Best Liszt performances

[d_brofi]

Cheers everyone---


Who is/are the "definitive" performer(s) of Franz Liszt . . . the player who does the greatest justice to his works in terms of expressive and/or technical accuracy? I am working on a writing project relating to Liszt and would really like to feel him through the music as closely as possible.

Thanks!

peace is the word
Bunny M.

[etudes]

for me
one pianist
Cziffra

[steinwayguy]

Definitive sonata has to be Arrau

[Waldszenen]

Cziffra or Horowitz - the two greatest things that ever happened to Liszt's piano music, other than being composed.

[AvoidedCadence]

i see on this post the three I would say are the best:

Cziffra makes Liszt charged with virtuosic energy.
Horowitz's Liszt is ... often very loud.
Arrau makes Liszt into a religious experience.

All three are terrific... if you don't mind Horowitz's "banging" (in a mostly good way)!
Horowitz (especially) and Cziffra sometimes retouched the scores - Arrau is much more faithful to the text.  For Liszt's serious music (Benediction, sonata) he is the greatest ...

technically and textually, Horowitz was the "worst" (most wrong notes and changes) of the three.   

I also sometimes like - Brendel (annees), Wild, Bolet, Richter, ....

[pseudopianist]

Cziffra, Brendel and Freddy Kempf (his Transcendental etudes are just.... transcendental)

[Waldszenen]

i see on this post the three I would say are the best:

Cziffra makes Liszt charged with virtuosic energy.
Horowitz's Liszt is ... often very loud.
Arrau makes Liszt into a religious experience.

All three are terrific... if you don't mind Horowitz's "banging" (in a mostly good way)!
Horowitz (especially) and Cziffra sometimes retouched the scores - Arrau is much more faithful to the text.  For Liszt's serious music (Benediction, sonata) he is the greatest ...

technically and textually, Horowitz was the "worst" (most wrong notes and changes) of the three.   

I also sometimes like - Brendel (annees), Wild, Bolet, Richter, ....

Horowitz banged in a way no other pianist did or will ever do again - he made the banging sound good.

[DarkWind]

Arrau for the Transcendental Etudes. He seems to just understand these pieces beyond any imaginable comprehension.

[Daevren]

I agree with Darkwind.

[theodopolis]

I am still unsure of who's Transcendental Etudes are superior. Cziffra's or Arrau's.

I think the sonorities in Arrau's readings are astonishing and his Mazeppa is unmatched.

Cziffra, on the other hand, gives them the air or improvisation which is how Liszt would have composed them. Cziffra's technique also happens to be the most stupendous of the 20th century...  in my opinion anyway.

My recommendation is to collect as much of Cziffra's Liszt as possible and supplement these with Arrau's recordings. Jorge Bolet's are also worth seeking out.

It is also imperative that you find the EMI Cziffra DVD:-  HR No. 6, Etude No.10, Gnomenreigen, Valse Impromptu and Grand Galop Chromatique... plus Moiseiwitsch's Wagner/Liszt Tannhauser Overture.
Superb.

[pbr2005]

Lazar Berman is the best Liszt player on records.  Period.
I'm really surprised no one has mentioned him yet.

[maxy]

It depends on the pieces...

Cziffra, Katsaris, Richter, Horowitz, Janis, Berman (Lazar), Bolet, Arrau, Barere, Louis Lortie... they all did some great Liszt performances.

[hodi]

i like arrau's liszt TE... especially Wild Jagd, he is playing it so emotional

[Skeptopotamus]

Bolet.   hands down.   no competition whatsoever.


burman and Cziffra Snr.   are a far and distant second.   for those people that said horowitz..... what is wrong with you?

[trunks]

Although Artur Rubinstein never recorded much Liszt, his Hungarian Rhapsodies 10 & 12, albeit recorded in mono,  have yet seen no peers.

[Waldszenen]

It depends on the pieces...

Cziffra, Katsaris, Richter, Horowitz, Janis, Berman (Lazar), Bolet, Arrau, Barere, Louis Lortie... they all did some great Liszt performances.

I agree, especially with Bolet. Maginificent Liszt interpreter.

[pseudopianist]

Although Artur Rubinstein never recorded much Liszt, his Hungarian Rhapsodies 10 & 12, albeit recorded in mono,  have yet seen no peers.

Have you heard Hamelins HR10? It is really worth a listen.

[bachmaninov]

Jeno Jando

[galonia]

Ooh, this is such a great post!  I've been listening to some Liszt lately, and this has been so helpful.  I'm currently listening to Bolet, and I totally love it.  I will now go get some Arrau.

[ralessi]

I am a Liszt fanatic and i dont even know how anyone could say that Bolet is hands down the best liszt player.  Although i do like Bolet, Cziffra has unmatched technical ability, endurance through the roof, and he is hungarian.  I dunno what it is exactly but that hungarian blood in him just leads me to believe that he is Liszt reincarnated.  I mean listen to Zimermann.  He has my second favorite recording of the Concerti (next to cziffra) and although he plays them FLAWLESSLY, cziffra just has that edge.  I think that  having played SO SO SO SO SO much liszt throughout his life that he had greater understanding of the music as a Liszt performer.
 I am surprised that nobody has said Leslie Howard......or i just missed it...although he isnt on my top 4 of Liszt players he isnt that bad and i thought someone might mention him!   

Cheers!
Ricky

[Waldszenen]

I am a Liszt fanatic and i dont even know how anyone could say that Bolet is hands down the best liszt player.  Although i do like Bolet, Cziffra has unmatched technical ability, endurance through the roof, and he is hungarian.  I dunno what it is exactly but that hungarian blood in him just leads me to believe that he is Liszt reincarnated.  I mean listen to Zimermann.  He has my second favorite recording of the Concerti (next to cziffra) and although he plays them FLAWLESSLY, cziffra just has that edge.  I think that  having played SO SO SO SO SO much liszt throughout his life that he had greater understanding of the music as a Liszt performer.
 I am surprised that nobody has said Leslie Howard......or i just missed it...although he isnt on my top 4 of Liszt players he isnt that bad and i thought someone might mention him!   

Cheers!
Ricky

I can't stand Leslie Howard... hopelessly boring for me.

[maxy]

Bolet.   hands down.   no competition whatsoever.


burman and Cziffra Snr.   are a far and distant second.   for those people that said horowitz..... what is wrong with you?

Bolet and Arrau are great masters.
Still, other pianists such as Horowitz and Cziffra provide more entertainment and more "flash".  It's not always a bad thing in Liszt pieces...