![]() "Liszt had already played a great fantasia of his own, and Beethoven's Twenty-seventh Sonata. Reeves attended a concert of Liszt given in 1835: Paris rhapsodized over him: reproductions of his portrait were to be seen everywhere, and the newspapers called him the second Mozart, the ninth wonder of the world.Īn extraordinary and amusing account of one of Liszt's recitals was given in the autobiography of Henry Reeves. ![]() Rubinstein, Tausig and Bulow all admitted that they were mere children in comparison with Liszt" Oscar Beringer.ĭuring his concerting from Munich, Stuttgart, Strasbourg to Paris, Liszt convinces critics that even at the age of 12 he could play better than Moscheles and Hummel, the two great virtuosi of the day. I have seen whole rows of his audience, men and women alike, affected to tears when he chose to be pathetic: in stormy passages he was able by his art to work them up to the highest pitch of excitement through the medium of his instrument he played upon every human emotion. "Words cannot describe him as a pianist - he was incomparable and unapproachable. The most famous of modern sightreaders would undoubtedly be John Ogdon, who sightread Brahms 2 at the Proms after being engaged as an emergency last-minute substitute, reputedly sightread Boulez's second sonata (which considering it took Loriod six months to learn it really is quite incredible), and sightread live on British TV a piece of 19th century virtuoso salon music that he had just picked up in a secondhand shop. Possibly more significantly, in Alan Walker's bio, it is reported there were only two occasions when he felt unable to sightread what was brought to him, once with a Faure piece (Ballade iirc?) where he felt he didn't understand the music properly, and with Tausig's Das Geisterschiff, where he had to stop to work out how to play the chromatic glissando. There is also a documented anecdote of him in his teens sightreading AND transposing simultaneously whilst accompanying a singer (though to be fair, if it was fairly simplistic accompaniment this isn't actually that hard). Liszt is also reputed to have sightread Islamey and it is documented that he publicly sightread a piano concerto during an orchestral performance c.1840. Especially when you consider he didn’t just play the modern Transcendental studies but the harder precursors.Yes, the anecdote pertains to the Grieg piano concerto. Yet one can only admire the huge achievement. Leslie Howard’s landmark complete recording of Liszt on 99 discs is certainly a benchmark, but yet I feel the quality suffers because it was such a big project to take on. Also I agree with the other comment that Brendel can’t be overlooked in terms of the annees especially. I feel he rushed to issue this and had he waited a little I think his ideas of would have matured and technically they would have benefitted too. I also think that whilst Alim Beisembayev’s Transcendental studies are pretty decent, several other recordings including Arrau, Ovchinnikov, Berman, Cziffra and Berezovsky far outclass him. ![]() ![]() Other works on the CD include the supplement to the 2nd annee and a mephisto waltz that is stunning. The lyrical passages are startlingly beautiful, whilst the virtuosic passages are managed with ease. Berezovksy’s Liszt sonata (a live issue on CD) is emotionally one of the most supercharged performances there is. Of course we all have our favourites, but I don’t think we can have a discussion about Liszt without mentioning Boris Berezovsky whose Liszt output live and on CD is remarkable (especially if we include Trifonov, who I do not rate in most of his Liszt output). It’s true that some of his output is showy – all virtuosic flourishes for the sake of virtuosity – but his suites such as the Années de Pèlerinage or the Transcendental Etudes, and his transcriptions of Schubert songs demonstrate the absolute apogee of art, poetry, and beauty combined. His piano music combines technical virtuosity and emotional depth. He was an advocate of new music and up-and-coming composers and lent his generous support to people like Richard Wagner (who married Liszt’s daughter Cosima). ![]() Sure, as a performer he could be flamboyant and extravagant in his gestures, but he helped shape the modern solo piano concert as we know it today and he also brought a great deal of music to the public realm through his transcriptions (he transcribed Beethoven’s symphonies for solo piano, thus making this repertoire accessible to both concert artists and amateur pianists to play at home). In fact, he was a remarkable musician and human being. 3D rendering of Franz Liszt by Hadi Karimi ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |