Franz Liszt - Complete Etudes (Claudio Arrau; Nikita Magaloff)

Information

Composer: Franz Liszt

CD1:

• (01) 12 Études d'exécution transcendante, S.139

CD2:

• (01) 3 Études de concert, S. 144
• (04) 2 Études de concert, S. 145
• (06) 6 Études d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini, S. 140

Claudio Arrau, piano (S. 139, 144 & 145)
Nikita Magaloff, piano (S. 140)

Recording Date: 1961 (Magaloff), 1970-76 (Arrau)
Compilation: 1997
Label: Philips
https://www.deccaclassics.com/en/cat/4563392

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Review

Recorded between 1974-6, this masterly account took even Arrau admirers by surprise when it was first released. Not only does the then 74-year-old pianist take the formidable technical hurdles into his stride, but he allows the Studies to emerge as a series of highly potent musical images. Liszt's peculiar combinations of menacing power and caprice, introspective poeticism and extrovert bravura, are presented with an instrumental mastery that is almost uniquely comprehensive. Seldom can ''Wilde jagd'' have been captured with such thrilling abandon in the recording studio and Arrau's ability to build an indestructibly permanent edifice of sonority in ''Paysage'' and ''Harmonies du soir'' reminds one of his close link with the Lisztian tradition, through his teacher, Martin Krause. It is his unselfconscious freedom in matters of phrasing and bravura that gives the set its authority. True, Arrau's emphatic snorting comes over more on this CD, but the piano sound captures the instrument's all-important over-tones with real vividness.

-- James Methuen-Campbell, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/Liszt-Complete-Etudes-Franz/dp/B0000041NE

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Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, and music teacher. Liszt gained renown in Europe for his virtuosic skill as a pianist and in the 1840s he was considered to be the greatest pianist of all time. As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent composers of the "New German School". Some of his most notable musical contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and making radical departures in harmony.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt

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Claudio Arrau (February 6, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. Although having a big technique and a rich, weighted sonority, Arrau mostly avoided virtuosic displays. He was an intellectual interpreter and his attitude toward music was very serious. He was also a man of remarkable fortitude, even towards the end of his life he still programmed very large, demanding concerts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Arrau

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Nikita Magaloff (21 February [O.S. 8 February] 1912 – 26 December 1992) was a Georgian-Russian pianist. His musical interest first stimulated by family friend Serge Prokofiev, he studied with Alexander Siloti before going to Paris, where he studied with Isidor Philipp. Magaloff was best known for his espousal of the music of Chopin and was accustomed to perform the complete piano works in series of six recitals. He was also the first to record Chopin's complete works. Among his many pupils were Martha Argerich, Maria Tipo, Ingrid Haebler and Valery Sigalevitch, and the organist Lionel Rogg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Magaloff

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