Classical Music for Aficionados

Great pieces!

I agree wholeheartedly on the Liszt B Minor Sonata and think it was maybe the best Sonata from the 19th century and also that Liszt was probably the greatest example of piano playing during his lifetime and even now. He was responsible for the achievements from Debussy , Ravel , Rachmaninov and all others after he passed. He also has wonderful music written into his Annees de Pelerinage 1,2 and 3.Listen to his Benediction de deux dans la Solitude it is absolutely divine especially played by Claudio Arrau who studied with Martin Krause a student of Liszt who passed on a great tradition of Liszt playing. Also aside from Arrau Krause taught Edwin Fisher who was a great pianist in the first part of the twentieth century. People who denigrate Liszt usually cannot play what he wrote but forget that Liszt was able to play all the music that he ever wrote. Ravel with Gaspard de La Nuit and Balakirev with Islamey are two that I know of straight off. Has anyone ever listened to the Beethoven Symphonies that liszt transcribed for piano, it was an absoloutely Herculean task and again Liszt was able to play every note which took the breath away from all who listened to him.Cyprien Katsaris is a pianist who I have playing the 9 symphonies and the piano playing is astonishing and I have looked on Amazon and the 9 symphonies can be had for , from £17.04 but I can't say how much they can be had for in dollars but I am sure it would be quite cheap also. The pianist that I would say inherited the Liszt way of supreme playing and wonderfull compositions which again he could play with great virtuosity was Rachmaninov. He took over from Liszt in that his compositions demand a pianist of supreme technical abillity.I am really glad this century is producing pianists that are able to take on the mantle of liszt and I think the stand out perfomer at the moment that I would say is way above the herd is Arkady Volodos who can do things on the instrument that everyone can only dream of. Listen to Volodos playing his arrangement of Mozart's Turkish March and you would think he had three hands. I was once at a concert of his and he played it as an encore it was just unbelievable he threw it off like a Chopin prelude it really brought the house down . let me tell you I am glad that I travelled from my little town is south west Scotland all the way to London and back for that one concert. I couldn't get it out of my mind for days and that must be what Liszt's audiences must have felt also.

Jim,

You and I are in total agreement.
Rachmaninoff and Volodos, and I have to add Horowitz (and maybe Glenn Gould) are the greatest pianistic geniuses I’ve heard in my lifetime.
And just consider, with Rachmaninoff, his even greater genius was as a composer.
Just beyond belief!!!!!!

You are so right RV I completely forgot about Horowitz what a Blunder that was I do apologiseThat reminds me of a story I read in the Claudio Arrau biography where his mother and him went to a recital by Horowitz and it was in 1925 in Berlin .His mother had nothing good to say about any pianist old or young that they heard but that night his mother sat there in disbelief at what she was hearing . When it was over she looked at her son and said "you had better go home and practice because he plays better than you" . What a downer for Arrau!!!!!