Search - Liszt, Lgo, Masur :: Liszt Tasso- Les Preludes

Excellent recordings except for tame "Les Preludes"

goodmusicman | USA | 01/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD features very good recordings of the very best tone poems of Liszt (and the Mephisto Waltz), with excellent sound. The one exception is Les Preludes, which is taken at way too fast a tempo, and featuring muffled brass and glassy bass drum, giving us a very underwhelming performance of this orchestral showpiece. If you want a satisfying performance of Les Preludes, try Solti, Kunzel, Fiedler, or Oue.

As for the other four works on this CD, I have never heard more satisfying performances: brisk, exciting, and passionate, but without the overblown bombast often associated with these pieces. (The performance of all the works but LP easily merits five stars, but the LP doesn't deserve more than two, so I give the CD as a whole four stars). I am not aware of any other recording which features these five works on one CD, performed so well (except for LP) and with great sound quality. The budget price makes this CD even more appealing. Just make sure you get your recording of Les Preludes elsewhere."

Flabby, badly played, lifeless

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/12/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know if the four-star reviewers of this flabby CD need Geritol, but tired blood certainly afflicts the recording. It's rare for Masur to get fired up over any piece of music, but you'd expect him to over Liszt. Not just because three-quarters of every Liszt orchestral work is thunderous claptrap but because of the Gewndhaus's famed Liszt tradition. Alas, the orchestra in the phase when East Germany was a Soviet satellite devolved into a rusty band, and Masur can't inspire them to better than mediocre playing. Hermann Scherchen didn't need that excuse. His scrappy Liszt recordings are a model of fire and vitality. Karajan's are too sophisticated, perhaps, but the Berlin Phil. chewed the scenery, quite rightly. Haitink is admirably musical but tame. You have to hunt and pick to find the best Liszt recordings. This isn't one of them.



We have some decided non-masterpieces in this collection, to be tactful. I don't really care what happens to Tasso or the second Mephisto Waltz. but Les Preludes and Mazeppa are honorable warhorses ready for one last charge -- not that Masur gets them far out of the paddock before they start wheezing and collapse. Turn to Scherhcen -- or practically anyone else -- for a Les Preludes that outdoes Masur's. Turn to Horenstein for a hair-raising Faust Sym."