Benno Moiseiwitsch plays Liszt "La leggierezza"

[genseric9]

Liszt would have loved the ending!

[Liszt1886]

Une pure merveille.

[lucianovol1]

Great  music!!!

[AlexPxr8]

OMG unbelievable. This is just about the best playing I've ever heard, and by a huge distance the best of this piece. A revelation.

[aardvaark069]

This piano has a Bechsteinian sound to it up top although i know Benno was a Steinway man. I love the ending. Probably off-the-cuff but it reminds me of Kreisler-Rachmaninoff Liebeslied ending(?) This performance is famous for a reason.

[SamuelFeinberg]

How is it possible that this recording has received a FOUR star rating???? It should be awarded 10!!!

[pianopera]

Moiseiwitsch already reached to so many stars by succesfully climbing this mountain "Hors Category"...he doesn't need more...

[SamuelFeinberg]

True. How could I miss this... ;-)

[realpianistcomposer]

I've loved this recording for a long time; to date, I've heard none that surpass it. Again, thanks for posting.

[MusicDoLove]

Utterly spellbinding.

[McLellandPianoStudio]

I can't envision musicality any more magical. Why don't pianos sound like this anymore? Obviously it's us pianists, but could it be the piano builders and tuners as well?

[billyguns2]

Oh yes, you are entirely correct on both counts. The finest, thin woods; real leather and ivory; superb craftsmanship, with each piano taking a long time to build. Each piano had its own personality. Of course, the pianists in those days were giants; I count Moisiewitsch one of the very greatest of all because he played everything as a great singer would sing it. I don't think I've ever heard one banged note from his hands. May this YouTube clip stay forever as a lesson to all aspiring pianists!

[fartlestucks]

I just lusten & enjoe Cortot's rending,truly lite&rapid tho never sounding rushed.Returning to Benno, i'm struck by similar qualities but with added fire,color &passion,wich for me tips the balance in his favor for "greatLiszt recordings." And that marvellous mini-coda in major,almost as if Schubert turned the tables on his great arranger,adding his emotional peace,but in Liszt's writing.

[Schnabel87]

You have exceptional taste, truecrypt. One of Moiseiwitsch's most magical recordings.

[pianopera]

Truecrypt, you've posted different versions of "Leggierezza" to compare. For me this one wins.

It's funny that in the prestigious Philips series "Great Pianists of the 20th Century" they used this very recording of B.M. in an album that should contain only solo-recordings of...Ignacy Jan Paderewski! Strange mistake, they even added: "Ending revised by B.M."! But although P. was a great Chopinist, he never had the big fluent technique of M., his Liszt-recordings are not at the top...

[pianopera]

...And on a more subjective level, I never understood why in this project they  included pianists like Uchida, Watts and Haebler, but EXcluded illustrous ones like Moriz Rosenthal, von Sauer and Petri...maybe some unmusical conflicts of interests, or commercial reasons...

[truecrypt]

Probably it's the way to "promote" and/or equalize "new and old", "greatness and mediocrity"... The same is a case in Russian recording industry. Well... at least we can sort it out... kind of... some of us... ;)

[nickus32000]

I read that Alfred Brendal was their main consultant in choosing the pianists for the series.

[RabidCh]

I thought it was Tom Deacon... but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Brendel, or at least he played a large role. The only thing I'm certain about is that Brendel picked the pieces for Kempff's CDs, and probably for himself too.

[paulostroff99]

nickus32000-This does not speak well for A.B. How a man with a tin ear could have been such a brilliant pianist-is beyond me! Ha,ha. Perhaps somewhat overstated!

[Pogouldiwitz]

Well, the Uchida inclusion is obvious from a commercial standpoint, as she records for that label, I believe. However, in my humble amateur opinion, she's one of the most interesting pianist's still performing on the world stage.

[morvensky]

Would you happen to know if they included Lazar Berman on it?

[pianopera]

Berman was excluded, so were Feinberg, Flier, Grinberg, Neuhaus, Oborin....but they INcluded Ashkenazy, Bruk & Taimanov, Gavrilov, Gilels, Ginsburg, Pletnev, Richter, Yudina...can you understand the logic? I can't!

[morvensky]

I agree with Pletnev and Richter (maybe Gilels) but the others, no, I can not see the logic. And what the hell is with Previn? he was hardly a pianist, why was he included?

[snaaptaker]

Paderewski's beautiful version of this piece is one of my very favorites. I didn't notice his having any technical problems with it. Actually, I was rather surprised at how good his technique was.

[snaaptaker]

But this performance by Moiseiwitsh is certainly very beautiful, also one of my very favorites, along with Paderewski's and Cortot's. Nice ending, too.

[paulostroff99]

snaaptaker-I fully agree with you on this.

[chad410]

i really wish you d just get rid of these silly comments by the garbage speaker. leschetitskys understanding of pianism revolutionised much of what brought about great pienists and they can be traced back to way beyond his day. I believe to Chopin

[paulostroff99]

Great playing by a master! Bravo! TY.

[smithsherman]

I'm not surprised that Erwin loves this...as this feels like Liszt filtered through propriety...so that the form is correct,but the spirit of magnanamous largesse is missing

It's Pianism....

[pianopera]

I have a strong inclination NOT to observe the proprieties regarding Smith's comment's...but let's put it mildy again: he has NO CLUE of recognizing musical/pianistical greatness in most of the Leschetitzky-pupils, as he is lost in erratic theories and phantasies.

Btw Smith you can also use the "reply" option, use some propriety for a change ;)

[smithsherman]

Does this mean that you won't be over for cheese and crackers this afternoon?

[pianopera]

No, you should work on your guitar-album, don't disappoint your fans... ;)

"Vote for Giuliani"!

[pianopera]

Moiseiwitch was one of the most elegant and natural, spontaneous pianists of the 20th century, and clearly belonged to the Romantic period.

This playing is superb, very fluent and with free approach (he plays an altered ending here), long singing lines and colour, passion, lyricism and clarity.

In short, this interpretation belongs to the 20 or so best Liszt-recordings ever.

[smithsherman]

Moiseiwitsch is yet another convert to the modern school...as this has all the luxuriant tones that Liszt needs and which are praised by modernity,while being totally bereft of the rhapsodic spiritual quality that is so necessay to this kind of declamation...sadly,the dearth of which is much fostered by modernity and with which the modern audience has grown so accustomed.