# The Franz Lizst Experiment (after Lord Lance) for April 2015



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

This morning I received an invitation for a duel (not a drinking contest) from a fellow TC member.



Lord Lance said:


> Yo' Albert? Yo' better be grooving out to Liszt for an entire month in May or you be a _human_. That's right. Only Liszt be your pal. Like Feldman right now, only Liszt for an entire month. You will learn to worship the Old Gods.


I have after no hesitation decided to accept your dare for me to listen to Franz Lizst for a whole month. I have set some ground rules for the dare modified from your rather ambiguous post here.

1) Fridays, due to it being non-classical day, during April 2015 will be devoted to Haydn man's Composer of the Month. Reason being is that I don't plan to miss it twice in a row for two months. And yes, missing Steve Reich and Hector Berlioz was difficult enough this month.

2) I will be listening to Franz Lizst only during that month with the exception of Salt Lake Music Society where I will be presenting on something entirely different there. I had something pre-planned and it isn't Lizst so that will be an exception.

3) Focal points:

a) I will look into deconstruct Lizst's semiotics of his performance image... research further into his being a performance artist that presages 20th century performance art such as Nam June Paik which parallel the composer's career in a postmodern way.
b) Further look into the sexuality of classical music performance in relation to Barthes' and Foucault's theories of sexual anthropology and signified/signifier and relate that to 21th century performance technique, particularly with Lang Lang and Yuja Wang both of whom use sexuality as one of multiple frameworks for listener/performer/orchestra interpolations.
c) A stronger overview into the overall arching structure of Lizst's compositional history and his theories behind those pieces.
d) Deciphering why Lizst invokes both passionate love and hate from fans even up to today and get a deeper understanding of why legends about him are a mask for his self or a profound expression of emotion. Returning back to the fundamentals of what does it mean to be emotional in music.
e) Examine different interpretation of Lizst ranging from early 20th to early 21th century performances to understand how Lizst is being interpreted by people of all backgrounds from all parts of the world.

The Old Gods, yes. And am I insane to do another exclusive composer of the month listening session. Probably but this is an opportunity I do not plan to miss.

So thanks, Lord Lance, I accept your duel and the pistol accordingly. I will designate Lizst for next month's composer that I will focus on after my Feldman experiment.

Merci beaucoup. Danke schon. Now it's official. Let's box.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Found a few Lizst recordings this afternoon at the library.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Ooh.
You should do a Schnittke one next.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Ooh.
> You should do a Schnittke one next.


That would be awesome for sure. Perhaps in 2016.  I already will have done 2 composers like this for 2015 and would like to return back to "normal" listening patterns soon .


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Albert7 said:


> That would be awesome for sure. Perhaps in 2016.  I already will have done 2 composers like this for 2015 and would like to return back to "normal" listening patterns soon .


Good idea. I expect you'll want to get back to all your other favourites!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Good idea. I expect you'll want to get back to all your other favourites!


Indeed, I have been nearly insane from disciplined listening of Feldman for a week so yesterday was a respite with jazz music but it's back to Feldman today.

Okay anyone want to help give me more background on Lizst?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Ooh.
> You should do a Schnittke one next.


I'll be waiting up all night for that one.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Liszten to Prometheus - it's underrated!!


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Top 11 (only original works, including the operatic fantasies, which are really just themes/variations. Actual transcriptions would need another one of these posts. Also, I don't know the lieder/two piano/chamber works well enough to really include them).

Liszt before Weimar period (1830 - 1847).

1. Réminiscences de Norma: 



2. Réminiscences de Don Juan: 



, Part 2: 



3. Hungarian Rhapsodies 1-14: 



, 



4. Apparitions, S.155: 1: 



, 2: 



, 3: 



5. Ballade No. 1 in D flat: 



6. O lieb so lang du lieben kannst: 



7. Malédiction: 



8. Rondeau fantastique sur un thème espagnol, El Contrabandista: 



9. Glanes de Woronince: 1: 



, 2: 



 3: 



 (non-professional recording, but the only one available on youtube).
10. Réminiscences des Puritains:



11. Réminiscences des Huguenots: 




Liszt in Weimar (1848 - 1860)

1. Piano Sonata: 



2. Annees de Pelerinage 1 & 2: Former: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj2gFk0FoKo; Latter: 



3. Transcendental Etudes: 



4. Faust Symphony: 



5. Harmonies poétiques et religieuses: 



6. Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale Ad nos, ad salutarem undam: 



7. Totentanz: 



8. Dante Symphony: 



9. Les Preludes: 



10. 'Gran' Mass: 



11. Ballade No. 2: 




Liszt after Weimar (1861 - 1886).

1. Christus: 



2. Variations on Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen: 



3. Années de pèlerinage. Troisième année: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bCKL5tvKkiw
4. Deux légendes: 



5. Psalm XIII: 



6. From the Cradle to the Grave: 



7. Deux épisodes d'apres le Faust de Lenau (orchestra version for No. 1, piano version for No .2): 1: 



, 2: 



8. Trois Odes Funèbres: 1: 



, 2: 



, 3: 



 (54:10, only recording on youtube, and unfortunately not so great).
9. La Lugubre Gondola 1 & 2: 



10. Via Crucis: 



11. Nuages Gris:


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2015)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Ooh.
> You should do a Schnittke one next.


I did about ~2 weeks of next to nothing but Schnittke last fall... But that was simply because I had way too much Schnittke and I was doing the "listen to everything" project, letter A edition at the time


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lizstian you are a blessing... you just made my life easier.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

*Starting out*



Lisztian said:


> Top 10 (only original works, including the operatic fantasies, which are really just themes/variations. Actual transcriptions would need another one of these posts. Also, I don't know the lieder/two piano/chamber works well enough to really include them).
> 
> Liszt before Weimar period (1830 - 1847).
> 
> ...


Great choices through and through even if I wished there were 20 to suitably encompass the great post-Weimar/Last Years Period [Jeez, I really do prefer sadness and death over happiness and religious nonsense.]

I think a mix between symphonic poems listening and operatic transcriptions for solo piano {being an opera buff} for the first week is a good idea. They're four hours long and mesmerizing [I'm sorry but being a Lisztian and musically untrained, I find all of them fantastic].


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Cool beans, I look forward to exploring Lizst in greater detail than i ever could dream of. Seriously wonderful stuff.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Cool beans, I look forward to exploring Lizst in greater detail than i ever could dream of. Seriously wonderful stuff.


And if anyone tells you of Liszt was a bad orchestrator or how his piano transcriptions were a hit-and-miss, [which musically may be true since he wasn't a God - there's only so much you can do. If anyone could transcript it was him] you block them and/or report them for hurting your religious sentiments.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> And if anyone tells you of Liszt was a bad orchestrator or how his piano transcriptions were a hit-and-miss, [which musically may be true since he wasn't a God - there's only so much you can do. If anyone could transcript it was him] you block them and/or report them for hurting your religious sentiments.


LOL, you really speak your mind well, eh?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Good, don´t-miss-choices by Lisztian !

A minor supplement would be the works/transcriptions for cello & piano, and the piano legendes.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

PM me if you want me to upload Chorzempa doing the organ music, my own transfers. Don't forget the Requiem, and the CD of songs with Matthew Polenzani, and Idl Biret playing the Beethoven and Berlioz transcriptions.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> PM me if you want me to upload Chorzempa doing the organ music, my own transfers. Don't forget the Requiem, and the CD of songs with Matthew Polenzani, and Idl Biret playing the Beethoven and Berlioz transcriptions.


He won't need help with solo piano music since he owns the Leslie Howard box set.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> LOL, you really speak your mind well, eh?


Yes. Always blunt regardless of people's sentiments because being frank lets me sleep with a clear conscience.

Once a Lisztian, always a Lisztian. Maybe one day I shall go to his home in Weimar and therein give him a flask of my blood along with the burned remains of Lang Lang's atrocious Liszt performances [Yes, I heard those..... Sadly enough. Does that man have no redeeming performances?].


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Lord Lance said:


> He won't need help with solo piano music since he owns the Leslie Howard box set.


I think he'd be well advised to listen to the Biret nevertheless.

Let me use this space to ask if anyone can recommend a performance of the transcription of the Hummel septet - not Howard (which I know.)

Another one I can let him have is a wonderful unpublished performance of Pavirotti doing the Petrarchan sonnets - though the one on his Carnegie Hall CD is also good, and a live Muraro Berlioz/Liszt - I seem to remember better recording than the published CD.

And I'll take the opportunity to recommend everyone listen to Jerome Lowenthal's wonderfully unromantic Années.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> I think he'd be well advised to listen to the Biret nevertheless.


Well, when starting out with this level of music, he'd be better off not going lunatic over comparing different performances _just yet_. Rather, new works everyday. There's 104 hours of solo piano music after all. Even with an average of 10 hours a day, it'd still take him two weeks [after adjusting for the fact that the ten hours are give and take]. Then he can move on to chamber music for a week {accompanied with re-visitations of works he didn't quite understand or found unappealing}and the last week - glorious orchestral and vocal music. I'd look forward to, if nothing else, the last week.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Lord Lance said:


> Great choices through and through even if I wished there were 20 to suitably encompass the great post-Weimar/Last Years Period [Jeez, I really do prefer sadness and death over happiness and religious nonsense.]
> 
> .


You're definitely right. I could have included probably 50 for each of the latter two periods: I was just trying to give a starting point that gives a 'snapshot' of good examples of his pre-occupations and ideas from each of the periods of his life, as well as his development as a composer and, of course, a lot of his best music. The list is definitely not a be-all-end-all, but, hopefully, a good start. After you've given these a shot i'll be more than happy to recommend more!

The recommendations from others -especally joen and Mandryaka- are especially helpful, as they are most likely more knowledgeable about the cello works/lieder than me!


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Lisztian said:


> You're definitely right. I could have included probably 50 for each of the latter two periods: I was just trying to give a starting point that gives a 'snapshot' of good examples of his pre-occupations and ideas from each of the periods of his life, as well as his development as a composer and, of course, a lot of his best music. The list is definitely not a be-all-end-all, but, hopefully, a good start. After you've given these a shot i'll be more than happy to recommend more!
> 
> The recommendations from others -especally joen and Mandryaka- are especially helpful, as they are most likely more knowledgeable about the cello works/lieder than me!


But you are _Lisztian_. Your name automatically gives you a +100 in Liszt knowledge [On a scale of 1 to 100 - 1 meaning dimwit and 100 meaning Liszt's mistress.]

I meant 20 for a snapshot too. If we were to compile a list, all works would make it. He didn't create/approve any duds after all. [Reporting anyone who says otherwise - Liszt is not a choice or religion, its a *lifestyle*]. I'm unaware of his chamber and vocal works myself. And in orchestral, I know but a few - that piece on tinychat, Eine Faust-Symphonie, Eine Symphonie zu Dante's Divina Commedia and maybe one or two which I cannot remember.

50 would be great for all periods once Albert reports back with your thirty listed work. Then we can unload on him 150 works [50 for each period].

If I were a homosexual, I'd probably stalk you. Its such a pleasure to meet after so much searching a fellow Lisztian, Lisztian.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> He won't need help with solo piano music since he owns the Leslie Howard box set.


I own that? I didn't realize that was in my collection?


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> I own that? I didn't realize that was in my collection?


Yeah, _you do. _I gave you the discs, remember?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> Yeah, _you do. _I gave you the discs, remember?


Message me because I really am clueless.


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## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

Albert 7: It's certainly a feasible proposition given the number of his works and at least in listening to the piano transcriptions he made of other composers' orchestral works you are not cutting yourself off in a wholly Lisztian world!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

manyene said:


> Albert 7: It's certainly a feasible proposition given the number of his works and at least in listening to the piano transcriptions he made of other composers' orchestral works you are not cutting yourself off in a wholly Lisztian world!


I also have a few Lizst transcriptions already too!


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> I also have a few Lizst transcriptions already too!


If you haven't already, start out with on April 1 with his Schubert and Beethoven transcriptions. End the day with some operatic transcriptions.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> Yeah, _you do. _I gave you the discs, remember?


Thanks... you are killing me out of the ballpark? How am I going to listen to 94 discs?  Seriously that's more than Feldman here.

Just kidding. No I look forward to hearing it. I will be using my Android phone to listen to this however.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Thanks... you are killing me out of the ballpark? How am I going to listen to 94 discs?  Seriously that's more than Feldman here.
> 
> Just kidding. No I look forward to hearing it. I will be using my Android phone to listen to this however.


94? My bad. It is 99. I will send the last five after you finish the 94. They'll be of interest to the Lisztian.

The total duration of those 94 discs is 104 hours, I think? Don't forget his orchestral, chamber and vocal works will still remains. Two weeks should be enough to finish 104 hours, right? _Right?_


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

Lord Lance said:


> He won't need help with solo piano music since he owns the Leslie Howard box set.











"They seek him here, they seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere."

Is the box-set on BluRay yet?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

scratchgolf said:


> View attachment 65931
> 
> 
> "They seek him here, they seek him there,
> ...


Nope, not yet... and it's a heavy slugger.

http://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Complete-Piano-Music-Franz/dp/B004G7FFF8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1425926159&sr=1-1&keywords=leslie+howard+liszt


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

scratchgolf said:


> View attachment 65931
> 
> 
> "They seek him here, they seek him there,
> ...


Wow! Wouldn't that be a massive project! Recording all of Liszt's music for solo piano on video.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2015)

Lisztian said:


> Top 11 (only original works, including the operatic fantasies, which are really just themes/variations. Actual transcriptions would need another one of these posts. Also, I don't know the lieder/two piano/chamber works well enough to really include them).
> 
> Liszt before Weimar period (1830 - 1847).
> 
> ...


Lots I haven't heard! I'd be interested to hear the Mass first, I think.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

nathanb said:


> Lots I haven't heard! I'd be interested to hear the Mass first, I think.


I have a strong feeling that I will need to be refreshed on Lizst's biography however... it seems like his works are tied in heavily to his own life.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Reminder to self that I need to pick up this album next month:


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Procured this and loading.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Reminder to self that I need to pick up this album next month:
> 
> View attachment 65984


There is better to be found everywhere in every corner. It is Liszt after all.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Leslie Howard box set in 59 volumes... hard to tell... but it's album by album at least.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Leslie Howard box set in 59 volumes... hard to tell... but it's album by album at least.


Yep. The folder is organized by release. Not thematically. Or as the box set does.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> Yep. The folder is organized by release. Not thematically. Or as the box set does.


I loaded it into iTunes and got 73 discs? iTunes like to double or triple the albums but I need to figure this all out sooner or later.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> I loaded it into iTunes and got 73 discs? iTunes like to double or triple the albums but I need to figure this all out sooner or later.


OK. Well finish the listed albums before going on a musical quest [pun intended] to scour the deepest holes of the net to find the remaining. Sort of like that dead baby hunt you did.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> OK. Well finish the listed albums before going on a musical quest [pun intended] to scour the deepest holes of the net to find the remaining. Sort of like that dead baby hunt you did.


I have my own agenda man ... that isn't the only thing I'm going to listen to either ways.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> I have my own agenda man ... that isn't the only thing I'm going to listen to either ways.


Well, then, it ain't Liszt month. Assuming you were talking that you weren't maintaining an exclusive Liszt month. If you meant piano works, then, the last five discs are new discoveries. Three volumes of them I believe. So relax there. Nothing major.

A truly wonderful and spiritual experience would be hearing ten hours of his original compositions for solo piano every day for a week. That'd be an overwhelming success.

Otherwise, you know: Orchestral works are sort of there too. His symphonic poems which I shared with you [4 hours long cumulatively] are a roaring success. And the Divine Symphonic Duo [Faust and Dante].

Of course, after ten or twenty of hours of listening, you'll know which facet of Liszt's music makes you roar from inside.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I meant piano works, bear. I will need to hear his vocal and orchestral stuff as well. In fact, 94-99 discs of solo piano works could be very taxing without any variety.

The plan is to mix it all up and yes, Fridays will be devoted to non-Lizst stuff. I still have composer of the month to fulfill for Haydn man accordingly.

And hopefully I can get 8-10 hours of listening per day. That's my plan plus Izzy will be enjoying some of it too.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> I meant piano works, bear. I will need to hear his vocal and orchestral stuff as well. In fact, 94-99 discs of solo piano works could be very taxing without any variety.
> 
> The plan is to mix it all up and yes, Fridays will be devoted to non-Lizst stuff. I still have composer of the month to fulfill for Haydn man accordingly.
> 
> And hopefully I can get 8-10 hours of listening per day. That's my plan plus Izzy will be enjoying some of it too.


They're new discoveries. That's it. Relax and just alternate between genres of reductions, arrangements and transcriptions and original.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> They're new discoveries. That's it. Relax and just alternate between genres of reductions, arrangements and transcriptions and original.


I still have to check out non-Leslie Howard piano stuff as well. I have Lang Lang, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Valentina Lisitsa to explore for piano stuff.

Then I have to figure out The Dante Symphony and Faust Symphony too as well.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> I still have to check out non-Leslie Howard piano stuff as well. I have Lang Lang, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Valentina Lisitsa to explore for piano stuff.
> 
> Then I have to figure out The Dante Symphony and Faust Symphony too as well.


Already looking at interpretations for works, eh? Like... why? Music should be of paramount importance not interpretation.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> Already looking at interpretations for works, eh? Like... why? Music should be of paramount importance not interpretation.


Yes but if I need preventive measures in case I fall asleep during the Leslie Howard sessions in fact. Maybe Lang Lang is a palliative to the scholarly nature of Howard's approach. But Hyperion is a pretty strong label so I look forward to high quality consistency here.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> I still have to check out non-Leslie Howard piano stuff as well. I have Lang Lang, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Valentina Lisitsa to explore for piano stuff.
> 
> Then I have to figure out The Dante Symphony and Faust Symphony too as well.


If you want either of these works in several renditions, let me know.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Yes but if I need preventive measures in case I fall asleep during the Leslie Howard sessions in fact. Maybe Lang Lang is a palliative to the scholarly nature of Howard's approach. But Hyperion is a pretty strong label so I look forward to high quality consistency here.


Bear-in-Command endorses Leslie Howard's box set.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> If you want either of these works in several renditions, let me know.


No worries as I think that I have my bases covered in fact.  However, I will ask for more help in trying to find his orchestral works as well.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Wouldn't private messaging be more appropriate for this conversation?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Still trying to ascertain some background information regarding Key accounts about Lizst's performance style in cartoons and newspaper accounts of the time. Online information but does anyone have any scholarly sources regarding these facets?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

This morning I found a wonderful compilation disc for Lizst on DG label... here you guys go:









It has a lot of rather rare tracks here in fact.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

9 more days until this experiment begins... Looking forward to it.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Next Tuesday starts this new month... all Lizst and looking forward to it soon.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Thanks Lisztian for the YouTube list. I did the listening for all of them during the first 1.5 weeks of this month.

Right now I am hoping to get some iPod personal listening and get a better grasp on the arc of Liszt's composition style and changes accordingly. I will update accordingly.

I plan to present my lectures in two parts... this month on his transcriptions (which is a huge number) and next month when I can hit up his original compositions.

My tastes gravitating mostly towards his Wiemar and post-Wiemar periods.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Liszt even infiltrates pop culture today.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

A most delightful video I found today:


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Thanks Lisztian for the YouTube list. I did the listening for all of them during the first 1.5 weeks of this month.
> 
> Right now I am hoping to get some iPod personal listening and get a better grasp on the arc of Liszt's composition style and changes accordingly. I will update accordingly.
> 
> ...


................................Unsurprising.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> ................................Unsurprising.


That was a rather terse comment on my findings.


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