Liszt Rhapsody No. 2 arranged by Maxwell Eckstein

[marsippius]

This is a version of myself playing Main Themes from Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt, as arranged by Maxwell Eckstein.  I played this in public recently.

The piano is an approximately 85 year old Kurtzmann upright tuned recently but
'wore out' you know lol.

I recorded this using a small microphone and a Windows pc, using Audacity.exe .
Audacity can export as *.mp3 .

I am my own worst critic of course, but would appreciate professional comments.  I have returned to piano studies after several years, though I studied as a youngster and I have a few semesters of college level studies.

I am currently taking a break from piano lessons, which will continue in a few days from now.

Please enjoy this version of Rhapsody No. 2; thanks.

Marsippius

[gyzzzmo]

Cant say much about your playing, i was too shocked by that ugly arangement :S

[thierry13]

Cant say much about your playing, i was too shocked by that ugly arangement :S

I'm sorry, but you really are too kind ...

[aewanko]

Cant say much about your playing, i was too shocked by that ugly arangement :S

Truth.

[marsippius]

The audience response was very approving.  Meaning, members of the audience who heard this piece liked it.

[rachfan]

Hi marsippius,

I believe that your playing has good potential, and I encourage you to continue with your studies, both for continuing your progress with the piano as well as for your enjoyment in making music.  I must admit that as a youngster I played this same piece.   

Maxwell Eckstein (I'm not sure whether he's still alive now) was an editor and arranger often published by Carl Fischer Co.  He also did some composing.  I recall, when I was an intermediate student in the 1950s, that Eckstein arrangements, "revisions", and edited courses for the piano, were fairly popular as teaching pieces at the time.  And from the student's perspective, playing his arrangements was also a way to play a famous and difficult piece that would have been impossible to learn using the actual score.  In addition to the Liszt "Rhapsody No. 2", Eckstein's "Blue Lagoon" was another of his popular teaching pieces at the time.  So this genre did have some usefulness as a teaching/learning tool.  I don't know if today teachers of intermediate students still use any of Eckstein's stuff or not.  Hopefully not.

But at this stage though, it sounds as though you're approaching your piano studies earnestly and seriously.  If so, here's my advice:  As you select repertoire for your level of performance, avoid arrangements, simplifications, poor transcriptions (many are excellent), and heavily, over-edited sheet music.  There is a virtually endless repertoire at ALL levels out there--including Baroque, Viennese Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, and Modern periods--that will better serve your purposes for learning and building a repertoire that will bring you years of enjoyment.  You'll progress faster too by studying scores as written by the masters.  Work closely with your teacher to carefully select suitable pieces of interest and challenge, using only respected editions.

Good luck in your piano playing endeavors!

[marsippius]

Thank you, rachfan, for these encouraging enlightening and informative comments.

Without objection, it should be perfectly alright for others to record and upload their
version of this Rhapsody 2 as arranged by Maxwell Eckstein, no?  As far as I know, anybody that wants to is thus permitted.  To be clear, I wish you would.

In those days (1950s) the big name alongside Eckstein was/is John Schaum, with the Blue Book, Purple Book, Orange Book and so forth.  Eventually things turned to the My Favorite Solo Album, which contains this Rhapsody 2 arrangement by Maxwell Eckstein.

m

[rachfan]

Hi marsippius,

Yes, often members here post their renditions of the same piece, so it's perfectly OK to do so.  It's interesting to hear the varying interpretations.  Regarding the Rhapsody No. 2, it was a half century ago when I last played that arrangement, and no longer even have the sheet music.  Thus, I can't post it.  Moreover, I don't play any arrangements--I believe that rhapsody was actually the only one I ever studied.  Since that time I've played only from original scores.  On this same forum page, though, my recordings include music of Bortkiewicz, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin.  Perhaps one or more of these might interest you.     

[suzananne]

Hi Marsipius,

Just heard this piece today - I know that at this point in your life, you are interested in comments of other pianists in honest critique. However, from one who is truly a laymaness, music, feeds the senses much like food does. Both genres envoke honest though sharp critique from their judges and peers as well, however it is the masses of tone deaf, musically illiterate who can't carry a tune in a bag who choose what is pleasing because the most studied, learned of the genre lose much  of their pleasure is lost by mere observation. It is we, the masses whose hearts are touched and therefore love hearing a piece because it makes us feel good. Thank you, Marsipius

[marsippius]

Hi suzananne,

Thanks for listening and adding your comments!

Interested in comments from other pianists, yes.

Point of view is influenced by training and experience background, yes.

General audiences are included too.

If interested, please see my other selections too -- Chopin and Clementi for now.

Marsippius.

[stevemaninoff]

After watching tom and jerry and hearing this a few times here i must admit i was dissapointed a bit in this rendition..yet...good job on the playing of it. I printed the original and wow...i can't even get through it..is tuff stuff to be sure.

[joyna]

To Marsippius:
     I enjoyed listening to your rendition of the Liszt Rhapsody very much!  I
have always wanted to play it, and have the sheet music or the original; but it is too difficult for me.  I was so thrilled to know there was a simpler version, I became a Gold Member just to see if I could get a copy from this site.
     If you would be kind enough to post or attach the sheet music you used so
that I could print it out, I would be most grateful.
                                                                        Sincerely,
                                                                       joyna

[marsippius]

Hi Joyna,
Thank you for your kind comments.

Although I would like to post a link, I believe for now that the forum rules
will serve to prevent me from doing so.  However, I can tell you that
I have found what may be the same version of this Main Themes from
Rhapsody 2, downloadable as pdf, for a tiny price.  If you can use a search engine?
I hope this helps.  Happy studying.
m

[joyna]

Hi Marsippius,
     Thank you for replying to my request so promptly.  It occurred to me after
I sent my message that copyright laws might prevent you from posting your printed
music.  I have access to Google, Yahoo, AOL,etc.  Is this what you are referring to?
I will check and see if I can find the sheet music you used.
                                                                  Thanks again,
                                                                   joyna