Franz Liszt Appreciation Thread

[rach2jlc]

I'm listening even as we speak to Claudio Arrau play Liszt's B minor Piano Sonata and the Trancendental Etudes.

As somebody who, in another life, wishes he would have done more with piano, it doesn't get much more amazing (or incredibly difficult technically) than these pieces. The second and fourth movements of the sonata are amazing, and the Mazeppa (no. 4) and Harmonies du soir (no. 11) are particularly standouts from the Etudes.

DEFINITELY worth downloading off of itunes, I think, if you want to hear just what a piano can be made to do in the right hands...

 

[bach]

i'm listening to arrau ATM but beethoven's 5th piano concerto.
franz liszt is an a-hole

rachMANINOFF, 2 jil????
word

 

[Willsw]

 

[Neo_Version 7]

Hahaha, that old man's got a six-pack.

 

[Willsw]

Most composers were fairly fit.

 

[bach]

 

[bach]

Originally Posted by Willsw

Most composers were fairly fit.

no ****

 

[Neo_Version 7]

Now things are getting out of hand. That composer's head obviously does not blend well with that body.

 

[Artisan Fan]

The Nojima Liszt recordings on Reference are sublime.

 

[rach2jlc]

Originally Posted by bach

i'm listening to arrau ATM but beethoven's 5th piano concerto.
franz liszt is an a-hole

rachMANINOFF, 2 jil????
word

Correct on the rachmaninoff 2... but the "jlc" are my initials.

Some other interesting recordings for Liszt would be Richter playing the Liszt Concerto no. 2. The first concerto is the most famous (especially as Gargamel's introductory music from "The Smurfs") but as an entire piece of music, I prefer the second.

I haven't heard the Nojima recordings, AF... thanks for mentioning them. I'll have to give them a listen.

 

[audiophilia]

Not a fan of Nojima, but love Ref.

Big fan of Arrau. What a musician.

 

[ppllzz]

i really dislike liszt, too flashy

 

[rach2jlc]

Originally Posted by andyliu52

i really dislike liszt, too flashy
Fair criticism for a lot of his pieces, but keep in mind that he was a pianist who had to wow his audience... sort of like a Hungarian, 19th century Jimi Hendrix or Clapton. Nevertheless, I don't know that your criticism holds for the pieces I've mentioned above... the Sonata in B Minor is simply an amazing, HUGE achievement for piano and the Transcendental Etudes are as beautiful as they are technically interesting. I don't know that they're as "flashy" as they are attempts to push the piano beyond where anybody thought it could go. Likewise, the second concerto really lacks ANY noticeable cadenza or showy piano parts, though it is technically very difficult. The FIRST concerto, though, feels much more "flashy" and thus less interesting musically to me.

 

[rach2jlc]

Originally Posted by bach

no ****

Bach's packin' heat! Geesh, what a guy... he found the time to write weekly Cantatas for his church position, father 20 children (several of whom were musical geniuses in their own right), AND hit the gym enough to get a chiseled body.

 

[mink31]

I'd recommend the Hungarian virtuoso Cziffra for Liszt. IMO, the way he played the music sounds something like what Liszt's audiences would have heard--real bravura and risk-taking.

So risky, in fact, that Cziffra was hauled off to a labor camp for "disturbing the peace" with his fiery playing in a Budapest cafe.