GMG Classical Music Forum

Who do you prefer?

My choice is Liszt. One of the most amazing pianists this world has ever seen.

This poll is just TOO hard....
I'll shut my eyes and pick one.

Again, where is the fruit option when you need it?!

Sigh.... Chopin. No, Liszt.... No, Chopin... No, Liszt... No, Chopin....

:'(

I just can't vote in this, I'm sorry... :)

I much prefer Chopin, his music is delicate and sensuous. 0:)

As much as I love Chopin's music, which is incredibly beautiful, lyrical and passionate, Franz Liszt got my vote; he is my absolute favourite composer (and pianist), only beaten by Wagner and Beethoven. ;D

Chopin - he was first and more crazy.

Chopin, beyond doubt. Liszt is the Paganini of the keyboard. And while I love that sort of gymnastics, it wears thin. Chopin only grows deeper.

8)

I'd guess Chopin would win this.

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 02, 2012, 01:02:59 PM
Who do you prefer?

My choice is Liszt. One of the most amazing pianists this world has ever seen.

And one of the most amazing composers!

Quote from: madaboutmahler on February 02, 2012, 01:11:46 PM
This poll is just TOO hard....
I'll shut my eyes and pick one.

Again, where is the fruit option when you need it?!

That option is never needed - I go with Chopin.

Chopin, easily.

Quote from: madaboutmahler on February 02, 2012, 01:11:46 PM
This poll is just TOO hard....
I'll shut my eyes and pick one.

Again, where is the fruit option when you need it?!

Sigh.... Chopin. No, Liszt.... No, Chopin... No, Liszt... No, Chopin....

:'(

I just can't vote in this, I'm sorry... :)

  I feel the same way, difficult to choose, so no vote from me.  I love the melancholia in Chopin's music, even his most upbeat compostions (ie the waltzes) have a "hint" of melancholia.  Liszt is quite possibly one of the greatest revolutionaries in Western classical music. I consider him the "father" of progressive romanticism.

  marvin

Chopin is my choice - currently listening to the 16-disc box w/ Ohlsson on the keyboard -  :D

Probably not the best of piano comparisons?  Chopin was small (probably 5 1/2 ft in height & under 100 lbs. in weight) and tubercular, rarely gave public concerts, and composed a vast variety of wonderful piano music; Liszt was just over 6 ft and likely weighed nearly twice as much as Chopin - he was one of the 'Rock Stars' of the era during his years of public performances; dramatic, muscular piano pyrotechnics!  Just not the same for me - I do like Liszt but listen much more to the music of his friend. :)

Liszt


Sarge

And why isn't Alkan in the poll?

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 03, 2012, 06:22:35 AM
Liszt


Sarge

There!  Liszt wins, because one vote from Sarge   $:)    is worth dozens of votes!   0:)

Quote from: Cato on February 03, 2012, 06:46:38 AM
There!  Liszt wins, because one vote from Sarge   $:)    is worth dozens of votes!   0:)

;D :D ;D

Sarge

Quote from: North Star on February 03, 2012, 06:26:48 AM
And why isn't Alkan in the poll?

Low popularity?

Liszt for his ability to have a dramatic piano piece inserted into a 1920's horror movie without anyone noticing.

Schroeder!

Quote from: marvinbrown on February 03, 2012, 05:44:56 AM
  I feel the same way, difficult to choose, so no vote from me.  I love the melancholia in Chopin's music, even his most upbeat compostions (ie the waltzes) have a "hint" of melancholia.  Liszt is quite possibly one of the greatest revolutionaries in Western classical music. I consider him the "father" of progressive romanticism.

  marvin

Completely see what you mean about the 'hints of melancholia' in Chopin. I believe Oscar Wilde once famously said, "After playing Chopin, I weep over sins I did not commit..." - or something along those lines. ;) I play a lot of Chopin on the piano, so beautiful to play, much of it is very difficult technically and emotionally though. I find that my interpretation seems to change quite often...

Still cannot vote in this poll!

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 02, 2012, 01:02:59 PM
Who do you prefer?

My choice is Liszt. One of the most amazing pianists this world has ever seen.

Don't recall ever seeing him play, myself.

Any DVD's of him knocking about?

Im a pretty big Chopin fan so he gets my vote! :)

winner to battle Thalberg?

Lizst's reputation may have increased in more recent years, though I doubt it is anywhere near what it was within the classical field in his own time.  Chopin's reputation has taken fewer dips really so it's expected he takes the lead.

Some years ago I was casually dismissing Chopin as empty salon music, but I'm glad I've come to my senses; Chopin it is!

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on February 02, 2012, 01:19:14 PM
Chopin, beyond doubt. Liszt is the Paganini of the keyboard. And while I love that sort of gymnastics, it wears thin. Chopin only grows deeper.

8)

What's not deep is probably your knowledge of Liszt pieces. Your comparison to Paganini is absolutely unrelevant.

Paganini was a genius for 1 thing: getting the best out of a violin or a viola. You can argue that he was week regarding the rest.

Liszt piano pieces his fabulously rich, innovative and various, not only regarding piano playing but also harmony, thematic development or, obviously, tonality.
And he was nearly as innovative regarding orchestration.

I guess you ignore much of his orchestral pieces. As a fan of Haydn, you would have appreciated if you had come to knew them.
You can't be insensible to his orchestrations and thematic transformations.

Quote from: quintett op.57 on February 04, 2012, 04:56:29 AM
What's not deep is probably your knowledge of Liszt pieces. Your comparison to Paganini is absolutely unrelevant.

Paganini was a genius for 1 thing: getting the best out of a violin or a viola. You can argue that he was week regarding the rest.

Liszt piano pieces his fabulously rich, innovative and various, not only regarding piano playing but also harmony, thematic development or, obviously, tonality.
And he was nearly as innovative regarding orchestration.

I guess you ignore much of his orchestral pieces. As a fan of Haydn, you would have appreciated if you had come to knew them.
You can't be insensible to his orchestrations and thematic transformations.

Unnecessarily scathing?   :o  ***raises eyebrow***  Methinks so.   :(

Quote from: North Star on February 03, 2012, 06:26:48 AM
And why isn't Alkan in the poll?

If you start to bring in other pianists, where would you end?
Thalberg?
Felix Mendelssohn?
Fanny Mendelssohn?
Dussek?
Clara Schumann?
Who else have I forgotten?

I vote for Chopin because I love his lyrical power.

Well I don't think Thalberg would stand a chance with Chopin, Liszt, or Alkan. Nor do I really believe that many people would vote Alkan, but after Chopin, it isn't so easy to choose the second.

Funnily enough... I was once asked at a job interview to say who was better, Chopin or Liszt? (I had listed classical music and piano under my interests). I opined that Liszt was probably the better pianist, but Chopin was probably the better composer, IMO.

Thinking they were into classical music too, I then tried to explain my opinion with a more indepth discussion and was in the middle of rambling on about the Liszt B minor sonata... when it became apparent they had little idea of what I was talking about. They had asked me the question just to test whether I was lying on the CV about my interests  ::)

Quote from: quintett op.57 on February 04, 2012, 04:56:29 AM
What's not deep is probably your knowledge of Liszt pieces. Your comparison to Paganini is absolutely unrelevant.

Paganini was a genius for 1 thing: getting the best out of a violin or a viola. You can argue that he was week regarding the rest.

Liszt piano pieces his fabulously rich, innovative and various, not only regarding piano playing but also harmony, thematic development or, obviously, tonality.
And he was nearly as innovative regarding orchestration.

I guess you ignore much of his orchestral pieces. As a fan of Haydn, you would have appreciated if you had come to knew them.
You can't be insensible to his orchestrations and thematic transformations.

Well, next time let me know in advance which one you prefer, and I will vote for your preference instead of my own. Frankly, I like Paganini more than Liszt but that wasn't the question. I have a great number of Liszt's works, orchestral and solo, and I am not just enamored of them. But then, I don't really care for Romantic music anyway, and to me, Liszt epitomizes it. :)

8)

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on February 06, 2012, 03:56:23 PM
But then, I don't really care for Romantic music anyway, and to me, Liszt epitomizes it. :)

8)

Yeah you like that challenging music-- Boulez, Stockhausen, Xenakis etc ;D  You know really anti-romantic no sentiment approach.

Quote from: DavidW on February 06, 2012, 04:03:47 PM
Yeah you like that challenging music-- Boulez, Stockhausen, Xenakis etc ;D  You know really anti-romantic no sentiment approach.

There's something to be said for that... :)

8)

They are so different that it'd be a hard choice. But Liszt get my vote on account of longevity and quality and quantity of women.

Quote from: B_cereus on February 06, 2012, 03:04:10 PM
Funnily enough... I was once asked at a job interview to say who was better, Chopin or Liszt? (I had listed classical music and piano under my interests). I opined that Liszt was probably the better pianist, but Chopin was probably the better composer, IMO.

Thinking they were into classical music too, I then tried to explain my opinion with a more indepth discussion and was in the middle of rambling on about the Liszt B minor sonata... when it became apparent they had little idea of what I was talking about. They had asked me the question just to test whether I was lying on the CV about my interests  ::)

Homer Simpson: We were talking about chocolate
new Springfield nuclear plant owners: That was ten minutes ago!

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on February 06, 2012, 03:56:23 PM
Frankly, I like Paganini more than Liszt

My eyes got a migrane from reading that.

Quote from: Lethevich on February 07, 2012, 08:05:09 AM
My eyes got a migrane from reading that.

That's OK, I don't mind. It's not like I said I like either of them more than Haydn... :D

8)

Quote from: quintett op.57 on February 04, 2012, 04:56:29 AM
What's not deep is probably your knowledge of Liszt pieces. Your comparison to Paganini is absolutely unrelevant.

Paganini was a genius for 1 thing: getting the best out of a violin or a viola. You can argue that he was week regarding the rest.

Liszt piano pieces his fabulously rich, innovative and various, not only regarding piano playing but also harmony, thematic development or, obviously, tonality.
And he was nearly as innovative regarding orchestration.

I guess you ignore much of his orchestral pieces. As a fan of Haydn, you would have appreciated if you had come to knew them.
You can't be insensible to his orchestrations and thematic transformations.

I asked for Schroeder. Where's Schroeder?

Quote from: springrite on February 06, 2012, 05:20:14 PM
They are so different that it'd be a hard choice. But Liszt get my vote on account of longevity and quality and quantity of women.

Maybe but it would take quite a number of women to overcome George Sand.

Quote from: quintett op.57 on February 04, 2012, 04:56:29 AM

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on February 02, 2012, 01:19:14 PM
Chopin, beyond doubt. Liszt is the Paganini of the keyboard. And while I love that sort of gymnastics, it wears thin. Chopin only grows deeper.

8)

What's not deep is probably your knowledge of Liszt pieces. Your comparison to Paganini is absolutely unrelevant.

Actually, Liszt himself invites the comparison. Per Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandes_%C3%A9tudes_de_Paganini):

QuoteLiszt first heard Paganini in April 1831 and was so entranced by the unfettered expressiveness of his playing, and Paganini's ability to use his legendary technical ability for purely musical ends, that the young Liszt immediately declared his intention of achieving upon the piano an equivalent new technical mastery in order to unleash musical thoughts which had remained hitherto inexpressible.

We find, then, that Gurn's speaking of Liszt as the Paganini of the [piano] is pithy and apt.

Quote from: Gurnatron5500 on February 07, 2012, 08:18:59 AM
That's OK, I don't mind. It's not like I said I like either of them more than Haydn... :D

8)

Well, that would just be crazee talk! (For you, I mean, naturalmente.)

Thread duty: Banana.  I like both composers too well, and have too much respect for both as pianists.

Quote from: karlhenning on February 07, 2012, 08:46:19 AM
Thread duty: Banana.  I like both composers too well, and have too much respect for both as pianists.

::)

Karl, is there ever a case where you don't pick banana?

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 07, 2012, 05:24:02 PM
::)

Karl, is there ever a case where you don't pick banana?

Yes. If there is a "what is your favorite fruit" poll, he won't pick banana.

Quote from: springrite on February 07, 2012, 08:49:33 PM
Yes. If there is a "what is your favorite fruit" poll, he won't pick banana.

There would have to be a 'Stravinsky' option in that kind of poll.

Uggh.  Definitely Chopin, but I would love a 3rd choice.  :(

Tie fer shure...

Quote from: springrite on February 07, 2012, 08:49:33 PM
Yes. If there is a "what is your favorite fruit" poll, he won't pick banana.

Might have to go with mango, in fact.

Boy, how could I have missed this one when it first came out?  ???

Chopin all the way!  ;D

I am leaning towards Liszt, but before that, I want to express my position that the person who forces people to choose between the two and do not have "both" as an option deserves a beating!

Banana!

(http://www.abestweb.com/smilies/dancing.gif)

Quote from: karlhenning on January 14, 2013, 06:24:55 AM
Banana!

(http://www.abestweb.com/smilies/dancing.gif)

Well, it is quite possible that John had graduated from the class on What to do When you are Attacked by Someone Holding a Banana...

When you're walking home tonight and some great homicidal maniac comes after you with a bunch of loganberries, don't come crying to me!