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Best version of Liszt Sonata

24K views 45 replies 22 participants last post by  lextune 
#1 ·
Just heard Stephen Hough playing Liszt's piano sonata on the television. Not much impressed myself.
Who does everyone else think are the great interpreters of this sonata?
 
#23 ·
What you should be looking for is a performance by a pianist with a deserved repute for playing in, piano geek stuff here -- "The Grand Style." This mid to late romantic school requires not only the full arsenal of virtuosic techniques, but also a keen musical intelligence which knows the full score, and can in performance elucidate all aspects of its architecture, no mean feat when playing a thirty plus minute work constructed on a very large scale. (Cherkassky was one of those pianists.)

Later proponents, some say the last, were Richter and Gilels, I believe Horowitz never quite having "made that grade."

Without that intelligence about the work's architecture, and the ability to convey it, sustaining the overall so the listener is left with a feeling of one edifice, a work such as the extensive Liszt B minor sonata would be nothing but a chain of episodes, making little or no sense.

Brendel, now retired, was not only a classical "specialist" but a Liszt specialist. I would take a guess that Roger Muraro, known for both Messiaen and Liszt, may have recorded it, and that would be of more than a little interest.

Grand Style, though, or it is just a bunch of notes in sequence.
 
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#7 ·
While Liszt has never been a favorite, I do enjoy most of his vast piano music. The sonata is, however, not that high for me. I do give another vote for Bolet. Until Leslie Howard came along, I didn't feel anyone other than Bolet really understood his piano music.
As a side note: I have a Naxos recording of this w/Jeno Jando. While not a HIGH recommendation from me, I found this rather good.
 
#11 ·
This is a surprising post.
I'm sure there were many pianists who understand Liszt very well indeed.
Apart from my choice above we have the following: Edith Farnadi (maybe the greatest Lisztian), Claudio Arrau, idil Biret, Eugen List, Leonard Pennario and Egon Petri (a giant) and Earl Wild.
I don't have them doing the sonata.
Three more who have recorded it and are among the greats are Gina Bachauer, Simon Barere (live) and Alfred Cortot (1929 recording),that was a surprise but he really goes for it and it's a great performance.
 
#8 ·
I just heard the Hamelin live recording and was very impressed! Thanks, Doc. In addition to the fine playing, I very much liked the tone of the piano in the recording. I went back and listened to Earl Wild's on cd and I don't love sound for the Liszt but the playing is fabulous. Now I found one he recorded in the 40's with a completely different sounding piano. This is a piece I haven't compared much but I see myself doing that over the next few days. I'm still with Earl but Marc did a fantastic job.

 
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#12 ·
Hamelin, in my opinion, is one of the great pianists alive today. His technical skill is amazing, and yet he also still brings emotion. His Alkan recordings are among my favorite solo piano works. And it isn't just the romantic repertoire where he excels - his Haydn sonata recordings are amazing as well. I have 2 of the 3 volumes.
 
#18 · (Edited)
The B minor sonata is a fantastic work. Ultimately ground breaking.
Among the versions I have

Cherkassky
Richter x2
Rubinstein - if you just think of him as a Chopin player, hear this!
Cziffra
Anda
Argerich - phenomenal!
Ogden
Horowitz from 1930s when he was at his considerable best!

These are all really good with something special to enjoy. This is a work where there is always something fresh to say about it.
 
#21 · (Edited)
In the Dante sonata I like Arrau, but I like Sofronitsky even more I think, despite terrible sound.

Another amazing B minor sonata recording I forgot is Levy's.

Towards the end of the final section of the B minor sonata there is a sequence of nine (I think) chords played rather quietly -- I think this is one of the most beautiful moments in music. The sonata also has a really exciting fugue, a huge intense ecstatic central passage. And the opening is indescribably creepy.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Funny about the Dante Sonata, never heard a version I was totally satisfied with, though Devoyon, being the first, has always been among my preferred ones. Especially because of the tempi, though it must be admitted that in some of the more complicated passages, he could have added more nuances and details.

Nyiregyhazi is quite parodical in that case

Concerning the 1993 Pogorelich of the "regular" Sonata, it is one of the strangest and most long-drawn in existence, but I have only felt able to hear its mournings through once: http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...0.cstaryt..0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.QlVHQt5qW1I
There´s also a Pogorelich 2012 on you-t which I haven´t heard:
 
#39 · (Edited)
I've listened to so many interpretations of this sonata that it's really hard to choose. I usually find something interesting in each individual performance. But I recently discovered a recording by a pianist named André Laplante (an otherwise unknown name to me) on Spotify and enjoyed it very much, and I could say that it is, at the moment, my favourite recording of the piece. Warmly recommended!

edit: And of course right after posting this message I noticed that Mr. Laplante had already been mentioned on a previous post. Oh well...
 
#40 ·
I've always enjoyed the Horowitz's playing of the Sonata, both 1932 and 1977 versions. Cherkassky played it superbly too, I heard him play it in Lichfield Cathedral in 1995, only months before he died and it was stunning. Another pianist who to my surprise, nobody appears to have mentioned here, was Louis Kentner, who gave a wonderful performance of it at his 80th birthday recital in the Queen Elisabeth Hall in 1985. A recording exists of him playing it for the Liszt Society in London in 1986. Kentner also played the Dante Sonata superlatively well- recording it for HMV in the 60s, as well as with orchestra in Constant Lambert's arrangement in the 40s. Arrau in both works is very convincing esp. his 1982 Salzburg Festival recital on Orfeo. I will endeavour to hear Edith Farnadi, having recently bought her Lp of the Dvorak Piano Quintet, and enjoyed it very much- as I do her record of the Legendes/Liebestraume and Ballades.
 
#41 ·
The 1932 Horowitz is the one to go for.
Cherkassky certainly, he was wonderful in everything he did I went to every concert of his that I could manage.
When I was a small boy many moons ago Louis Kentner was known as The Liszt Man.He kept the Liszt flag flying on British Columbia black label 78s for years and first got me going on that composer. although I am surprised that he could manage the sonata when he was 80.
I haven't got the Farnadi but have a lot of her recordings and she was brilliant,won the Liszt prize twice.
I think the Westminster catalogue is in the hands of the Phillistine now--so who knows ?
 
#44 ·
I have just listened to Daniil Trifonov, his Carnegie Hall recital (Feb. 2013).
Wow, he is only 22!
I still prefer the Brendel version, but don't miss this opportunity if you can.

It's a new recording by DG, I found it streamed on Qobuz, but I believe it won't be difficult to find it elsewhere.
 
#46 ·
Here's a blog post I wrote in 2006.

A masterpiece like the Franz Liszt's Sonata in B minor can never have a final and definitive interpretation of course, but after working on it, (or even just studying the score in great detail) one begins to expect certain things from any performance.

It has been recorded more than 60 times by the latest count (source: International Piano), and I personally have about 20-25 recordings of it.

I thought I might list the ones I like the most (and least).

I find Horowitz' first account (1932) too fast, and the second one (1976) too affected, almost to the point of parody, and yet somehow, both are still brilliant and captivating.

Argerich's recording is famous and nothing short of amazing at times, but it strikes me as very rushed. I do not say she plays it that way, "just because she can", (I am sure she really feels it that way), but for me it does not work as a whole.

Leslie Howard's version is almost unbearably bland and fast to the point of total failure. It is a shame since during his incredible traversal of the complete works, he blessed us with so much wonderful Liszt. To quote another reviewer "unfortunately he makes it sound like just another opera transcription".

Brendel's 1981 reading is brilliant, his fugue is one of the best, and his structural power is, not surprisingly, incredible.

Richter (a number of live recordings) and Gilels (live, and a 1964 studio) are both stupendous. Filled to the brim with power, and yet elegant and beautiful.

Cziffra dazzles and has a exquisite tone through much of the work, but he comes off as quite episodic, with little overall structure.

Zimerman's recording (1990) is wonderful and obviously planned down to every detail. The pacing and tempo relations are among the best achieved.

Pollini is fantastic. Sleek and modern, he builds the piece like an edifice of sound.

Pogorelich's rendition is another amazing one. Compare Pollini and Pogorelich and you can see how truly inexhaustible the work is. They could not be more different, but both work to great effect. Pogorelich is slower than most in many parts, but wildly fast in some of the faster sections. He seems to walk a tightrope, switching from gigantic power to amazing lightness.

John Ogden's 1964 recording is quite a disappointment, episodic to the point disconnection.

If I absolutely had to pick just one recording though, it would be Arrau’s 1970 recording. Seemingly carved from granite, it is a monument to structural cohesiveness, but structure is not the main feeling one gets from the interpretation. It is beautiful in tone, and free from all traces of affectation, but it is not just a “pretty” rendition. He has power to spare (in the vein of Horowitz and Richter), but never bangs, all the fortissimos are deep and rich sounding.

There are many more worth mentioning, but this is a good place to start.

My recommendations:

Arrau
Brendel
Gilels
Pogorelich
Pollini
Richter
Zimerman
 
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