Liszt - Classical Music

Not all of the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies are flat-out showpieces like the best-known ones, so this disc makes for a better listening program than you might expect. And Jénö Jandó, who must be the hardest-working pianist in the recording business, has a real flair for this music. He plays with the combination of free rhythms and virtuosity that the music demands, and he even indulges in a bit of improvisation when the spirit moves him. This was probably something Liszt did himself, and other great Liszt interpreters such as Rachmaninov and Cziffra have done the same thing. Jandó doesn't quite have Cziffra's overwhelming virtuosity, but he plays musically and the result is a highly entertaining disc. We've heard better-sounding piano recordings, but for the price this is amazing. --Leslie Gerber - $3.44
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies, Vol.13
Brahms: Hungarian Dances Nos. 1-21

- $30.75
Strauss: Orchestral Works [Box Set]
Debussy, Ravel: Orchestral Works

The sound could be better, but Arnaldo Cohen's whirlwind technique and rapier temperament is tailor-made for the demanding transcriptions presented here. By contrast, the Brazilian pianist imbues the cryptic late Liszt works with tenderness and mystery. A disc no Liszt maven should pass up, especially at Naxos's bargain price. --Jed Distler - $4.05
Liszt: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 4
Liszt: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 3

Since they were first issued, Sviatoslov Richter's Liszt Piano Concertos have been widely admired as the finest performances available, and for most listeners they still are. Now they have been remastered by none other than Wilma Cozart Fine, Mercury Living Presence's goddess of the sound console, and they have come up sounding better than ever. To make matters even more exciting, you also get Richter's well-nigh definitive performance of the massive Sonata in B Minor--and all for only mid-price! Even if you hate Liszt, hate concertos, hate pianos, hate Russians, hate music in general, you should own and treasure (or punish yourself regularly) with this recording. --David Hurwitz - $5.49
Liszt: 10 Hungarian Rhapsodies
Brahms: Concertos for Piano No. 1 & 2, Fantasia Op. 116
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2; Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1

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 - $9.56
Liszt: The Two Piano Concertos; The Piano Sonata
Liszt: 10 Hungarian Rhapsodies
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Schumann/Grieg: Klavierkonzerte (Piano Concertos)
Liszt: Sonata for piano in Bm; Lugubre Gondola No1&2