Search - Camille Saint-Saens, Franz Liszt, Leslie Howard :: Liszt Transcriptions of Berlioz, Chopin, Saint-Saëns

Liszt the Champion

Hexameron | 09/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Liszt's piano transcriptions and paraphrases constitute nearly half of his entire output. Roughly 1/3 of Liszt's oeuvre is made up of pure transcriptions. Some critics and Liszt naysayers regard this dubiously. But Liszt's transcriptions, like the later specimens of Busoni and Godowsky, are works of art; not mere piano reductions. In this Hyperion release, Leslie Howard presents some of Liszt's finest albeit still largely-ignored piano transcriptions.



Saint-Saens was an ardent supporter and promoter of Liszt's music in France. Paying homage to his advocate, Liszt could not have chosen a more fitting and provocative work to transcribe than the "Danse Macabre." Indeed, I believe Liszt's transcription is more effective than the orchestral version; the evocation of dancing skeletons is particularly striking on the piano. Liszt generally underscores the morbid and devilish spirit of the work while improving the cogency of Saint-Saens' ideas. Even Howard says, "Liszt's transcription extends the original at many points, usually to accentuate the macabre elements." Personally, I prefer Arnaldo Cohen's chilling interpretation (Franz Liszt: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1), but Howard's delivery is exemplary.



Chopin's Op. 74, a collection of seventeen Polish songs, are the most neglected of Chopin's output, but they're as rich as the preludes. Liszt was not only beneficent but wise to transcribe perhaps the six best from the collection so amateur pianists without the convenience of a Polish singer could hear these musical rubies. Although the song transcriptions have been recorded before, Howard plays with an elegant touch, graceful tempo, and just the right flare that Chopin's music needs, especially in the furious "Bridegroom."



Half of this CD consists of Berlioz transcriptions and they are stunning. Liszt's recognition of Berlioz's genius is just another feather in his cap. At a time when Berlioz's orchestral grotesqueries and giant-scale ideas were hard to digest, Liszt helped Berlioz's reception with audiences by transcribing perhaps the best of his music, most notably the Symphonie Fantastique (Liszt: Hexaméron; Symphonie Fantastique) and Harold in Italy (Liszt: The Complete Music for Solo Piano Vol. 23). Few know of Liszt's transcriptions of Berlioz's two superlative overtures "The Free Judges" and "King Lear." Both are gigantic (over 16 minutes), emotionally pregnant, full of sublime harmonic sequences, and brilliantly dramatic. Howard's muscular performances are technically flawless and full of white-hot passion.



After transcribing the Symphonie Fantastique, Liszt decided to write a nocturne utilizing the famous "Idee fixe." Howard calls it "a sort of propaganda piece" for Berlioz, but this is really Liszt's own composition and it is a long-lost gem of heart-wrenching passion and a gentle repose. Frankly, it is an outstanding nocturne that should impress the Chopin lovers.



Bottom line: As an owner of all 59 Volumes from Hyperion's Liszt series, I am confident in declaring that this particular volume is one of the ten greatest from Hyperion's remarkable enterprise. The quality of Berlioz's music and the incredible weight of Liszt's transcriptions form a delectable alchemy."

Berlioz-Liszt and Howard: We couldn't wish for more

fraconca | 02/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This fifth volume of 95-CD traversal featuring the complete piano music of Liszt finds Howard at his very best. A truly spectacular album, rightly awarded (1991) with the most prestigious Liszt Academy Grand Prix and a superb triumph for Howard's magisterial, incomparable pianism. What else: just go out and buy it !"