Customer Reviews

Piano Concertos 1-3

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

 

 

Without a doubt, this is one of the great all time recordings of Liszt...The piano conertos are not to be believed. The passion and brilliance of the Totentanz and the Maladiction (far outclasses George Bolet!!!) with amazing individuality, yet never loses sight of the Lisztien component...and all this from a pianist who has been primarily associated with the contemporary repetoire and the music of John Cage for the last 15+ years! I have never heard a better performance of the Schubert-Liszt Wanderer Fantasie. Should be reissued. This CD set is just too good to be a "Lost Classic"

This is without a doubt one of the best recordings of Liszt's Piano Concerto #1 around. I have never heard the Concerto played with such fire and passion, especially interpretation of both the Malediction and the Dies Irae were astounding.

I have Richter recording on vinyl, and I have to agree with The American Record Guide's assessment, that this recording is right up there.

This 1997 release with Joshua Pierce and the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia under Paul Freeman is quite a disappointment. Pierce's playing is lacking in both technique and musicality on nearly every piece on this album with the possible exceptions of Malediction and Liszt's orchestral transcription of Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie. The interpretation of Busoni's orchestration of the Rhapsodie Espagnole is weak in that the tempi are often too slow and Pierce does not have the power or the emotion that pianists like Hough, Arrau and Cziffra do that have made their recordings much more enjoyable. These recordings of the three concerti, the third one being a great rarity as it was not published concurrently with the other two concerti, are also sub par. This recording of the third concerto is interesting only because it is one of the only recordings that are currently available, however it is not worth buying this CD for this one work. One piece that Pierce manages to be somewhat successful in is Malediction. This piece, too, is not played frequently and few recordings of it are available. This rendition is superior to Brendel's because it is played faster and as a result gains a sense of eerie diablerie that Brendel can never gain at slower tempi despite his superior technique and musicianship. Bottom line: Unless you are an absolute Liszt fanatic, this CD is not worth buying as six of the eight pieces can be easily found in recordings with better pianists, more skilled orchestras and more knowledgeable conductors.