Search - Franz Liszt, Misha Dichter :: The Best Of Liszt

The best of Dichter plays the best of Liszt.

11/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is no better Liszt recording on the market at any price. The depth of understanding, brilliance of execution, and mind-boggling technical prowess make this recording a joy for novices and aficionados alike.Enjoy!"

Lisztmania

Rudy Avila | Lennox, Ca United States | 06/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Phillips label compact disc presents us with many fine works for piano by the incredible Franz Liszt (1811-1886) who together with Frederic Chopin revolutionzed the piano for the 19th century. On here are the Mephisto Waltz, Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 1-12, Etudes, Valses and transcriptions from Paganini's La Campanella and the Waltz from Gounod's opera Faust.
I like to think that the first cd, tracks 1-10 represents the softer side of Liszt. His friendship with Frederic Chopin influenced his lighter, romantic and nocturnal type of music, which are found in such works as Schwanengesang (Swan Song) "Un Sospiro" and Les Jeux D'Eux A La Villa D'Este. The second cd, tracks 1-10 represent some of the more dramatic and intense works for piano, among them the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C Sharp Minor, which opens the second cd. The work has been orchestrated, it's polyphonic festive mood has been used in the Looney Tunes cartoons. It is meant to describe the folk dancing of Hungary. The Fantasia on the Waltz from Gounod's Faust is incredibly demanding and sweeping, beautiful in this rendition. All the works are performed by the piano artist Misha Dichter. Although to be quite honest, this is not the best of Franz Liszt per se. It only provides us with high quality piano works. But Liszt was more than a radical new pianist, he was also a fine orchestral conductor. He invented the symphonic poem, or tone poem, which was greatly used in the 19th century, influencing such composers as Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Why did'nt they have Liszt's great symphonic poems the Dante Symphony and the Faust Symphony ? Also the Dance Of Death Totentanz should have been here, also his fantastic piano concerto. These days, it's hard to find a great interpreter of Franz Liszt. So much of his music is out of this world. It feels like only an octupus with millions of hands and fingers would aptly play his complex, multi-melodic score."

Long live Liszt

Rudy Avila | Lennox, Ca United States | 11/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Franz Liszt was a remarkable composer in his day and quite a spectacle to watch. This cd is absolutely a delight. Here are on quality performance the Hungarian Rhapsodies although not complete but the No. 2 is here. There is also a Fantasia on the waltz by Gounod. The music is excellent and Phillips has done gret recordings in the past and are much in the same quality line as Mercury Living Presence and EMI. I hope u enjoy this cd as much as i did."