# Share your favorite piano transcriptions of opera



## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

And no, I am not on the wrong forum  I intend to ask for opinions from opera lovers rather than piano fans.

I must confess that I dislike most of Liszt's Wagner and Verdi transcriptions. I get the feeling that the purpose of his transcriptions is to popularize the tunes rather than to effectively transfer the musical quality of his beloved operas into another medium. (That being said, I still adore some of his transcriptions of Schubert and Schumann's Lieder). Thalberg and Tausig are fine sometimes, but tend to overdo things.

Here are a couple of decent transcriptions made by the performers themselves that I really enjoy:

*A very poetic transcription of Gotterdamerung: *





*A more dramatic Immolation Scene:
*




*A better Ride than Tausig's:
*


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

I'm very fond of Cyprien Katsaris' arrangements of Wagner, but Llŷr Williams' recent recording "Wagner Without Words" (on the Signum label) is superb. Here's a live clip of him, playing the _ Liebestod_ beautifully:


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