Franz Liszt: Complete Tone Poems, Vol. 2

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Liszt's tone poems are "respected" more than loved. It's kind of easy to see why--the thematic material is not always distinguished, and the orchestration--however interesting and experimental--is often just plain screechy. But maybe that's part of the point. As the inventor of the "symphonic poem," Liszt was trying to create a piece of symphonic length and continuity based on the transformation of just one or two themes. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but the results are seldom dull. Bernard Haitink's performances are very musical, and they are attractively recorded. --David Hurwitz

Tracks:

Complete Tone Poems: Heroide funebre (Heldenklage) - Liszt
Complete Tone Poems: Hungaria - Liszt
Complete Tone Poems: Hamlet - Liszt

Tracks:

Complete Tone Poems: Hunnenschlacht - F. Liszt
Complete Tone Poems: Die Ideale - F. Liszt
Complete Tone Poems: Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe - F. Liszt
Complete Tone Poems: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 - F. Liszt

Amazon.com

Liszt's tone poems are "respected" more than loved. It's kind of easy to see why--the thematic material is not always distinguished, and the orchestration--however interesting and experimental--is often just plain screechy. But maybe that's part of the point. As the inventor of the "symphonic poem," Liszt was trying to create a piece of symphonic length and continuity based on the transformation of just one or two themes. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but the results are seldom dull. Bernard Haitink's performances are very musical, and they are attractively recorded. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

la colleccion mas espectacular II.......2004-11-30

Bernard Haitink nos entrega con este CD los poemas sinfonicos restantes, y nos sigue sorprendiendo, estos sonj registros que no podra escuchar en ningun otro lado y a la imcomparable calidad de este director y la Orquesta Sinfonica de Londres que como siempre nos deslumbra hasta el climax del disfrute musical.
Son muy pocas palabras para describir 6 poemas sinfonicos, La batalla de los hunos es soberbia, Heroide funebre y Hungaria y lo mas expresivo de la tradicion hungara, Die ideale, hamlet y de la cuna a la tumba son sencillamente sorprendentes, Haitink ademas grabo y se incluye en este CD el vals mefisto N°1, asi se convierte en una coleccion imperdible.
Un CD doble, precio economico, la mejor calidad, la mejor interpretación una seleccion no disponible en otro lado, imperdible.

Rounding up from a 4.5.......2004-09-07

All recordings of Liszt's symphonic poems should be compared to the fabulous set by Kurt Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhash Orchestra. They are near perfection in their spontaneity and authenticity. These are good recordings - even great - although it would be hard not to perform such notables as Hungaria, the Mephisto Waltz and Hunnenschlacht.

As I stated in my review of the first set, these are difficult to understand completely because of the general literary and cultural illiteracy that plagues America, particularly the youth. All the poems have a literary inspiration - Hamlet, Orpheus, Faust, the "Hero" of German Literature. Listening to these without knowing the story or person behind it is like eating wonderful without knowing what it is.

"More 'respected' than loved"? Here's to respect!!.......2003-01-22

OK Mr. Hurwitz, if only because Liszt created the art-form of symphonic poems as they went on to existance we should just "respect" the tone poems, but Hunnenschlact--How could you not LOVE this piece?? This was most certainly the blueprint for Saint-Saens' absolutely killer Symphony #3 (which was written as a tribute to Liszt, actually) with its pairing of organ and symphony orchestra. With that and the other 12 poems, there's plenty of love and respect to go around!

Part Two of a great Liszt Tone Poem cycle from Haitink.......2002-12-08

Franz Liszt invented the symphonic tone poem genre and this splendid two CD compilation is the second half in a series of recordings of Liszt's scores from Bernard Haitink and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. These are warm, technically brilliant, but also passionate, performances replete with great performances from the strings, winds and horns when the London Philharmonic was London's best symphony orchestra. Haitink leads the LPO in excellent interpretations, with my favorites being the "Battle of the Huns" and Mephisto Waltz Number One. Philips' sound quality is superb due to state-of-the-art 24 bit digital image remastering. Here's hoping that the first volume in this series will be available to classical music fans soon.

Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems for Two Pianos, Vol. 2

Average customer rating:

A good chance to test a musical theory

Liszt: Complete Symphonic Poems for Two Pianos, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Cedille
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000018ZE
Release Date: 1996-08-24

Tracks:

Prometheus
Mazeppa
Festklange
Heroide Funebre

Album Description

This is the second volume in our historic collection of Liszt's own two-piano versions of his 12 symphonic poems from the Weimar period (1848-61). The 3-disc series comprises the first complete recording of these works, most of which had disappeared from the repertoire by the turn of the century. In the CD booklet, prize-winning author Alan Walker argues that the duo-piano versions are as original, as close to the underlying musical concept, as the orchestral arrangements and "quite capable of leading an independent life." He summons Busoni for expert testimony: "Notation itself is the transcription of an abstract idea . . . From this first transcription to the second is a short and comparatively unimportant step. Yet, in general, people only make a fuss about the second." Moreover, Liszt himself regarded the two-piano versions of the symphonic poems as independent concert pieces. The Mangos sisters have been performing the Liszt in concert with gratifying results. "These works really have the ability to ignite an audience," Louise Mangos says. "It's unusual to get a robust, standing ovation for music that hasn't been heard in 125 years. But audiences respond to these works as if they were familiar favorites." The Chicago-area concert pianists and music professors discovered the scores, which have never been published in modern versions, while scouting for duo-piano repertoire in European libraries, collections, and music shops.

Customer Reviews:

A good chance to test a musical theory.......1999-12-26

Liszt, of course, was wonderful at composing and playing reductions of arias from operas, a practice followed by many other composers since then. He is credited with 72 such pieces or "fantasies" as he called them. Unlike other composers who were content to produce variations on famous arias or simply a note for note transcription, Liszt wanted to dazzle his audiences with virtuoso playing above all and a dramatic experience as a close second goal. In short, he produced an entirely new work.

His transcriptions of the complete Beethoven symphonies for piano soloist have quite another aim. He simply wanted to show that the piano could substitute for an entire orchestra. Where the effect fails, of course, is in the mighty 9th when the chorus is supposed to make its appearance, so shocking to the original audiences, and so disconcerting here by its absence.

In his transcription of Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto, he did not simply assign one piano the soloist's part and the other the orchestra's. Liszt achieved a far better sonic effect by having each player share the parts. If any of you out there knows of a recording of this version, please let me know.

Liszt turned to his own music, the "Faust Symphony," in 1856 and composed a version for two pianos, and the result is more satisfactory than that of some of the Beethoven attempts because the original orchestration is not particularly innovative.

After composing his twelve tone poems (although he never quite finished tinkering with them), Liszt re-wrote them for dual piano; and these versions have been found only recently by the duo-pianists Georgia and Louise Mangos. Therefore the only available recording of these works (4 to a CD) is a "world premiere" on Cedille label (CDR 90000 014, 024 and 031). Now here we have another excellent chance to test a theory that "the touchstone of the musical worth of an orchestrated piece becomes evident in the piano reduction of that piece." Except for "Les Preludes," these tone poems (Liszt's own coinage, I read) are not all that familiar to most listeners, although most of them are available on several separate recordings. So I used "Les Preludes" as an example and found that while the music, especially the in pastoral sections, was just as beautiful, the more exciting segments make one yearn for the trumpets and snare drums of the original.

But this is only to be expected. I heard a 10 minute or so version of "Bolero" for two pianos and the result was quite monotonous without Ravel's masterful variations in the orchestrations. Still I find myself preferring the other 13 tone poems in the piano arrangements because, again, the structure of each segment seemed so much clearer than it does when played by full orchestra. You just might feel the same after hearing the Mangos sisters on these three CDs.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Box Set 68-78 [Box set] [Import]

Ernest Ansermet Conducts Ballet Music

Good Morning Judge

Altered State [Hybrid SACD]

The String Quartet Tribute to Pearl Jam

Freeway Madness [Import]

Greatest Love Classics

Fou Ts'ong Plays

I Am What I Am [Original recording remastered]

Down on the Deuce

newreleasebooks.com Music: A New Morning, Changing Weather

Forever Man [CD-single] [Import]

Full Floor Burner [Import]

The Extremely Loud Guitar Disc

Kick'in It Up