Liszt/beethoven transcriptions

[JA Gardiner]

Just been listening to the astounding piano transcription of the Boss's 6th symphony played by Glenn Gould. Tempi all over the place as usual and the typical ostinato humming but WOW! its such an amazing job that at times I stopped listening to the 6th and wondering "how is he going to get that bit" and listened to it as if it were a completely fresh piano composition - with colourations that Ravel and Debussy would have died for. What do other people think of these? I gather Howard Shelley has recorded all of them - and I would be fascinated to hear what Liszt does with the 9th! - but these weren't incredibly well reviewed. Does anyone know of/ can anyone recommend any other recordings? I'd be fascinated to hear what someone really sensitive both to the Boss and to the Romantic style could do with these - Martha Argerich or Ashkenazy perhaps?

[Michael]

You can hear a small sample of Liszt's Ninth here, if my link works:

http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symp.../dp/B00030B9DE

[Chris]

I too have been looking for some really good recordings of these transcriptions, so I would be interested in hearing any suggestions as well.

I agree with you about Ashkenazy - that would be fantastic, I bet!

[Gurn Blanston]

I have one complete set of these, by Cyprien Katsaris. They are amazing! Each one seems more like a giant sonata for piano rather than a teranscription of an orchestral work. I also have several (but not all) of them by Scherbakov on Naxos, and they are fine performances also. Not quite the great quality of Katsaris, but a fine second choice.

As for Gould, does he actually break right out of the humming and sing the last movement of the 9th?



----------------
Now playing:
Kreutzer Oboe Quintet - Francis Allegri String Quartet - Kreutzer Quintet in C for Oboe & Strings 2nd mvmt

[Hofrat]

I attended a recital in which the Liszt transcription of the 9th was performed. This transcription is for 2 pianos. It was a most an interesting experience.

Wagner wrote a transcription of the 9th. Wagner certainly was not a Liszt when it came to piano composition, but the big difference is that Wagner keeps the vocal soloists and chorus whereas Liszt does not.

[JA Gardiner]

Thanks Gurn for the suggestions - as you say, after a trawl on Arkiv it looks like apart from the Shelley set the only other complete options are the Katsaris or the Naxos set, unless anyone else knows different..... GG did do the 5th ( can only imagine the singalong in that!) but none of the others sadly. There are however a number of interesting recordings of Liszt's opera transcriptions played by luminaries such as Brendel and Arrau. Anyone know why on earth they did those but not the Boss?!

Thanks Michael for the link for the naxos set. Sounds interesting but my guess from this is that, with the 9th at least, Liszt played Beethoven and lost!

[Michael]

Thanks Michael for the link for the naxos set. Sounds interesting but my guess from this is that, with the 9th at least, Liszt played Beethoven and lost!

The odd thing is that the Naxos version seems to be for solo piano whereas Hofrat mentions that Liszt wrote the transcription for two pianos (and I always thought this myself).
Did Liszt transcribe two versions or is the Naxos version a transcription of a transcription?

[Chris]

I am certain the Liszt transcriptions are all for solo piano. I am fairly sure he never personally made one for two pianos, but not absolutely certain on that.

[Joy]

Like Gurn I, too, have the Beethoven/Liszt Symphony Nos. 1-9 by Cyprien Katsaris which I received as a birthday present from a wonderful friend who loves Beethoven as much as I do and they are amazing! I haven't listened to them all as I'm going through them one by one taking my time but what I've heard is wonderful. Liszt was truly a genius when it came to transcribing.

[DavidO]

Just been listening to the astounding piano transcription of the Boss's 6th symphony played by Glenn Gould. Tempi all over the place as usual and the typical ostinato humming but WOW! its such an amazing job that at times I stopped listening to the 6th and wondering "how is he going to get that bit" and listened to it as if it were a completely fresh piano composition - with colourations that Ravel and Debussy would have died for. What do other people think of these? I gather Howard Shelley has recorded all of them - and I would be fascinated to hear what Liszt does with the 9th! - but these weren't incredibly well reviewed. Does anyone know of/ can anyone recommend any other recordings? I'd be fascinated to hear what someone really sensitive both to the Boss and to the Romantic style could do with these - Martha Argerich or Ashkenazy perhaps?

I have the single CD of Gould doing the entire 5th & the first movement of the 6th. I also have the entire set of Scherbakov in the Naxos box. I bought those several months ago, & have been listening to them more than I listen to all my full-orchestra recordings of the symphonies -- with the exception of the Bernstein recording of the 3rd with the NY Philharmonic on the Sony Classical label. That latter CD also has an excellent audio track called "How a Great Symphony Was Written," a Bernstein discussion of the 1st movement of the Eroica. In fact, I will rip an MP3 of it & post a link to it here.

[Michael]

Thanks for the Bernstein, David. I've been looking for a decent recording of that for years. I have a copy of his Fifth Symphony talk for many years now and I believe he could convey more in ten minutes than most people would do in a week. (That goes for Bernstein and Beethoven).

[Chris]

Does anyone own sheet music of these transcriptions? I see one edition by Kalmus and one by Dover. Any opinions on which is better?

[Hofrat]

I have various transcriptions published by C.F. Peters of Leipzig, but none of them are the Liszt transcriptions. Many of the publishing houses in Beethoven's time made their own transcriptions, and there was quite a market for them.

[Chris]

Well, I purchased and finished listening to the Naxos set, which seemed the best to me from listening to samples. I really enjoy these transcriptions! The 6th symphony in particular seemed to work very well as a piano work. I was also very impressed with how the 9th was pulled off with nothing but a piano. Thanks for the recommendations.

[DavidO]

Does anyone own sheet music of these transcriptions? I see one edition by Kalmus and one by Dover. Any opinions on which is better?

Nos. 3 & 5 are on the Sheet Music Archive site:

http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/sin...?composer_id=3

I myself don't have the Liszt -- I have the Schirmer's Library, arranged by Otto Singer, which are more my speed.