Beethoven-Liszt: The Complete Symphonies

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Reviewer: drollere
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Musical evangelism
Review: These are fascinating and highly enjoyable works of musicianship — in Beethoven’s original conceptions, in the astonishing elan and cleverness of Liszt’s transcriptions, and in Howard’s commanding and lyrical performances.I won’t bother with the prevailing reviewer debate as to which of the currently available recordings is “the best” and turn instead to the backstory: these works have a touching and amazing historical significance. Young Liszt took upon himself first the herculean task of transcribing these sprawling scores (initially, symphonies 5, 6 and 7), then travelled throughout Europe (Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, England, Ireland, Italy, most of the Austro-Hungarian Empine, Turkey and Russia), traveling overnight for dozens or hundreds of miles across rutted rural roads in whatever carriage, coach or conveyance served the need, playing whatever programs were chosen for him by the local sponsors on whatever pianos were provided for the purpose (and usually more than one was required to meet the demands of Liszt’s ferocious technique). These transcriptions, in Liszt’s decade long marathon of musical evangelism, often provided to his audience their first experience of Beethoven’s symphonies and, for some, their first exposure to any orchestral composition. I find it wonderful and astonishing to hear how much of Beethoven’s spirit is channeled into the black and white, percussive tonality of the piano, and very gratifying to hear Howard wring the nuances of musical imagination that Liszt brought to the transcription task (which his biographer Alan Walker has called “arguably the greatest work of transcription ever completed in the history of music”). It must have been an amazing experience to hear Liszt perform these scores for the first time..

Reviewer: Daniel Brown
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Comparison between this and other Liszt-Beethoven recordings
Review: I’ve wanted this CD set for years and when I got it it was everything I had hoped for.Leslie Howard, if you don’t already know, recorded for Hyperion (among other things) the complete piano works of Liszt, which took 95 CDs worth of music to do. His technique is superhuman.Being a big fan of Liszt, I own the scores to his piano arrangements of all the Beethoven symphonies. I have since been trying to find good recordings of them and this set is the best I’ve ever heard. Glenn Gould recorded the 5th and 6th symphonies on piano, but were generally too slow. They are great recordings but not quite what Liszt or Beethoven would have wanted. Cyprien Katsaris has a CD set with all 9 symphonies on piano, but he does not adhere to Liszt’s original text. Katsaris changed many parts to better suit his own vision of how it should sound, and I don’t think many of his own additions are necessary or good sounding. Naxos has released 4 of the Liszt versions of Beethoven symphonies, but due to how they were recorded many nuances do not come out very well. Also, they are not all played by the same person.In Howard’s set, however, he plays Liszt note-for-note and each one comes out sounding great. He plays with incredible speed which is needed to approach Beethoven’s original tempi. Every symphony on here is the best I’ve ever heard it done on piano, except possibly the first movement of the 5th symphony, which goes to Glenn Gould. I reccomend everyone who likes Beethoven or Liszt or piano music in general to buy these CDs.

Reviewer: Blue&White
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Exciting performances
Review: It is good if Katsaris went back to the Beethoven scores and added bits that Liszt left out, but if a preference for Katsaris is merely that he is more dramatic, I would say that is a matter of taste, and the modern trend is to more exciting classical music by more beautiful and sexy performers, and usually using more volume, more speed and more contrast in their performances.If you see a video of Katsaris performing the Pastoral, the thunderstorm has become a major disaster and most of the Ninth would have hastened Glenn Gould’s stroke.Personally, I think Beethoven wanted a lot of drama in the dramatic parts of his music, but never anticipated a Katsaris level of intensity, that Liszt had a natural built-in inclination to infuse the music with a more spiritual quality than originally existed, and perhaps Leslie Howard is pretty close to Beethoven’s original feeling.There is a ridiculous range of dramatic emotion between Gould’s Fifth and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s. Do we want originality, tranquility, excitement, or our brains blown out?

Reviewer: Bobblejack
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: These piano arrangements of the Beethoven symphonies by Liszt have long been on my “would like to have” list. I finally found them and took a chance on getting them. As a long-time Beethoven lover, and not being partial to interpretations other than what was written, I found myself captivated by these performances. The general feel and message of each of the symphonies comes across really well, considering the limitations of being produced by a single instrument. Not being an expert musician, I wouldn’t comment on the particular nuances of each of the symphonies, sufficient to say that I really enjoyed each, and every one of them. If you like Beethoven and your curiosity is piqued, go for it – you won’t be disappointed.

Reviewer: Juan J
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Beethoven Symphonies, S.464, are a set of nine transcriptions for solo piano by Franz Liszt of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies 1–9.Liszt’s Beethoven Symphony transcriptions are little known outside serious musical circles, and were in relative obscurity for over 100 years after their publication. It remains a mystery why none of Liszt’s pupils performed or recorded these works.The first recording of any of them was not until 1967, when Glenn Gould recorded the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies.Leslie Howard is best known for being the only pianist to have recorded the complete solo piano works of Franz Liszt, a project which included more than 300 premiere recordings.Liszt had a great success with the Symphonie pastorale from the beginning. It was probably the first of the Beethoven Symphonies that he set himself to transcribe, and he played at least the last three movements at many a public concert.