Customer Reviews

The Best Of Liszt

5 star:		(5)
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3 star:		(2)
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There is no better Liszt recording on the market at any price. The depth of understanding, brilliance of execution, and mind-boggling technical prowess make this recording a joy for novices and aficionados alike.

Enjoy!

I've lived with this CD, and similar Liszt CD's by artists of equal fame, for at least two years. My admiration -- my gratitude -- for this one rises with each listening. I believe that Liszt would be very grateful for these performances, could he hear them. It is difficult to imagine a pianist serving a composer more thoroughly than Dichter does here. There is no careless note, yet no faltering in momentum or vitality. Dichter has mastered the music, yet remains its servant. His performances of the few meditative pieces on this CD are as impeccable as his work on the many bravura ones; deeply felt, and tastefully expressed. This seems a treasure house to me; its length is 145 minutes. The engineers have depressed or compressed the dynamic range, I think; there is not enough difference between piano and forte for my taste... I am perhaps equally fond of Philips' 2-disc edition of Liszt's Annees de Pelerinage I-III, performed by Brendel and Kocsis, 289-462-312-2. Philips' 2-disc edition of Lizts's etudes, with Arrau and Magaloff, is of less interest to me at this time; I suppose this is my reaction to the compositions themselves.

There are a ton of great, well-known pieces on this 2-CD set, and it's a fantastic deal! Very beautiful in all respects except that, I agree with the reviewer below--the DB range of playing is not as wide or dynamic as it should be. It would be better if it was a bit HARDER and more powerful!--this is essential for the passion and intensity that Liszt created. Also, Mephisto Waltz seems to have been shortened. But all in all, good collection at a good price.

This Phillips label compact disc presents us with many fine works for piano by the incredible Franz Liszt (1811-1886) who together with Frederic Chopin revolutionzed the piano for the 19th century. On here are the Mephisto Waltz, Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 1-12, Etudes, Valses and transcriptions from Paganini's La Campanella and the Waltz from Gounod's opera Faust.
I like to think that the first cd, tracks 1-10 represents the softer side of Liszt. His friendship with Frederic Chopin influenced his lighter, romantic and nocturnal type of music, which are found in such works as Schwanengesang (Swan Song) "Un Sospiro" and Les Jeux D'Eux A La Villa D'Este. The second cd, tracks 1-10 represent some of the more dramatic and intense works for piano, among them the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C Sharp Minor, which opens the second cd. The work has been orchestrated, it's polyphonic festive mood has been used in the Looney Tunes cartoons. It is meant to describe the folk dancing of Hungary. The Fantasia on the Waltz from Gounod's Faust is incredibly demanding and sweeping, beautiful in this rendition. All the works are performed by the piano artist Misha Dichter. Although to be quite honest, this is not the best of Franz Liszt per se. It only provides us with high quality piano works. But Liszt was more than a radical new pianist, he was also a fine orchestral conductor. He invented the symphonic poem, or tone poem, which was greatly used in the 19th century, influencing such composers as Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Why did'nt they have Liszt's great symphonic poems the Dante Symphony and the Faust Symphony ? Also the Dance Of Death Totentanz should have been here, also his fantastic piano concerto. These days, it's hard to find a great interpreter of Franz Liszt. So much of his music is out of this world. It feels like only an octupus with millions of hands and fingers would aptly play his complex, multi-melodic score.

Franz Liszt was a remarkable composer in his day and quite a spectacle to watch. This cd is absolutely a delight. Here are on quality performance the Hungarian Rhapsodies although not complete but the No. 2 is here. There is also a Fantasia on the waltz by Gounod. The music is excellent and Phillips has done gret recordings in the past and are much in the same quality line as Mercury Living Presence and EMI. I hope u enjoy this cd as much as i did.

I find for the most part this is an excellent recording and "La Campanella" is breakthaking in its rhythmic dynamics and especially in the upper keyboard trills that are so much a part of this piece's intense virtuosity. I wish someone would reissue Gary Graffman's long out-of-print recording of this piece. I recall it being the best I ever heard.
Where I have serious reservations is in Dichter's playing of the etude "Un Sospiro". I am open to being corrected but where in the world did he come up with the insertion of a 4 or 5 bar improvisation before the recapitulation of the theme? I've never heard that before. But for overall GRAND Liszt playing, I agree with the on-line reviewers-nothing beats the Jorge Bolet recordings.

A very good and recommended recording. The only thing I miss is more lyricism. Traditionalists may argue that lyricism has little place in Liszt, but look and listen! There are lots of beautiful melodic passages that need carefull attention to phrasing and tone. It would make this recording milder and sweeter to the ear. But as far as the virtuosity is concerned, no complaints. But don't forget, you can only be flashy for so long before it gets dull....!