16-17 May 1987
Claudio CR3705-2
Duration: 34'38
Dutch critic and musicologist Jan van Voorthuysen wrote in Het Vederland:  "Even if I had heard only Liszt's notorious, grand Sonata in B minor, I would have been convinced that I had heard one of the greatest pianists. Years ago I heard her first teacher more than once and I am sure he could not have equalled her, for he could not have equalled Horowitz or Andor Foldes, whereas Daria Telizyn did! And with the greatest of ease! After having heard more than 10,000 concerts and after having written more than 8,600 reviews, after having heard the Liszt Sonata countless times, I simply feel bound to declare that after Daria Telizyn's unbelievable performance I feel completely flabbergasted."

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

At over 34 minutes her performance would be of the longer versions, but her playing is very good.  Thanks for mentioning her.

I seem to remember she died young and was unable to play during the last few years of her life. 
Title: Re: Franz Liszt - A Critical Discography
Post by: Dancing Divertimentian on November 04, 2018, 07:07:34 PM
From the WAYLT thread:

Hot on the heels of Kultyshev's remarkable Chopin Etudes (in my collection, not chronologically) comes his scorching recording of The Twelve.

As in the Chopin, Kultyshev again shows that there's nothing technically that he can't achieve. His technique, however, isn't force-fed on the listener in empty, angry pursuits. The central aim is more to flesh out the poetry in the music, by means of technically mastering the notes first, then applying liberal doses of imagination. End result: a new favorite Twelve.

A big plus is the extraordinary recorded sound. We hear everything.



[asin]B001RPWQ54[/asin]