Franz Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1 & No. 2

Kyrill Kondrashin / Sviatoslov Richter
2000; 7 tracks

Here are the two Piano Concertos of Hungarian piano virtuoso Franz Liszt - not the "Hungarian Fantasia" or Chopin pieces (sorry).

These are the go-to recordings for both concertos, due mostly to their pristine recordings and Richter's incredibly lively and beautiful interpretations of the pieces. Franz Liszt took almost 20 years to finalize the First Concerto (which is amazing and you should recognize it as soon as you hear it). The Second was begun shortly afterward, but not finished for nearly another 20 years. The First Concerto is typically considered a soloist's showpiece, which is certainly not uncommon among the many showy Liszt pieces, and is therefore very popular among non-classical music fans. According to an eternally unknown source, the "Second [concerto] shows Liszt attempting to confirm his compositional talent while distancing himself from his virtuoso performance origins."

Franz Liszt was a very interesting character, in terms of music and real life, much like Johannes Brahms (to me). If you have the time, I highly recommend reading about his eventful life, one full of immense glory, sadness, and personal enlightenment. I posted some of his other piano music a while back, and they can be found here.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat
Piano Concerto No 2 in A

Oh, one last thing - I have just begun to learn this piece (below). It is "Un Sospiro" from Liszt's Trois études de concert. I wouldn't call it my favorite Liszt piece, but it does look fun to play. And very challenging. The only other Liszt piece I learned was his "Au bord d'une source," probably the most difficult piece for me to keep under control. I need to train my fingers a little better to play things this rapid and still sound as lightweight and gorgeous as this pianist, Marc-André Hamelin, does. Maybe someday...

Franz Liszt - Piano Music

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist. He was very skilled, and some might have even considered him to be the greatest pianist who ever lived and ever will live. When he was 20, he decided he wanted to really be the greatest pianist in the world, so he started practicing 18 hours a day for 10 years straight. At 30, he was the greatest in the entire world. He was quite vain and decided that there simply were no pieces in the standard repertoire that even nearly matched his level of skill. This being the case, he wrote pieces for himself to play that were astonishingly difficult and a marvel to behold. Liszt also was the first one to come up with the concept of a "recital," or a solo performance of one (sometimes more) people. It is said that at his performances, many ladies would faint just by watching him play the piano!

Anyways, this guy was cool. He went on to become a monk later on in life, deciding to become a recluse from society... The third volume of the Années de pèlerinage is a perfect example of this dark, troubled time in the composer's life (which ended up being near the end...)

Années de pèlerinage (Complete Recording)

Lazar Berman, pianist; 2002, 26 tracks

Liszt's three volumes of Années de pèlerinage are rarely recorded complete, largely because many pianists remain baffled by the dark-hued prophecy and romanticism of the third and final book. So it is particularly gratifying to welcome Lazar Berman's superb recordings back into the catalogue, particularly when so finely remastered on CD. Berman is hardly celebrated as the most subtle or refined of pianists, but at his greatest he combines grandeur and sensibility to a rare degree and his response to Book Three, in particular, is of the highest musical quality and poetic insight.

The Années de pèlerinage (or "Years of Pilgrimage") are set into three parts:

-First Year, Switzerland
-Second Year, Italy
-Third Year

These 3 links correspond with these 3 parts.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


The Transcendental Études

Boris Berezovsky, pianist; 2006, 12 tracks

This is the newest recording by Berezovsky of all 12 Transcendental Études.

Download.


Hungarian Rhapsodies, Complete

Michelle Campanella, pianist; 1993, 19 tracks

[The 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies] remain among the most entertaining and successful pieces that Liszt wrote. This complete set is easily the finest available, and its reissue at two discs for the price of one makes it even more desirable.

Part 1
Part 2

Béla Bartók - Mikrokosmos (Complete)

Here we have György Sandor, a great friend and pupil of the composer's, playing the complete Mikrokosmos cycle in the traditional style. Mikrokosmos is a set of 6 volumes of solo piano music, with Volume I being the easiest and Volume VI being the most challenging. Bartók himself believed that if someone had no classical training at all, he or she could begin with Mikrokosmos, Volume I, and work through the books - eventually being able to play Volume VI. Well, Volume VI is a very difficult book to play through (I'm in the middle of learning it right now), so I don't know the truth about the composer's theory... Anyways. This is a historic recording of Hungarian music by a Hungarian, and I highly recommend it to diehard Bartók fans.

Download.