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Epicurus.com - Liszt: The Complete Etudes
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List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $17.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Philips
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028945633923
Label: Philips
Manufacturer: Philips
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Philips
Release Date: 1997-11-11
Studio: Philips
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Editorial Reviews:
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No, these aren't really the "complete" Liszt études. The centerpiece to this collection is Claudio Arrau's Transcendental Études, recorded when the pianist was in his early seventies. He brings out the music's breadth and poetry by way of ample rubatos, a rainbow of color, and total avoidance of anything mechanical for its own sake. Conversely, Nikita Magaloff's light-fingered proficiency in the Paganini Études seems rather dry and workaday in comparison. --Jed Distler
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Do noy know enough english...
Comment: I live in South America and my english is not good enough to review. Lizt is my favorite piano composer and have enjoyed every minute of this wonderful CD
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Very good, but not the best I know
Comment: This is only about the etudes (which are one of my favorite classical pieces of all times): Claudio Arrau's recording and interpretation is awesome -- several people have written that this is the only one you need. Well, I disagree, you need two, at least. Although this is really played well Japanese artist Kosuge Yu's recording on Sony, which is unfortunately not available currently from amazon.com (but from amazon.de or amazon.co.jp http://www.amazon.de/Etudes-Yu-Kosuge/dp/B00008CLLX/ref=sr_1_4/303-1010438-3173063?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1190005201&sr=8-4), is better. The notes come out better, there is more energy, she plays some pieces a bit faster, she holds the rhythm much better, the recording itself is better -- compare yourself. Especially Mazeppa and Eroica seem almost lame (sorry :-) compared to Kosuge Yu's interpretation -- she is on fire in comparison. It feels that she owns that music while in Arrau's case the music owns him for some of the pieces. Kosuge Yu said apparently that Claudio Arrau was her idol in playing this music -- well, not surprisingly, you can hear it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Is a Lisztian Étude a study?
Comment: No, of course not. Far from being mere exercises designed to improve one's skills on the piano, Liszt's Études are music in and by themselves.
When they took their first form in 1838, the Paganini Études were pretty much devices for helping the pianist to exceed his own limits as a virtuoso and refine his technique. As Liszt matured as a composer and musician, however, he revised his Études aiming not only at making them sound more musical, but also at rendering them more economical in terms of expression. That's why they stood so well the test of time and sound to our modern/postmodern ears much more daring and original than most of what's been composed after his death. Arrau and Magaloff succeed in presenting the Études as complex, beautiful and exhilarating pieces of music - that's the main reason why this recording should be one of the first recommendations for those who are interested in Liszt's music as an art form rather than a series of pointless tricks and acrobatics on the piano.
One of the highlights is undoubtedly Magaloff's blistering performance of La Campanella. In his hands, the piece is not so much a spiritless exercise in virtuosity resembling the ringing of a bell as a desperate, wild and raging cry for help in a shattering world. As you listen to the music you can almost visualize the world being torn apart. Quite impressive. Pure romanticism, yes, but the most appropriate version of this piece for a 21th century listener.
Customer Rating:
Summary: THE ONE LISZT PIANO DISC TO OWN
Comment: If you have room in your collection for only one recording of Liszt's
solo piano works (and shame on you for that!), this should certainly be it. Arrau's work is simply magnificent -- a glittering, glistening display of brilliance, accompanied by a depth of feeling, an overwhelming heft, that makes it unique. And Magaloff (of whom, I am ashamed to say, I have not heard before)gives the Paganini transcriptions a crisp and technically superb reading, perhaps without the heft that Arrau is able to convey but still formidable. All in all, this is simply a disc for the ages.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal technique, beautifully displayed
Comment: I just downloaded Kissin's Chasse-neige, the last of these twelve splendid Transcendental Etudes. Kissin, I must point out, is one of my idols, and gave a performance of old Chopin warhorses that left me speechless. I didn't even know these tired pieces could still sound so fresh and new in Kissin's hands. That said, I prefer Arrau's Chasse to Kissin's - somehow the anguish and beauty of this utterly unique etude come through more clearly than in Kissin's temperamental - but technically flawless - interpretation. This description extends to the entire collection of Arrau's Transcendentals. Particularly noteworthy are Mazeppa, Eroica, and the last three, Allegro agitato molto, Harmonies du soir, and of course Chasse-neige. Sure, Liszt wrote some hellaciously difficult stuff, and sure, many of us try to play it well. But in Arrau's hands, we see Liszt emerge as a phenomenal composer, and these technical Everests become works of art. I can't recommend this CD highly enough for those who want to get to know the work of a composer who changed the face of piano composition forever. Liszt is Romanticism taken to an extreme, I'll confess, but Arrau makes sure it's a daring and beautiful one.
And standing in the middle of a snowfall with Chasse-neige playing is an experience everyone should have sometime in his or her life. It makes perfect sense when you do it, but not until...
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