Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Liszt Transcentendal Etudes

I have just downloaded no.8 and no.10 from Sheetmusicarchive.com. The metronome markings are 116 and 104 respectively. How do you find these markings? Fast, moderate? What was Liszt's own markings ? At what speed usually these two etudes are played by concert artists?
Sheetmusic has not yet posted no.5 (Feux Follets).The score I have has 126 MM. The ones I have listened on the web are played usually a bit faster than that (I am working on that -for a long while let's say- and hoping to play it at 132-138)
Any recordings recommended?
Thanks in advance.
Rgds,
Hakki.

The best recording of the Liszt Etudes are those by Claudio Arrau on Phillips. Most of the Transcendental Studies should be as fast as possible while still being musical, besides of course the calmer paysage (#3). I just recently learned #7, and I didn't find it extremely hard, and it is surprisingly effective. Evgeny Kissin also recorded some of the Etudes, another disc to check out.

Hakki,

Lazar Berman's recording of the set is a well-received classic. Others that I'd recommend are Georg Bolet and Berezovsky. Another set that I have not heard is by Ovchinnikov. Quite a few cyber friends whose taste and listening experience I trust gave a high-five for this recording.

Oh, I forgot it.

J. Jando on Naxos did a complete set also. I listened to it with the score a few times. Now that you mentioned this repertory I really think his is not a bad set at all.

Thank you all for the responses. I listened to B Minor Sonata, Mephisto Waltz and Tarantelle from Berman and it is really good. I always remember Arrau playing slowly (very slow) which is said to make him well suited for Brahms. I have the Tokyo CD of Kissin and it is a pretty good performance I think with respect to his age (16) when he recorded this live. I think I will go with Kissin though he hasn't recorded the complete set I guess.
BTW, recently I have listened to Feux Follets at MP3.com by Mei-Ting Sun. Worth giving it a try. I would like to hear your comments on this recording. Mei-Ting Sun is playing some Chopin Etudes too there.
Rgds,
Hakki.

Hakki,

For No.11 I think Richter and Kissin both shines. For that Will-O-Wisp Etude you got to listen to Richter or Ashkenazy. Unfortunately Richter only recorded 8 of the 12. I have never heard of Sun. I have the unique experience of listening to one pianist who studied with my teacher. At the time he was in his early-20s. He played the Will-O-W at full speed with crystal clarity 5 times back to back. Another time I mentioned Liszt did play Chopin Etude Op.10/2 twenty times in a roll he went ahead and did the exact same thing. Afterwards when I asked him if he felt some fatigue in his hand muscles he simply replied "not at all". Years later he became a Cliburn prize winner.
These're incomprehensible feats for me!

[ August 24, 2001: Message edited by: AndrewG ]

There are two live recordings by S. Richter. The "Sofia" recital has Feux Follets and Harmonies du Soir, both of which are not to be missed. The other live recording is from the 60's and has 5 Transcendental Etudes, plus Mirror and La Valse by Ravel. This disk is also a "must have" for these works, at least in my opinion.

BTW, the Sofia recital also has the complete Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky, as well as some Chopin, Schubert, and Rachmaninoff.

Ryan

Andrew,

It really must an amazing experience to listen to op 10/2 twenty times back to back. I have listened to a sample of Richter's Feux Follets at Amazon.com. He is playing it almost at 160 MM. I don't know Mei-Ting Sun either. Sun might just be a student or a very young pianist as well. I just found casually on MP3.com.
Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Rgds,
Hakki.