This useful collection gathers together Liszt’s arrangements for piano and orchestra. Liszt described Schubert as ‘the most poetic of all composers’, and paid ample tribute in his many faithful, yet adventurous, transcriptions of his songs and waltzes. But the Wandererfantasie represents a singular case. Fascinated by Schubert’s cyclic form, and feeling that such opulent virtuosity – unique in Schubert – needed a helping orchestral hand, Liszt produced a version sufficiently flamboyant to acquire an essentially Lisztian flavour. At once generous and realistic, Liszt was rarely the complete altruist, and his embellishments include enough tiger-rag growls, flashing scales and split octaves to tempt intrepid virtuosos of his own tradition or bias. The result is fascinating and exhilarating. And so, too, in a slighter way, is the Fantasie on a theme from Beethoven’s ‘Ruins of Athens’, a lively gewgaw with con strepito cadenzas and flourishes galore.
Weber’s Polonaise brillante becomes even more of a show-piece in Liszt’s hands, fully deserving its subtitle ‘L’hilarite’, while the fantasy on Berlioz’s Lelio is extended and exploratory and, with its final bars trailing clouds of virtuosity, a special gift for ardent Lisztians. Louis Lortie plays all these works with immaculate brio, where necessary ‘tempering bravura with restraint’ (as Chandos’s note neatly puts it), and makes the best possible case for music which is not always worth its weight in gold. He is admirably partnered throughout, and Chandos’s sound and balance are natural and refined.
Volume 2 of Liszt’s original works for piano and orchestra is eagerly awaited.'
Nikolaus Lahusen, Franz Liszt, - - Franz Liszt Transcriptions of Franz Schubert Songs - Amazon.com Music. It features Liszt’s transcriptions for piano solo of Schubert’s works, with the vocal parts of the original ‘lieder’ taken over by the piano. The transcriptions presented here adhere closely to Schubert’s original compositional structure without any paraphrasing or free fantasies.