BaL 22nd October2011 - Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor

[amateur51]

I really enjoyed this BaL and was very surpised by the 'chosen one' (Stephen Hough) because I did not know he'd recorded the piece. I've heard him playing it in concert and greatly enjoyed it because he managed to tread the fine line between over-fussiness and eccentricity and over-carefulness and hell-for-leather that Kenneth Hamilton illustrated very well in his survey.

Again, I felt that someone coming new to the piece would have been enthused by Hamilton's approach to explore further while there was much to interest old-stagers like me. I particularly liked the way in which he examined the changes/consistencies in earlier/later performances by Cortot & Horowitz too.

Does anyone have details of the stunning Richter 'live' 1966 recording that he played?

[DoctorT]

I've never really 'got' Liszt, but I really enjoyed this BAL. It wasn't just recent recordings either. And several recommendations were made. More BALs like this please!

[makropulos]

Does anyone have details of the stunning Richter 'live' 1966 recording that he played?

I'm not sure whether it was the performance in Aldeburgh or Livorno from 1966, but there are details of both here:

http://www.trovar.com/str/discs/liszt.html

And yes, it was stunning!

[amateur51]

I'm not sure whether it was the performance in Aldeburgh or Livorno from 1966, but there are details of both here:

http://www.trovar.com/str/discs/liszt.html

And yes, it was stunning!

Many thanks for showing us this website, makropulos - I shall investigate at leisure

[DracoM]

Yep, me too. And the Hough certainly did seem very atmospheric too. Good choice.

[Nick Armstrong]

I really enjoyed this BaL and was very surpised by the 'chosen one' (Stephen Hough) because I did not know he'd recorded the piece. I've heard him olaying it in concert and greatly enjoyed it because he managed to tread the fine line between over-fussiness and eccentricity and over-carefulness and hell-for-leather that Kenneth Hamilton illustrated very well in his survey.

Again, I felt that someone coming new to the piece would have been enthused by Hamilton's approach to explore further while there was much to interest old-stagers like me. I particularly liked the way in which he examined the changes/consistencies in earlier/later performances by Cortot & Horowitz too.

Couldn't agree more! My own failure to 'get' Liszt will be familiar (to the point of tedium ) to some here, but like DoctorT that didn't stand in the way of really enjoying Hamilton's analysis. This was especially because of the comparisons between more recent performances and the earlier ones: fascinating to hear Cortot et all going head to head with Hamelin &c. Happily, verissimo's fear that

KH will be considering "recent" recordings.

So most of Eine's list will be left on the shelf.

I thought Hamilton balanced a scholarly approach with an artistic one ideally. Of the older performances, like verissimo I was stunned by Rubinstein (which recording have you got, veri?) and like fhg and amateur completely riveted by Stephen Hough ! I loved the way he made sense & melody of accompanying figuration - I shall be making a point of listening to the Monday morning play of the performance.

The only surprise, not least given Hamilton's own reported dexterity upon the Broadwood pianoforte, was the absence (unless I missed something) of any reference at all to HIP performances, beyond that comment about the difference between the Erards etc of Lizst's time and modern concert grands in relation to the pedalling of that bass-heavy section. I imagine that vinteuil will have been somewhat discomposed by that, given his ... ahem... preferences (Mr Hitzlberger on an 1873 Steingraeber). Any views, vinrouge?

[vinteuil]

yes, I thought this was a well good BAL...

Interesting that it only needed a little burst of the Hough for me to feel that this was absolutely compelling - to quote Ferneyhoughgeliebte, I was 'grabbed' - to quote Caliban, I was 'riveted' - I suspect I shall have to invest...

Well, Cannibalman - yes, in an ideal world I wd've liked a review of something more Historically Informed - but given the quality of this BAL I am not goin' to be churlish...

[MickyD]

Vinteuil - as a fellow "authentick", I wonder if you have heard Immerseel's recordings of Liszt on early pianos? Long before him there was also a L'Oiseau Lyre LP of Malcolm Binns playing some Liszt pieces, but I don't think it ever made it to CD.

[Don Petter]

I'm not a Liszt fan at all, but did hear most of BaL in the car and also quite enjoyed it, though I did find Hamilton's presentation style rather stilted, as if he was reading someone else's script which he hadn't seen before. Still, it's the music and erudition which counts.

[Panjandrum]

I won't be parting with my Argerich, Richter, Demidenko, Bolet, Pollini or Arrau recordings anytime soon, on the strength of this BAL.

[silvestrione]

No-one, but no-one*, prepares for, and plays, the immense chordal theme with the power, drama, and imagination that Arrau shows...but then, in an interview, he did say he thought it represented the 'Almighty' (in a fascinating Faustian programme for the sonata he learned from his teacher, also one taught by Liszt).

*of those I have heard!

I have Cortot, Horowitz, Gilels, Richter, Arrau, Brendel and Pollini (Hamelin went to Oxfam), and did not feel moved to add to those by this BAL, fascinating as it was. Arrau is my favourite, but I shall be getting the Cortot out next. I thought the Hough extracts mannered and affected, but with Hough that's too often my response. Must be a blind spot.

[Flosshilde]

Actually, it's an abridged version. There are also several orchestrated recordings and one for the organ. I was pressed for time this morning and decided not to include them, as there was no chance they would be considered by K.H.

I have a recording of it by Bernard d'Ascoli, which doesn't appear in your list, Alpen. It's on a double CD - CFP Silver Doubles. The other CD is of the operatic transcriptions, played by Craig Sheppard.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I won't be parting with my Argerich, Richter, Demidenko, Bolet, Pollini or Arrau recordings anytime soon, on the strength of this BAL.

But were you at all persuaded/tempted to add any other recording mentioned in the feature to your collection, Panjan?

[LeMartinPecheur]

I have a recording of it by Bernard d'Ascoli, which doesn't appear in your list, Alpen. It's on a double CD - CFP Silver Doubles. The other CD is of the operatic transcriptions, played by Craig Sheppard.

I have that double CD and also the original c.1982 CfP LP. That came with the Franck Prelude, Chorale and Fugue as well as La Leggierezza, a very good coupling, and a pity if the Franck has got lost in the recoupling with the Sheppard Liszt anthologies.

Floss: you imply that the 2-CD set is one disc of D'Ascoli and one of Sheppard. Actually there's only half a disc of D'Ascoli and one and a half of Sheppard. I think Sheppard included the B minor Sonata on one of his two CfP LPs. So presumably someone at EMI/ CFP thought the D'Ascoli was the better version. A long time since I listened to it but I always thought it was excellent.

[Stanfordian]

I usually enjoy 'Building a Library' and was looking forward to the survey of the Liszt Piano Sonata. It's a favourite work of mine that I believe is a true Liszt masterwork. However I was very disappointed with the presenter who sounded amazingly uninterested and uninteresting; not a voice for radio I'm affraid. It was almost as if he had been walking past the BBC Studios and someone had grabbed him off the street. Sorry but that is how he came across to me. In addition the presenter didn’t seem to grasp that the objective of the programme that was to select a version as a recommendation.

For me of the most renowned Liszt interpreters there has been none so consistently finer than the legendary Cuban-American pianist Jorge Bolet. Fittingly, from the dozen versions of the Liszt B Minor Sonata in my collection I remain a firm advocate of Jorge Bolet’s 1982 Kingsway Hall, London interpretation. With authoritative playing such containing spine tingling drama I have Bolet’s great performance on both Decca 410 115-2 and Double Decca 444 851-2.

In addition I feel a great affection for the magnificent 1989 Herkulessaal, Munich performance from Maurizio Pollini played with such warmth and affection, and a deep concentration. Complete with an impressive sound quality Pollini’s account is on Deutsche Grammophon 427 322-2.