Customer Reviews

Franz Liszt: Rossini Transcriptions

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I've generally enjoyed the Naxos Liszt series. Its been pretty consistent. This is one of the two finest disks in the series, the other being Arnaldo Cohen's electric contribution. Gekic is a Yugoslavian pianist, with a mesmeric sense of colour and an indefatigable technique. He plays the infrequently recorded Rossini transcriptions. The Soirees are individually quite slight, but they have grace and charm. La Danza is well known in its original form, and is presented with tremendous bouyancy. The final Soiree, La Marinari, has a convincing feel of apotheosis, a sense of repose beyond the storm. It raises the curtain superbly on Gekic's overwhelming version of the Overture, which is played variously with charm, terror, and, in the final gallop, a hellbent abandon. Gekic has all of the glittering technique of the finest Russian pianists, but couples it with an uncanny intuition for the work's soul. This is a most rewarding disk.

Volume 7 of Naxos' Complete Piano Music of Liszt showcases a nice selection of transcriptions, which through the pianism of Kemal Gekic, sound beautiful, colorful, brilliant, emotional, and exciting. Gekic is one of those obscure but highly talented pianists that Naxos always uncovers for us. Although I have never heard him before, his discography shows that he has a heavy preference for the music of Liszt. The present recording confirms that Gekic is indeed a Lisztian, an expert interpreter, and a passionate conveyer of the master's music.

Rossini's original "Soirées musicales" are fine songs ranging from lightweight salon pieces to highly expressive miniatures. They are actually longer than one might expect (4-7 minutes), and most are memorable. In 1837 Liszt transcribed twelve of Rossini's songs much in the same way as Schubert's lieder. There is no doubt about Liszt's faithfulness to the original music, and yet there are many Lisztian touches that only enhance the charm of Rossini's ideas. Rossini's elegance and lyricism are maintained, but textural changes abound: Liszt transforms these innocent diversions into virtuosic piano works. It's difficult to highlight the best of these since they are all exquisite. 'L'invito' has an immensely gratifying tune and is one of the finest bolero's I've heard after Chopin's (Ravel's doesn't count). 'La gita in gondola' is a hefty seven minute barcarolle that alternates between soothing beauty and dramatic intensity. 'La pesca' is surprisingly engaging, too, with its brooding B section.

'La danza' is the most famous of Liszt's Rossini transcriptions and Gekic plays the hell out of it. Combine Rossini's good melodies with Liszt's fantastic virtuosic filigree and rhetoric and this sounds like a long-lost Paganini etude. My favorite transcription is the last of the set, 'Li marinari.' The music by itself is a gem and depicts sailors clinging for life amidst a raging seastorm. If one falls asleep to the quietude of 'La serenata,' Liszt's, and surely Gekic's treatment of 'Li marinari' will wake the listener up. Without sending out a wave of overpedaled bombast, Gekic summons apocalyptic storms of lower bass octaves that shock and awe. Liszt paints rumbling storms, flashing lightning, and consuming waves; the melancholic respite and rhythmic dance of the last section is a nice touch; Gekic's dynamics are incredible throughout.

Liszt's operatic transcription of Rossini's "Guillaume Tell" overture is also breathtaking. I've heard Leslie Howard's rendition, but Gekic's clean and dramatic performance is more memorable; he sets a new standard for playing this magnificent work. Most Rossini fans are aware of the composition's grandiosity and energy. It sways lightly in bel canto fashion, storms in a whirlwind of passion, and then finishes in a programmatic surge of pictorial music. Most know this overture, of course, for "The Lone Ranger" theme. Under Liszt's auspicious transcription, this "theme" is ravishing with its lustrous vigor and bravura.

Bottom line: Kemal Gekic does a marvelous job at playing these Liszt rarities, and to reward the listeners patience, he executes the William Tell Overture transcription with dazzling virtuosity and passion.

This recording is definitely one of the best I bought. Liszt's transcriptions of twelve Rossini's pieces are really brilliant piano pieces. They are so romantic, sensual, full of poetry and rhythm. Listening these beautiful pieces you will relax your heart and soul and you'll whish to dance. If you like Chopin's waltzes you will adore this CD.

Kemal Gekic is a very good piano player and I have a privilege to listen his playing in Sarajevo. So many years after I still remember how excited I was. Hi charmed audience with individual and spectacular playing.

And finally - price. This CD is real bargain. So, do not wait - GO FOR IT!!

This is pure fun. Rossini's originals, from his collection "Sins of My Old Age," are charming, disarming, tongue-firmly-in-cheek gems. They translate well in Liszt's piano transcriptions. But the truly astounding piece is Liszt's piano reduction of the William Tell Overture. "Reduction' is hardly the word because the piano--and pianist, of course--works overtime to create an quasi-orchestral sweep and grandeur. It should be illegal to play this piece if you have a technique less assured than Kemal Gekic's. That's because the only way to make it sound truly breathtaking, as it does here, is to make the piece sound easy as well, which it decidedly is not. Well, maybe it was for Liszt....

A fine recording from Naxos. The piano seems to be at a sensible remove, as if you're sitting halfway back in a small hall, creating a satisfyingly realistic listening experience--just right for the overture; it can fill a hall with its volume of sound!

As we troop towards Boot Hill, many experiences are progressively closed off to us. One of them is falling in love, unless there is a major rupture in life or our 'centre of thinking' shifts anatomically . . . . .

No matter if you are a nonagenarian or above, this disc offers you an opportunity to relive those blessed hours when you walked on the sun. If you are new to this repertoire, you will fall head-over-heels in love. Giddy with rapture, you'll want to broadcast the consummation to the world.

Take Rossini at his most melodious; Liszt at his most acute and a pianist who is a master of his craft and you'll end up with this CD. Arguably it is the greatest disc ever issued by Naxos. It expiates all those hideous releases that were 'broken on crosses too lonely to mention'. You only have to sample the opening bars of La Promessa to know that a haymaker is coming your way. Quite rightly, this recital was awarded a Rosette by the Penguin Guide (for whatever silly reason it has dropped off in recent editions). And to think it costs little less than a fiver in whatever currency.

Not knowing this disc will count as one of your own 'Sins of Old Age' come the day of reckoning.