BaL 13.04.13 - Liszt's Piano Concerto no. 2

[Barbirollians]

I am not a fan of some of Liszt's larger creations - I have never really got into the Dante Symphony for example but that Haitink box of the symphonic poems was a major ear opener for me . That is a superb set and his accompaniment for Brendel with the LPO is at a similarly high level.

[HighlandDougie]

Come one, come all.... It's "Take a Pop at Cali" Day!!

I'll take y'all on!!!

Well if Maître Caliban (recently seen on 'Spiral', sans doute) would like to PM me his address, I'll happily send him my spare copy of Volume 5 of the Haselböck set (rendered superfluous as I liked it so much that I then bought the box of all five volumes) - and if he just can't get into it, he can Oxfam it.

[BBMmk2]

Christus, seems to be rather out of fashion, or has it always?

[Nick Armstrong]

Well if Maître Caliban (recently seen on 'Spiral', sans doute) would like to PM me his address, I'll happily send him my spare copy of Volume 5 of the Haselböck set (rendered superfluous as I liked it so much that I then bought the box of all five volumes) - and if he just can't get into it, he can Oxfam it.

HD what a generous offer!! Thank you - I am hastening to my PM-box!

[BBMmk2]

Thyat's exactly what i like about these boards!

[jayne lee wilson]

... yes, the Haselbock set is marvellous. It'll take a few more years to get Caliban to appreciate these things. Mind you - he likes Elgar and Shostakovitch, so I have no idea where his æsthetic sensibilities really lie...

Did you not find Haselbock's Dante Symphony just too dull and literal, despite its textural attractions? I actually sent my copy back after comparing it to the scintillating and very dramatic Les Siecles recording with Francois-Xavier Roth (also a HIPS one). The latter has much more poetry and sheer grip!

[akiralx]

So once again those of us who live outside the UK are still none the wiser as to which recording actually won - after poring over this thread for 15 mins I find no-one mentioned it....

PLEASE CAN SOMEONE POST THE WINNER AFTER THE PROGRAMME? Or better still amend the thread title!

[Nick Armstrong]

... yes, the Haselbock set is marvellous. It'll take a few more years to get Caliban to appreciate these things. Mind you - he likes Elgar and Shostakovitch, so I have no idea where his æsthetic sensibilities really lie...

Did you not find Haselbock's Dante Symphony just too dull and literal, despite its textural attractions? I actually sent my copy back after comparing it to the scintillating and very dramatic Les Siecles recording with Francois-Xavier Roth (also a HIPS one). The latter has much more poetry and sheer grip!

See my post on the 'CD Exchange' thread re the Haselbock disc which I now have thanks to HD

I am a fan of Les Siècles & F-X Roth and am now tempted to hear that Dante Symphony...

[Nick Armstrong]

So once again those of us who live outside the UK are still none the wiser as to which recording actually won - after poring over this thread for 15 mins I find no-one mentioned it....

PLEASE CAN SOMEONE POST THE WINNER AFTER THE PROGRAMME? Or better still amend the thread title!

Some of us catch up after the event and so would like to remain in ignorance for a while after transmission!

Surely the programme page is accessible where you are? If you look there: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rw065 (scroll down to "9.30am Building a Library"), you will see that full details of the "winning" disc are posted after the broadcast

[gurnemanz]

So once again those of us who live outside the UK are still none the wiser as to which recording actually won - after poring over this thread for 15 mins I find no-one mentioned it....

PLEASE CAN SOMEONE POST THE WINNER AFTER THE PROGRAMME? Or better still amend the thread title!

Presto also publish the winners.

[Sir Velo]

I listened to this BAL with optimism, hoping to discover a hidden gem...

Sadly, with each extract, I found the modulations, the cadences, the melodic and harmonic material, and the overall argument or expression of the piece devoid of meaning for me, banal to the point of being annoying. I really tried, promise. It's not the 'flashy'/'brash' thing either - that's not the point.... It's just the emptiness. It's expressing nothing, to me.

I thought it interesting that, even with such a range of top performers to choose from (yes, I know the argument - if Brendel, Richter et all devote time to playing it, there must be something to it... )... but even with that range of interpreters, and a relatively unfamiliar piece, this BAL set some sort of a record for brevity, barely 38 minutes I think.

I remember a former Mme Velo expressing her view on the insufferable vulgarity of the Mephistophelean march in Faust. I tried to explain that this was an extremely clever piece of thematic transformation on the part of Liszt, contrasting the romantic Faust with his satanic alter ego. Alas, she was unconvinced. I think it was about that time, I knew it wasn't meant to last.

[BBMmk2]

Presto also publish the winners.

I fiubnd this site4 always very informative too.

[Sir Velo]

I fiubnd this site4

You're not related to Anthony Burgess are you BBM?

[BBMmk2]

You're not related to Anthony Burgess are you BBM?

No :) John of Gaunt :)

[Richard Tarleton]

No :) John of Gaunt :)

Just been reading about him - in Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror", her account of "the Calamitous Fourteenth Century" as she, or her publisher, called it.