Customer Reviews

Liszt: Complete Paganini Etudes

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I almost cried listening to the original verions of the Paganini studies, I'm a piano major in college and I just can't see how these things can be played. The original versions are without a question among the most difficult works in piano literature, and they are virtually NEVER played in concert. This CD will show you why. Leslie Howard is superhuman, and his recordings on this CD of the more familiar later versions of the Paganini studies are my preference over the 3 other sets of them that I have on CD.

Every Paganini Etude in the "Leslie Howard" recording is very brilliant in every way. Leslie always produces very bold, rich tone of every note that he plays. It is always very "Grandios". When I first listened to this recording, I was very stunned because of the incredible rage and intensity that Leslie Howard was able to produce, while at the same time it sounds as if he has no problem with any type of technical difficulty with any of the Etudes. These pieces are truly one of world's most difficult pieces, but obviously "The Great Leslie Howard" has definitely surpassed all of that. Leslie Howard is truly, at least to me, the next "Real Liszt" especially mainly since he has learned and recorded every single Liszt piano work that there is. I truly believe that Leslie Howard is one of the greatest pianists' in the world of all of time.

If you're familiar with Liszt Etudes and interested in going deeper, this is a great disc and a must for your collection. However, it's more a pianist's disc than a listener's disc, recorded to show other pianists how much can be done with these notoriously difficult pieces. For the listener who is not necessarily interested in hearing all the different versions/styles/variations of each piece, I highly recommend Freddy Kempf's recording of the Transcendentale etudes (also reviewed on Amazon).

Liszt: Complete Paganini Etudes is a recording played by Leslie Howard on this Hyperion Records Limited recording from 1997. The sound quality is very clear and it sounds as if one is listening to it live. Leslie Howard has written the music which are both well-written and informative. Highly recommended. 5/5.

Leslie Howard tries really hard to play the early versions of the Paganini etudes on this CD but unfortunately just does not have the technique to pull it off. The playing comes off as slow, clumsy and most of all, unmusical. To get a better idea of what the earlier studies are suppose to sound like under the hands of a great technician, check out Nikolai Petrov's rendition: Nikolai Petrov Plays Works on Themes By Paganini.

As most on this site agree, these are extremely well played by a pianist of unsurpassed talent and technique. Would it be too much of a stretch to wonder if the ONLY reviewer who does not agree seems to think that Leslie Howard is a female??? Could this be a bit of sexism coming in, however in error?

If you enjoy Liszt, there is no better than this, which HE plays so well.

Like Paganini's 24 Caprices for solo violin and other virtuoso works influenced by Paganini, these pieces are best to listen to if you have an idea of the difficulty of these pieces. If you enjoy the complexity of these etudes and have not heard the Paganini Caprices, I suggest you listen to them.

The first fifteen tracks are very similar to each other. Tracks 7-12 are very similar to the corresponding track in 1-6. In almost all of the first fifteen tracks, you can hear the Caprice which inspired each track. In tracks 1 and 7, the opening is similar to that of the Paganini's 5th Caprice in A minor. Though after that, the similarity ends. Tracks 2 and 8 are based on Paganini's 17th Caprice in E flat major. Tracks 4 and 10 are based on Paganini's 1st Caprice in E major. Tracks 5 and 9 are based off of Paganini's 9th Caprice in E major. The last two tracks bear little resemblance to any of Paganini's Caprices.

As I play the viola, it is somewhat difficult for me to understand the difficulty of these pieces for the piano. However, when Liszt wrote these pieces, his objective was to make virtuoso pieces on the level of Paganini's mastery of the violin. I have not listened to these pieces, the Paganini Caprices, or some of Rachmaninioff's pieces for the emotion behind them, but rather to enjoy the pure complexity of these pieces. I can not say much more about them as I am not very well versed with the piano, but I enjoyed them as much as the Paganini Caprices as performed by Itzhak Perlman.

The "Liszt of the violin" meets the "Paganini of the piano" (!) That said, you'll love the power of this disc, if it's power you love. Leslie Howard is more than up to the challenge of playing music from two demonic titans. Long live Liszt, Paganini, and Howard.

I give Dr. Howard loads of credit that she well-deserves for her extraordinairy feats in the piano world. However, this particular CD, in my opinion, is a poor reflection of Romantic/Dramatic/Emotional Liszt piano music (The disc is complete though!). The music produced in the recording sounds like an above average grad student with excellent technique, but little, strange emotion (very mature, but small in quantity and strange in quality). Try Caroline Oltmanns' recording of the Paganini Etude in E flat Major...then you'll see what I mean when I say Romantic/Dramatic/Emotional Liszt music. In addition, Dr. Oltmanns' interpretation, technically, is far superior as well.