The best performers of Liszt

[eduard]

Cziffra, L. Berman, Dichter

[stevie]

cziffra

then about 10 leagues lower with us mere mortals -

berman, horowitz,

[stevie]

and bolet is one of my favourites too, he makes slow...sound....good!

OMG 

[brewtality2]

Fiorentino and Cziffra. Cziffra is an obvious choice but sometimes I find his style a bit over the top. Fiorentino is less showy. Also Horowitz is in things like Sonata, funerailles and the pagets that he recorded. Hofmann in HR2, Tarentella and La Campanella. Arrau is good in a lot of Liszt.

[infectedmushroom]

Boris Berezovsky

[avetma]

Kemal Gekic.

His transcendental are fully amazing. He gave totally new meaning to all of them. In my opinion he passes beyond Cziffra and Berezovsky's interpretations.

[brahmsian]

Cziffra.

Kemal Gekic.

His transcendental are fully amazing. He gave totally new meaning to all of them. In my opinion he passes beyond Cziffra and Berezovsky's interpretations.

I saw him play Rach 3 in the fall last year. Amazing performance.

[etudes]

Cziffra,Gekic(thanks Kreso),Berman



then Argerich,Horowitz

[countchocula]

For me Berman is the only pianist on this list that fully captures both the poetry and the virtuosity of Liszt's music.  Cziffra is rarely poetic, Richter is never poetic.  Poetry and rhapsodic elements are a big part of his music - Liszt was an extremely sensitive artist, that is the beauty of it.  Horowitz and Cziffra have the drive and the crazy heat, but not the true beauty, for me anyway.  Both of their Liszt playing sounds a little adolescent to me.  I love Berman's Transcendentals, and Bolet's Annees de Pelerinage.  Busoni's sound recording of the 13th Hungarian Rhapsody is also fantastic. 
You have forgotten Fiorentino on this list, whose Liszt playing was as good as anybody's.

[arensky]

Horowitz, Cziffra, Berman

[stevie]

Cziffra is rarely poetic, ....Cziffra have the drive and the crazy heat, but not the true beauty, for me anyway.  Both of their Liszt playing sounds a little adolescent to me. 

what?!

[stevie]

[I Love Xenakis]

I voted for Bolet and Berman.

[pita bread]

ROFL @ the captions

Lang Lang's Liszt Tarentella masterclass was definitive.

[practicingnow]

Berman

[practicingnow]

and Fiorentino

[countchocula]

what?!

LOL - OK Correction - Cziffra was a sensitive artist for sure, and his Liszt was definitely good - I just like Berman's better - also Bolet and Fiorentino - they seems to have a better general sense of the music, the spirit and depth of it.  Cziffra's fingers seem a little colder by comparison, and a little weird at times.
Although technically no one can touch him...

[cherub_rocker1979]

Russell Sherman and Marc-Andre Hamelin should be on the list as well.

[sevencircles]

As well as Simon Barere the most underrated Liszt performer I know.

[tompilk]

Arrau i would say...

[JP]

Cziffra/Berman/Bolet.

[g_s_223]

Alfred Brendel has done a lot to reclaim Liszt as a serious composer, in particular his writings on this subject in his book Musical Thoughts and Afterthoughts are very interesting. His playing is not in the super-virtuouso league, but equally it is rather undesirable to require this as a precondition of significance.

P.S. I particularly like his performances of pieces from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, e.g. Pensées des morts.

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

I haven't yet listened to all of these pianists yet, however I must confess I really love Yundi Li's rendition of the Sonata in Bminor and other works. The Sonata is stated with much depth and power. I have also listened to Jeno Jando renditions of the Hungarian Rhapsodies. I must say I am very moved. The characteristic chords, the melancholy and longing of the Lassan, the individualistic and capricious Frisca, all belong together in his recording. I would also like to add that there is no best performance. Each one is characteristic. This is just my opinion.

[presto agitato]

Brendel, Perahia and Howard.

The best recording of the concertos is the one with Kristian Zimerman / Ozawa.

[mike_lang]

.

[practicingnow]

Alfred Brendel has done a lot to reclaim Liszt as a serious composer, in particular his writings on this subject in his book Musical Thoughts and Afterthoughts are very interesting. His playing is not in the super-virtuouso league, but equally it is rather undesirable to require this as a precondition of significance.

P.S. I particularly like his performances of pieces from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, e.g. Pensées des morts.

Ditto

[stevie]

LOL - OK Correction - Cziffra was a sensitive artist for sure, and his Liszt was definitely good - I just like Berman's better - also Bolet and Fiorentino - they seems to have a better general sense of the music, the spirit and depth of it.  Cziffra's fingers seem a little colder by comparison, and a little weird at times.
Although technically no one can touch him...

It wasn't expensive to run last winter.

The police officers think that it isn't fun to sing.

George thinks it is boring to work.

sense much  i do make ?

[donjuan]

Stephen Hough plays Liszt very well.

true.

I voted for Cziffra, Bolet, and Jando.

[demented cow]

I haven't yet listened to all of these pianists yet...

I bet most participants in polls haven't listened to all the people in the poll, but still vote anyway. I think poll participants should be made to say which of the pianists voted on they have actually listened to. (Otherwise certain artists might get a better rating for irrlevant reasons, e.g. they're not on expensive labels, they're better known, etc.)
Here's my rating for the Liszt players that I've heard enough of to talk about:
a. Musically best: Arrau (for depth), Bolet, Horowitz (for being generally moving)
b. Highest levels of hairraising fury: Barere, Berman
c. Most technically perfect: Hamelin, Argerich
d. Best combinations of a+b: Cziffra, Horowitz
e. Most underrated: Jando (esp. his Dante sonata)

It should be noted that I included Berman on the basis of his 50's transcendentals only (I don't have anything else by him except a cassette of him doing the TEs in the 80s live in Australia, where they were nothing like the 50s recordings.)
I almost included:
Freddy Kempf's TEs under b
Hough under a for what he does in slow passages.

[fiasco]

Nobody seems to like Cziffra's recordings of the TEs, yet here everybody seems to think he's the best performer of Liszt.  What gives?  Arrau's recordings of the TEs kick his ass (except for the trill in Mazeppa).  Kissin's Wilde Jagd is awesome, while Cziffra's is kind of lame in comparison.  His technique is incredible, but his interpretations just don't sit well with me, like with HR#2.  The best Cziffra Liszt recording is the Grand Galop, which blows me away everytime I hear it.

[sevencircles]

What is your vote for best recording of Hungarian Rhapsody no.2 ?

I haven´t heard one that I would say is perfect yet.

[brewtality]

Nobody seems to like Cziffra's recordings of the TEs, yet here everybody seems to think he's the best performer of Liszt.  What gives?  Arrau's recordings of the TEs kick his ass (except for the trill in Mazeppa).  Kissin's Wilde Jagd is awesome, while Cziffra's is kind of lame in comparison.  His technique is incredible, but his interpretations just don't sit well with me, like with HR#2.  The best Cziffra Liszt recording is the Grand Galop, which blows me away everytime I hear it.

There are much better Cziffra recordings, GGC is a musical lollipop. I think Ziff's liszt is great, but not that great. I don't think it is noticeably better than some of the pianists mentioned in his thread. I don't think he fares so well in the larger scale pieces (except for the Dante- which is godly). Actually, I think his Chopin is arguably better than his Liszt. For me, Cziffra should not be remembered for his Liszt as much as for his improvisatory genius and highly personal style and sound.

@sevencircles: Hofmann is clearly the best HR2 I've heard, after him I'd rank Horowitz (playing his own version) and several notches below, Hamelin.

[fiasco]

Volodos playing Horowitz's trans. of HR2 is pretty incredible - I really don't see how anyone could play it better.  Once you get to that level of virtuosity, I really don't think there is any "better" or "worse", it's all just a matter of personal taste.  (Seeing Lang Lang play it at Carnegie Hall in April, which should be interesting)

[brewtality]

Volodos playing Horowitz's trans. of HR2 is pretty incredible - I really don't see how anyone could play it better.  Once you get to that level of virtuosity, I really don't think there is any "better" or "worse"

Well, it is given that they are subjective terms. Personally, I think Horowitz is way above Volodos in all his transcriptions. V is too tame and his sound is wrong for the pieces.

[sevencircles]

V is too tame

V is pretty tame in the studio yes. He is for sure not tame live though and he knows exactly when it´s tastefull to bring the fire out to.

[brewtality]

V is pretty tame in the studio yes. He is for sure not tame live though

No, he is equally tame live in the horowitz trans I have heard.

[sevencircles]

No, he is equally tame live in the horowitz trans I have heard.

What have you heard?

[brewtality]

What have you heard?

Stars and Stripes, HR 15. Got any others which could convince me otherwise?

Another great Lisztian: Ernst Levy. I'm currently listening to his fantastic Liszt sonata. There is an equally stunning Benediction (best i've heard) on the same cd and and interesting (but typically unconventional) HR 12.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

I voted for Cziffra, Bolet and Berman.

Like one previous poster, I have to admit I voted for Berman on the basis of the TE; I've unfortunately not heard his Annees de Pelerinage.

I have some reservations about Cziffra in the more serious Liszt (whilst not wishing to perpetuate the widespread myth that he couldn't play serious music; note his Bartok 2) : I found for example that I took a dislike to his Funerailles. On the other hand, in the HRs and the Mephisto Waltz for example, his virtuosity is incredible (and, for someone who was such a "big" pianist, he can play with remarkable delicacy when called for).

In his later recordings Bolet does not have the fire of Cziffra, but he produces a quite beautiful sound, and seems very aware of the direction of the music and its structural aspects.

Of pianists that have not been mentioned in the poll, I'd like to mention Steven Hough; Earl Wild; Krystian Zimerman for the orchestral works; Jean-Yves Thibaudet for a flamboyant if light first piano concerto, and (in my opinion) a superb early recording of operatic transcriptions.  I also think that fine and underrated performances of the Liszt Sonata have been made by Simon Barere and Huseyin Sermet.

[elevateme]

theres hardly anyone on that list... wey get it?? list, liszt, heh, heh...

but seriously, if youre gona put "whos the best performer of so and so" u must put more performers!!! i think youve done a scarlatti one and a beethoven one aswell, and there werent enough players!!

theyre still good fun to do tho

[la_leggierezza]

Artur Pizarro

[jakev2.0]

Cziffra, Arrau

[a1]

  Yundi li

[tompilk]

hamelin's don juan is just amazing... you need to listen to believe...
tom

[mephisto]

It's certainly very very good....but I don't think he plays the the piece(the latter half) as fun as it could be.

It is the most technicly impressive though.

[dave santino]

Cziffra for the concerti and HRs, horowitz for his transcriptions and the general fire and romanticism he brings to Liszt (in the best possible way), and Bolet because his Un Sospiro and Petrarch 104 are absolutely breathtaking.