Customer Reviews

Liszt: Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (Piano Transcription)

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Liszt's transcription of the Symphonie Fantastique is one of his "partitions" -- essentially faithful to the score, unlike his fantasies and paraphrases. Liszt's enthusiasm for Berlioz is well known, and every scintilla of that fascination is imparted in this wholly thrilling paraphrase. For an orchestral piece written with the tone colours and the amplitude that this work has, the paraphrase is little short of amazing.

Idil Biret has formidable hands, and some of the artistry of her illustrious teacher, Alfred Cortot. That said, there are times when she exasperates me. Her choice of tempo can be puzzling, her phrasing uningratiating, and Naxos has often given her close, airless sound. But on this disk there are no reservations at all. She negotiates the crazy technical demands of this work with ease, and maintains her beauty of sound across a formidably wide dynamic. Her finale recaptures the barbarism and shock that the work's first audiences must have felt. This is almost certainly her finest recording, even allowing for her excellent Brahms and Chopin.

She is a wonderful artist . Hetr comiitment and special attention to the romantic mood is more than obvious . In this case , she accepted the challenge of recording the world prepmiere of the Fantastique for piano solo in Liszt {s arrangement .

I am not a hard fan of the piano transcriptions , but in this special case , the elegance and power might join with superb idiomatism and vivid presence .

The second movement and specially the third movement (A ball) is played with remarkable maestry and meticulous balance .

Biret is from Turkey and since I' ve got the lp version 0f 1979 , which sounds wilder and more irreverent than this version , it keeps the essential facets you must to know about this remarkable recording .

Idil Biret premiered Liszt's truly fantastic transcription of Berlioz's symphonic masterwork on record back in 1979. This Naxos remake was caught in 1992 at the Clara Wieck Audiotorium, which, thankfully, provides far more natural sound than the Heidelberg studio that has been the venue for most of Biret's Chopin, Brahms and Rachmaninov recordings.

I am most obviously no fan of Biret's more often than not annoyingly willful pianism. As Jed Distler notes in the editorial review above, this is a largely unwieldy and technically taxing piano score. In the Chopin, Rachmaninov and Ligeti Etudes, Biret is clearly struggling to cope with the difficulties, often having to opt for overly tardy tempos in order to stay afloat. However, for some reason--or perhaps just because of the unwieldiness of the score, and, again, in spite of leisurely pacing--Biret's struggle rather serves the music in this particular case. Indeed, Biret is more lilting than the somewhat stiff Howard in A Ball; her Scene in the Fields, if again tardy, may also be marginally more atmospheric. Having said that, Howard is unquestionably far more idiomatic sounding in the pyrotechnic March and Witch's Sabbath.

Admittedly, I have not heard Todd Crow's rendition on MSR Classics. However, until one of the great pianists takes up the challenge, Howard is a more than satisfactory guide to this sadly underestimated piano transcription--with Biret being a valid complementary alternative.

TIMINGS: 14:21, 6:26, 16:48, 6:10, 12:09

REFERENCE: Howard