Favourite 2 Liszt Transcendental Etudes

[nicko124]

This is to see which Transcendental Etudes are the most popular.

I am fond of nine of them (the other three I haven't got into yet) so the decision was difficult. I decided to vote for  '12.Tourmente de neige (Blizzard)' and '7.Eroica' which are my favourites. After that it would be 'Wild Hunt' and 'Mazeppa'.

I quite like Feux Follets but it definately would not be in my top 5, I know how popular it is though.

Regards

nicko124

[stevie]

10 and 11.

mazeppa closely behind, and really all of them are awesome.

[thalbergmad]

10 & 4 for me.

I have always felt kinda sorry for number 10 as it has not got a name.

Or has it???

[pita bread]

Mazeppa and Chase-da-Brotha 

[mlsmithz]

'Paysage' is definitely my favourite, and then, unusually, 'Preludio'.  I love the placid atmosphere of 'Paysage', as well as its deceptively simple construction, while I find 'Preludio' lots of fun to play and listen to.  Also ranking high on my preference list are the A minor etude, 'Eroica', 'Wilde jagd', and 'Chasse-neige'.  I don't dislike any of them per se, though I must admit I don't particularly care for 'Mazeppa' - it's probably my least favourite of the set.  It just doesn't do anything for me, and the major resolution feels loud and fake (apt though it is given Mazeppa's eventual fate).

To answer thalbergmad's question, the F minor etude is sometimes referred to as 'Appassionata' (the A minor etude, meanwhile, is sometimes called 'Fusees' ('Rockets')), but this wasn't Liszt's idea (it might have been von Bulow's idea, but perhaps I'm confusing the TEs with the Chopin preludes Op.28), and it's not widely used.  Still, given that 'Paysage' and Beethoven's 'Pastoral' symphony are both in F major, while 'Eroica' and Beethoven's 'Eroica' symphony are both in E-flat major, it would be fitting for a transcendental etude sharing the key of F minor with Beethoven's 'Appassionata' sonata to bear the title 'Appassionata'. (I know Liszt was an admirer of Beethoven - not to mention the most famous student of Beethoven's most famous student.)

[stevie]

i believe busoni was the one that named the 10th

[nanabush]

I like Wild Jagd and Mazeppa... I also like every single other one... namely the first and second.

[thierry13]

10 & 4 for me.

I have always felt kinda sorry for number 10 as it has not got a name.

Or has it???

10 is named Apassionata ...

[ted]

I put Wild Hunt a clear first and after that it's a toss-up but I chose Mazeppa. I like Wild Hunt, both to listen to and to play because, unlike the others, it has two clearly and very effectively contrasting ideas, which form I am very fond of in romantic piano music. I am surprised Feux Follets hasn't had more votes. I do not like it particularly but everybody seems to talk about it a lot.

[nicko124]

10 is named Apassionata ...

'Apassionata' is not an official title for Etude 10 just as 'Fusées (Rockets)' is not the title for Etude 2.

See here for more information regarding this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_Etudes

[Waldszenen]

No. 5 (Feux Follets) and No. 12 (Chasse Neige).

[pseudopianist]

1 and 7

[prometheus]

My two favorites both have 5 votes, I never expected Allegro Agitato Molto to score so well since it is rarely mentioned.

[etudes]

Mazeppa and Feux Follets

[nicko124]

My two favorites both have 5 votes, I never expected Allegro Agitato Molto to score so well since it is rarely mentioned.

Yes, I would have expected Eroica to be more popular than Allegro Agitato Molto as it's been discussed here recently. What I like about Eroica is the Octave passage in the middle which I find very moving to listen to: it must be fantastic to play it...
...Has anyone learnt this?

[fiasco]

Narrowing down between 2, 4, 8, & 10.... (although lately I've just begun to appreciate 12..., and kinda stopped listening to 6)  So hard to decide... but guess I'll go with Wilde Jagd as my favorite with Mazeppa closely behind.  #2 is awesome, but the Mazeppa just has so much more going on.  Guess if I was only allowed to listen to two of the TEs for the rest of my life, I'd tire of #2 well before #5.  And I can always learn #2 much easier than #5, ha ha.

I'm wondering... is Cziffra's versions of these anyone's favorites?  It seems like he was perfectly suited to play these, and Liszt was his main thing, but his recordings of the TEs are among the worst I've heard.  Why not use the pedal, like in the opening measures of #8, when Liszt clearly called for it?  His Mazeppa stands up, and he plays them all better than I ever will, but I listen to Arrau or Kissin (whose Wilde Jagd is incredible) and Cziffra's interpretations pale in comparison.

[stevie]

yes, cziffra's studio TEs are quite disappointing, but the live recordings ive heard were awesome.
i have a live video of him playing the 10th, amazing.

[avetma]

yes, cziffra's studio TEs are quite disappointing, but the live recordings ive heard were awesome.
i have a live video of him playing the 10th, amazing.

Cziffra's stiudio TEs are more than disappointing. Are there any live recordings on net available to download?

My favourites are Chasse-neige and Mazeppa. Right behind them are second Molto Vivace and Wilde Jagd. Performer, of course, Kemal Gekic.

[thorn]

Harmonies du Soir and Chasse-Neige. Ricordanza also joint favourite, but not enough options.

[mlsmithz]

When I was a regular on MP3 servers (I've since sworn off them), I had an MP3 of Cziffra playing the A minor TE, and although I suppose it requires a sharp, spiky approach (which he took), there was still something lacking in it.  I also had MP3s of Arrau playing 'Preludio', 'Vision', 'Eroica', 'Wilde jagd', and 'Chasse-neige', and Leslie Howard playing 'Paysage' (I had the full set of twelve but didn't know the artists for all of them), and they seemed to capture more of the emotional content (or, in the case of 'Preludio', free-spirited energy) than Cziffra's rendition of the A minor etude.

I have Berezovsky's recording of all twelve and find his renditions good for the most part (I prefer Arrau's version of 'Preludio') - his performances of 'Ricordanza' and 'Harmonies du soir' both clock in between nine and ten minutes, which is perhaps a bit brisk, but they don't feel rushed (by contrast, I've heard recordings of 'Ricordanza' which drag over eleven minutes and they feel sluggish).