Finally someone else who doesn't like Liszt!! I make one silly comment about him and everyone nominates me for stupidest person in the world, but now here we have someone else who feels as I do. Hoooorrraayyy! If only this person also hated Bosendorfers. Ooohh.. could you imagine Liszt played on a Bosendorfer? Now I'm going to have nightmares.
Watts' Pag studies. Cziffra's TE's and Rhapsodies. Zims or Richter's Concertos.If you don't like Liszt, it's hard to advise - are they any works you like? the later wierd arse stuff? the more poetic or the virtuosic?
Try the Sergio Fiorentino "Contemplative Liszt" disc. I doubt it will be what you expect of him..
Well, Webern said he "detests" it and you aren't having a go at him. Lots of really intelligent scholars hate Liszt, except for the B minor sonata. And Martha Argerich doens't even like the B minor sonata that much. Good composers write from their hearts and from what they hear. Liszt wrote only from his hands whatever felt good to play and fit under his fingers. That's why all his music sounds impressive but meaningless. It's there only for the physical gratification of the performer, who cares about the audience except to impress them with speed and volume and a few cheesy adagio cliches. To be honest, I regret saying he was a rip-off artist, because I think if he would have done some ripping off it would have improved his work. Besides, what would you be willing to say about composers you don't like? A bunch of indirect implications that no one would pay attention to? Probably. That's the price you pay for being moderate in everything. See, if I were you, my name would be Ilovepie. But that's just me.
And one more thing, who is the most famous liszt player ever? lang lang. I rest my case.
This sounds promising, but i couldn't find the disc you mention, only one containing the obligatory piano sonata. Is it out of print?
I'm sick of talking about Liszt because everyone here defends him like they're sleeping with him. I want to talk about some composers that I actually like.
Well, Lang Lang is the only one who plays Liszt as it ought to be played, in a manner that is totally profane and shamelessly ostentatious. The other people you mentioned wasted their time and talent on Liszt. They were too good for him.Didn't Liszt study with Czerny or something? So basically he probably never got away from meaningless exercises in C major. This numbed his brain for the rest of his life. I'm sick of talking about Liszt because everyone here defends him like they're sleeping with him. I want to talk about some composers that I actually like.
Well, Lang Lang is the only one who plays Liszt as it ought to be played, in a manner that is totally profane and shamelessly ostentatious. The other people you mentioned wasted their time and talent on Liszt. They were too good for him.
Sometimes I think it is easy for people to be get a negative opinion of Liszt, because, yes, it is undeniable that he wrote a lot of flashy trash. I think that aspect of his music has to be put in the context of his life and times - he was of course a virtuoso performer and as such it was expected that he would produce and perform crowd-pleasing music. Almost all the virtuosi of his time did likewise. If you read letters he wrote, I think it is obvious he was acutely aware of the incongruity of these pieces with his desire to be taken seriously as a composer.Now, if he had not had a career as a virtuoso, aided by the more frivolous music he wrote, he would not have amassed so much wealth, would not have been able to fund Wagner and help countless young musicians, would probably not have been able to give free masterclasses at Weimar, etc. So, I think, we should not read too much into a lot of his earlier music, as in ihis later life, he did the above things for the good of music, which were perhaps a subconscious part-atonement for the musical sins he knew he had committed earlier on. Of course, there is no reason why anyone should choose to like Liszt's music, but I think it would be wrong to dismiss him on the basis of some of his more lightweight music.
Didn't Liszt study with Czerny or something? So basically he probably never got away from meaningless exercises in C major. This numbed his brain for the rest of his life. I'm sick of talking about Liszt because everyone here defends him like they're sleeping with him. I want to talk about some composers that I actually like.
Burgmuller.
I usually don't care a lot about obscure names and i think most people just like to pretend to like them to show how 'versatile' their tastes are,
First bullied by Liszt, now raped? I've had it. I refuse to talk about Liszt anymore.
I strongly doubt that. It reminds me of those silly comments like "you do only like Schoenber and Webern because you want to seam sophisticated".
Wow. Burgmuller is like my fav composer. His tonic dominant is my favorite chord progression, and the complete absence of chromaticism is good for my bland taste buds.
Some people are truly convinced rooting for the little guy makes them 'edgy' and 'daring' in their own deluded little world. It's pitiful.
If Burgmuller had lived as long as Liszt you'd be singing a different tune. What did the latter ever wrote in 1835 that is even remotely comparable to Burgmuller's Opus 14?
oh.......my.........gosh.........you guys actually thought I was serious. Kuhlau and Burgmuller are people who wrote sonatinas for 11 year old mediocre piano students. Maybe I spelt Burgmuller wrong. I was thinking of the one who wrote those annoying exercises. I was just trying to bash Liszt one more time. Suddenly now I don't feel so bad that people here think I'm stupid.
Johann Friedrich Franz is the one who wrote those sonatinas. His brother, Norbert Burgmuller, is a forgotten genius who could have become one of the greats had he lived longer. Schumann wrote that no other early death, aside for Schubert, was as tragic as that of Norbert Burgmuller. Look it up.
You don't leave me with the impression that you would be aware of significant (and similarly rare) pieces that Liszt had written by 1835. The prelude omnitonique, Apparitions, Malediction concerto, etc, but it doesn't stop you passing judgement. Perhaps I am wrong and you are intimately familiar with such pieces..
Perhaps people who don't like it should try listening to Phillip Glass for 30 minutes to slow their brain down, then listen to the B minor Sonata. I think they'd like it better that way.
I bet it's good music.
I'm quite surprised you would describe them as "standard Liszt fare" - they are harmonically radical for their time.
i think there's a bit more to being a great composer then sheer innovation.
oh.......my.........gosh.........you guys actually thought I was serious. Kuhlau and Burgmuller are people who wrote sonatinas for 11 year old mediocre piano students. Maybe I spelt Burgmuller wrong. I was thinking of the one who wrote those annoying exercises. I was just trying to bash Liszt one more time. Suddenly now I don't feel so bad that people here think I'm stupid. And Liszt wasn't innovative. All he did was go to harmonic areas that made no sense, and the sheer strangeness of it made people think he must be smarter than they. Haydn was truly creative and innovative. He was isolated out there in the country at the Esterhazy place, which allowed him to be truly original. Only his originality had purpose, creativity, and humor. All Mozart did was copy Haydn his whole life, and for some reason he seems to get all the credit while Haydn gets ignored. And I never made any of those comments about Schoenberg or anything. I would never criticize Schoenberg, he was a genius, although he was full of a lot of hot air. At least he composed from his mind not his fingers.Okay now I really do refuse to talk about Liszt anymore.
Topic: Must have Liszt recordings? 