Very nice upload. Unfortunately, this blatant idolizing of composers and appeal to antiquated elitism that's rampant all over this commentary is why so many people, myself including, find it so frustrating to explore "Classical" music. Still, it's best to let the music speak for itself.
Brendel is A genuine Liszt interpreter. Just listened to Volodos and it was just a load of noise and he messed around with the score so much it was unrecognisable as Liszt.
I agree that his earlier recording , in the '70's are a magical performance of the Years Of Pilgrimage. I wanted to concur with you on your observation, first person I've heard notice how great that recording was .... it was an analog recording also .... as I think this was though ....this was unitel video recording , issued by Deutsche Grammaphone, of course the transfer to DVD just makes it all the more dynamic, yet you can tell the sound has the warm sound, aka analog
Es una interpretación bastante regularcilla, a parte del momento que marcohorowitz8 dice, con las notas repetidas en la primera exposición del tema no se escuchan la mitad de ellas por un mal rebote y como concepción, con la mia no coincide .... Tampoco hace nada (calidad de sonido buena ...) que nos haga ver que sea una buena interpretación. Es una del montón como otra cualquiera.
This is one of my favorite interpretations of "Dante." I especially appreciate the way that Brendel emphasizes the orchestral elements in the piece. His understanding of the underlying structure is magisterial. Liszt is sometimes unjustly criticized for 'episodic' writing - but 'Dante" and the B minor Sonata are amazingly tight, and Brendel knows how to hold this work together. He plays it with brains, not just fingers!
toughen up, buttercup. thanks to the wonders of the interwebs many less fortunate individuals who have never been given voice in public forum are flexing their opinion-muscles for the first time. call it ignorance or growing pains, but your inability to deal only serves to make you appear out-of-touch
please don't bombard me with thumbs down when I say that he does cheat in some parts. I'm performing this piece for my diploma, I know the score very well, and he does simplify at least two passages. Musically it is convincing though.
Well, everyone make changes to Liszt's pieces. The only arrangement in this interpretation is, to me, in part two.
I wouldn't call it cheating. I don't think that a pianist like Brendel (who has one of the clearest fingers and has played the most difficult pieces live whithout slips) "cheats". This part of the piece is easier than the second and he doesn't make changes towards the end of part two, so...
nop, I'm simply saying that in this particular piece I'm sticking to the score more faithfully than Mr. Brendel by not simplifying those bits, that's all.
Anyway when you've trained in a conservatoire and also the Royal Academy in London like I have, believe me you will have heard performances that can match if not beat this one. His Schubert and Beethoven are still the highest pinnacle of achievement, I could never match him on those composers!
ok so have i played at the royal academy there are better performances and i know brendel is more suited to schubert,and he simplifies it bit nevertheless its a stirling performance
@marcohorowitz: I wouldn't want to use this page for anything other than to amplify Brendel's great performance and explanation of this work ...... what you say is irrelevant to that fact
If you put it this way,I agree! I grew up with Brendels Beethoven and of course he wouldn't be my ideal of the complete Liszt player but I found in this performance a different side of him....it was like seeing on old friend again....what you say about letting go is so true though....with certain Liszt passages,you must simply go nuts!
I disagree....this is a refreshing side to a otherwise very conservative pianist associated with the classic german school....he plays liszt with the same respect and care as beethoven and with suitable bravura too....Horowitz and Berman don't own Liszt you know? Brendels technique is incredible too.
Very nice played, although he plays it a bit too fast in my opinion. Between the several parts, he could have varied a bit more in the tempo. My favourite for this piece is Lazar Berman.
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The difference between 2 artists are Night and Day their both unique artists with different qualities that much youve made clear. But comparing 2 artists is much like comparing 2 wines Red and White one suits your taste as the other does not but if you prefer one over the other saying that this one tastes better thats your opnion. But keep in mind opinions are like assholes everyone has one ! So next time keep your shyt to yourself !
This is supposed to be the 2nd version that liszt wrote. I heard the first version played by leslie howard, just slightly different, however more beautiful in my opinion.
Does anyone know where to get the score of the 1st version??
he's playing 8th notes instead of 16th notes. and no, shoogishoogi, liszt wrote an a-sharp major chord. what crap edition do you have? (before everyone puts negatives on my comment, i think brendel is overall a great pianist. and don't say "lets see you play it then..", i'll be playing it in a concert in a few months, but i'm not a professional.)
However, if you notice the previous chord, he plays it right: f. Therefore the A-sharp minor was totally his decision. Otherwise he would have played f-minor.
There are some editions which let you choose between those mood-defining chords. A-sharp minor is obviously more hopeless which suits better fot that section.
To sum up i support Alfred Brendel over YOU.
Why can´t you enjoy the masterfully played masterpiece?
Then it was a failure of my (and n8's) perception - I really thought (or it kind of seemed to me) that he played the octaves simultaneously rather than broken.
Not because I'd think he wasn't able to (it's not exactly the hardest technical challenge), but I wondered why he did that :)
It might have look that way. But really the angle of the camera isn't the greatest to realize what he is doing with his 4th finger (actually playing B sharp). Yes, exactly, the octaves are being played broken.
Thinking that Alfred Brendel was unable of playing semiquavers instead of quavers is a sin, haha. That isn't even difficult and more if you take a look at the ease with which he plays this piece with no mistakes, relaxed and perfectly clear sound.
I beg to differ. The octaves are NOT being played broken, and your argument with the accentuation of the thumb is invalid, because even if he played them broken, it doesn't sound like it, and that is what counts. And to call his technique "relaxed" is just pure irony. I think his technique is very stiff and far away from relaxed. He was also starting to have problems with arthritis when he grew old.
Furthermore, I really think that he was unable to play the octaves broken. Just listen to the 1st movement of the Hammerklavier Sonata here on Youtube, at the end, there are some broken octaves, and he's having difficulties with them, and he was young back then. And I'm sure there are lots of other examples where you can hear his difficulties with broken chords or octaves.
I don't like his analysis. Liszt was a true Romantic at heart. I don't think the piece is as symbolic as he makes it sound. To me, it's a Romantic, unprocessed improvisation by Liszt. He just wrote it down.
Of course it's very symbolic. If you look and study the score you realize how much Liszt has put an effort to use themes derived from each other in clever ways. It's not an improvisation allthough he may manage to make it sound like one. That's his genious. He actually read the Divine Comedy and knew the poem by Victor Hugo. He was a rather learned and intellegent man besides being a passionate and romantic virtuoso. People who are trying to unjustly diminishing him will allways fail.
And who are you to determine what a good transition is and who are you to make such huge judgements on me and my personal opinion?
I'm sorry, but YOU started this.
NO. I don't expect this to be harmonious. A LOT of pieces take literature as a source of inspiration. Look at Strauss's Elektra. It's not a typical opera. It's not harmonious, but what makes it valuable is consistency. The opera flies in various directions, but it still maintains consistency.
"YOU started this". Well, you don't even remember that you have been completely dismissive of both Brendel and Liszt in your previous comments to which I reacted. I think you are a 16 year old inmature person who needs to grow up. Don't take it badly. BTW, your rendition of "Oiseaux tristes" (Ravel said: "it evokes birds lost in the oppressiveness of a very dark forest") sounds like seagull-automats on steroids. It totally displays your lack of musical judgement so far. You have much to learn!
Hmmmm...it's none of your business if I leave a comment, so either SHUT your mouth or provide EVIDENCE that my comment was OBJECTIVELY wrong, or don't write anything. You know why? Because my comment was CLEARLY subjective and you have stated that I was wrong.
Yes. I do have much you learn, but not from a 39 year old who spends time on YT arguing with people....
None of my business? ANY comment on YT could potentionally be ANYONE's business, otherwise please keep your comments in a private diary! Come on, don't be silly! You think you can hide behind the "subjective" argument. Well, not surpringly, you're happily listening to the yes-saying people who please you. Believe me: I'm visiting YT for amusement only and to check up Brendel's Dante-version. I really don't need to prove anything on YT. No hard feelings; be well and use your heart AND brain!
It's night and I would like to enjoy some music history and Mary Poppins (I haven't watched it in ages! It's going to be fun) and there's nothing more distracting than new messages in my mailbox with lots of capital letters and punctuation marks.
Yes, the 'subjective' argument is a perfect way to protect one-self.
Also: After all, this is not exactly a guy you could discuss a tritone with, much less retrograde inversion. Rigorous debate with anyone so intellectually wanting and so appallingly undisciplined is impossible. I could annhilate his shabby pretentions, masquearding as doxa,in fewer than 100 words, but as no one is paying me to do so, why bother? Stay tuned...
My advice: Pay no attention whatsoever to aldebussy, who is blatantly out of the loop in aesthetic, historical, and compositional categories as to render his views mere anachronism. He doesn't have a clue; he is an amateur whose drivel serves only to betray his wholesale ignorance. No need to take him so seriously!
thank you very much for posting this, I like Brendel and his commentary on this piece along with his cute accent, however, I feel I prefer Leif Ove Andsnes' tempo during his Carnegie Hall recital recording especially at 4:57-5:32.
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Uhmmm. well.... in many different versions....but...... just to tell you an option. I really dislike a lot this work. Is ridicoulos and pretencious ....some kind of circus work. Listz wrote maybe 30% of his production so beautiful music, but his other 70% was really cheap, or just focussed technicaly, or with some kind of silly religious, or literature background. His materwork: The B minor sonata. That´s is superior music. I don´t know how he plays it, but i have an idea.....
you're talking crap,do you know that? I really don't like people judging Liszt this way,like he was a cheap composer or just for a show-off ! how can you criticize this way? Liszt wrote so Many! works,it's logical that some of them are just for showing off the superb technique...you cannot find any meaning in the 70 percent just because some people cannot understand that music.
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Sorry dear, but here you make a great mitake. i also stdied composition and graduated parallel in it togheter with my piano mayor. I understand Liszt music very well, but if you dont like "White" it doens´t means "White" doen´t exist. Listz music is superb form many different point of view, but some of his music is just for music show and finger dexterity, and among this kind of music is alo a very cheap muic too. At the same time he composed beautiful muic, and among these....to conyinue......
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continuing...pieces , some of them are superb, as the Funeraille, Mephisto Waltzer, and the great sonata in B minor. BUT among greatest works are also his organ and choral works. unfortunately this "Dante Sonata" is among the pretencious and at the same time very illy works.
I see that you're generally a hateful person over the youtube....how can say anything fro Liszt? could you ever ever compose even the 1% of what He Composed???
Sorry, may I ask WHAT exactly is pretentious for you? Or painful? I seems to me as you are using words that you just learned to describe things that you haven't really achieved to undrstand yet.
I usually don't argue with somebody who can hardly manage to write a full sentence (i.e. you). But here's the deal:
1. Melodies have no clear contour and are very disjunct to a point they don't make sense at all. Of course, Bach wrote disjunct subjects for his fugues too, but which one makes crave for more drama or a point of departure?
2.Random virtuosic passage work clearly blur good transitions.
Sorry for my bad english, it's one of several languages that I fail to master fully. I disagree with you idea of lack of contours and disjuntures in these works. Your comparing to Bach doesn't make sense to me as we are here in a completely different idiom. You seem insensitive to a genre which was that of the romantisicm era. Good transitions don't need to look exactly as in the theory book.
3. IN-CONSISTENCY. Liszt keeps switching back and forth to these programmatic, over-the-top, intellectua phrases and sections to completely Romantic outpours, like he was sick of sticking to Dante.
And then he goes back again....
Liszt's output is HUGE and some of it is downright boring (i.e. his sacred music). He was an improvisor and he wrote down somethings that needed A LOT of polishing.
What you call inconsistency is actually his dramatic use and juxtaposition of different motifs symbolizing the struggling going on within ourselves and as described by Dante. If you expected this to be harmonious then you're in the wrong place. I don't argue for ALL of Liszt's output to be great but you are attacking some of his masterpieces and show off a learned Attitude but still lacking of understanding the essential ideas of this music. Behind the words your arguments stay shallow.
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Of course. I think the same thing.
I thing for people who like him so much is just a matter of taste.
maybe Brendel have "Something i don´t understand" ...of course since the point of taste, becuase musically he has many things to desagree. But taste is taste.
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He can talk about Liszt all he wants. He sure as hell can't play it. Clumsy, frumpy, ugly, lingering over little details in an effort to play analytically. His Schumann is no less hilarious.
Again mrjoke. You must be a friend of finchy, as both are like corky trying to read Hawking´s methaphisics.
Show us a better interpretation and tell us why. Of course there always would be someone who criticizes an interp. about a piece he can´t even play. That´s called inferiority complex.
Brendel has a recording of this from the 1970's which I prefer... it is interpreted in a less seriously cerebral, restrained manner (his usual trademark :), and is one of the most astonishing recordings I have heard of this Liszt Sonata (the acoustics of the double octave runs up and down the keyboard were very resonant in the Hall he performed it in!); it has been one of my favorites for years, and have heard many pianists record it.
This is an excellent performance, but sorry, ima stay with Pace's performance.
Laudan08 1 month ago
This is top five of my favourite Liszt pieces. It is just brilliant. There is something so crude but beautiful about it
MsFloopdedoop 2 months ago
Very nice upload. Unfortunately, this blatant idolizing of composers and appeal to antiquated elitism that's rampant all over this commentary is why so many people, myself including, find it so frustrating to explore "Classical" music. Still, it's best to let the music speak for itself.
Metamusik 4 months ago
Golf Wang.
highgradesounds 5 months ago 4
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Is This A mistake???? 5:49 I think that he forgot for a few seconds the part
ElPatriCrk 7 months ago
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ElPatriCrk 7 months ago
downright evil sounding with a twist but in a way, so beautiful
CziffraTheThird 8 months ago
Fantastic performance!
xiangchen2405 8 months ago
Brendel is A genuine Liszt interpreter. Just listened to Volodos and it was just a load of noise and he messed around with the score so much it was unrecognisable as Liszt.
TheGreatRichter 8 months ago
OFWGKTA.
EazyEveryDay 8 months ago 5
This sir is a genius
Suraj7Ambika 11 months ago 4
oh will you look at that! somebody named Eric Himy ripped Brendels analysis off for his Liszt-CD: erichimy.com/escritos1_en.php
i know whose music i never want to hear..
chrsYT 1 year ago
thats some eyebrow talent
Gargantupimp 1 year ago 2
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Brendull. Good thing he retired.
jefftam1234 1 year ago
I agree that his earlier recording , in the '70's are a magical performance of the Years Of Pilgrimage. I wanted to concur with you on your observation, first person I've heard notice how great that recording was .... it was an analog recording also .... as I think this was though ....this was unitel video recording , issued by Deutsche Grammaphone, of course the transfer to DVD just makes it all the more dynamic, yet you can tell the sound has the warm sound, aka analog
Discerninator 1 year ago
i love the little shakes of the head he does when he plays, very dramatic =)
analfrost 1 year ago
This is good, but you should hear Jorge Bolet's interpretation.
CoolWJL 2 years ago
@CoolWJL . Yes, Bolet's Recording is incredible
gymgymgymgym 1 year ago
Es una interpretación bastante regularcilla, a parte del momento que marcohorowitz8 dice, con las notas repetidas en la primera exposición del tema no se escuchan la mitad de ellas por un mal rebote y como concepción, con la mia no coincide .... Tampoco hace nada (calidad de sonido buena ...) que nos haga ver que sea una buena interpretación. Es una del montón como otra cualquiera.
A1CamposMendoza 2 years ago
Very good, you could tell that he was in-tune with the silence of the room.
CyberFireX 2 years ago 2
This is one of my favorite interpretations of "Dante." I especially appreciate the way that Brendel emphasizes the orchestral elements in the piece. His understanding of the underlying structure is magisterial. Liszt is sometimes unjustly criticized for 'episodic' writing - but 'Dante" and the B minor Sonata are amazingly tight, and Brendel knows how to hold this work together. He plays it with brains, not just fingers!
wirewoman 2 years ago 6
toughen up, buttercup. thanks to the wonders of the interwebs many less fortunate individuals who have never been given voice in public forum are flexing their opinion-muscles for the first time. call it ignorance or growing pains, but your inability to deal only serves to make you appear out-of-touch
TheElectricHeat 2 years ago 4
Ghastly, contemptible, and horrific. A sublime performance.
nahedh 2 years ago 6
i like this, but i much prefer bolet's recording.
gymgymgymgym 2 years ago
Thank you so much for sharing! I listen to this when I do homework~I don't know what I'd do without classical musik...
chappy360 2 years ago
all i want to know is, what building is this...where is it located?
iamjarrodtoo 2 years ago
Why is everyone so hateful to one another on youtube.
drmking16 2 years ago
fantastic question!! WHY???
I think it's because our 'real' identity is hidden, so you can swear and insult people, they'll never find out who you really are and where you live.
If they could see each other face to face then it would be a different story.
I hate it though, we go on youtube to enjoy videos, and some people turn it into a verbal battle-field of arrogance, rudeness and ignorance!
marcohorowitz8 2 years ago 14
please don't bombard me with thumbs down when I say that he does cheat in some parts. I'm performing this piece for my diploma, I know the score very well, and he does simplify at least two passages. Musically it is convincing though.
marcohorowitz8 2 years ago 2
Well, everyone make changes to Liszt's pieces. The only arrangement in this interpretation is, to me, in part two.
I wouldn't call it cheating. I don't think that a pianist like Brendel (who has one of the clearest fingers and has played the most difficult pieces live whithout slips) "cheats". This part of the piece is easier than the second and he doesn't make changes towards the end of part two, so...
FABrendel 2 years ago 2
no. he simplifies on 5:38 as well, they should be broken octaves.
marcohorowitz8 2 years ago
ok maybe but don't tell me you are anywhere near as good as him
afertyus1000 2 years ago
nop, I'm simply saying that in this particular piece I'm sticking to the score more faithfully than Mr. Brendel by not simplifying those bits, that's all.
Anyway when you've trained in a conservatoire and also the Royal Academy in London like I have, believe me you will have heard performances that can match if not beat this one. His Schubert and Beethoven are still the highest pinnacle of achievement, I could never match him on those composers!
marcohorowitz8 2 years ago
ok so have i played at the royal academy there are better performances and i know brendel is more suited to schubert,and he simplifies it bit nevertheless its a stirling performance
afertyus1000 2 years ago
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@marcohorowitz8 - your are a moron - sorry , another who can't hear the forest from the trees ....
Discerninator 1 year ago
@Discerninator no point in replying to ignorant, rude people. i feel sorry for you.
marcohorowitz 1 year ago 4
@marcohorowitz: I wouldn't want to use this page for anything other than to amplify Brendel's great performance and explanation of this work ...... what you say is irrelevant to that fact
Discerninator 1 year ago
@ those criticising liszt for a show-off:
listen to his "nuages gris", "bagatelle sans tonalité", his songs...
liszt composed about 1400 pieces, how can anyone dare to judge his whole musical output if he doesn't even know a fraction of it!
by the way, only beethoven's later works can be compared to liszt's later works, both harmonically explored whole new worlds!
jackewiebohne 2 years ago 4
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andou7 2 years ago
bad taste
Lemonizm 2 years ago
uhhmm.... not the best
bcbdaggtrf75 2 years ago
bad taste
Lemonizm 2 years ago
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TheYJ13 2 years ago
If you put it this way,I agree! I grew up with Brendels Beethoven and of course he wouldn't be my ideal of the complete Liszt player but I found in this performance a different side of him....it was like seeing on old friend again....what you say about letting go is so true though....with certain Liszt passages,you must simply go nuts!
478493 2 years ago 3
I disagree....this is a refreshing side to a otherwise very conservative pianist associated with the classic german school....he plays liszt with the same respect and care as beethoven and with suitable bravura too....Horowitz and Berman don't own Liszt you know? Brendels technique is incredible too.
478493 2 years ago 3
lol I dont care, I'm not trying to impress Brendel, im calling you out on being an unappreciative punk
thegzl 2 years ago
you sir are a fucking moron
thegzl 2 years ago
His English is great: He said: "psychological cohesion" perfectly, didn't he?!!
I think Brendel is the perfect antidote to Horowitz.
Opinions?
GaryPansey 2 years ago 2
Please don't speak English Brendel..
DennisChoy1 3 years ago 3
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What makes his horrible German accent even more appalling is the fact that he has been living in London since 1971 or so.
Schamschi 2 years ago
i find nicer an english when rolling the r's
tchebinai71 2 years ago
TRITONE! am i right?
aley564 3 years ago 2
Very nice played, although he plays it a bit too fast in my opinion. Between the several parts, he could have varied a bit more in the tempo. My favourite for this piece is Lazar Berman.
SIiv3r 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
The difference between 2 artists are Night and Day their both unique artists with different qualities that much youve made clear. But comparing 2 artists is much like comparing 2 wines Red and White one suits your taste as the other does not but if you prefer one over the other saying that this one tastes better thats your opnion. But keep in mind opinions are like assholes everyone has one ! So next time keep your shyt to yourself !
1l1v32d13 3 years ago
This is supposed to be the 2nd version that liszt wrote. I heard the first version played by leslie howard, just slightly different, however more beautiful in my opinion.
Does anyone know where to get the score of the 1st version??
mua05yi 3 years ago
Nice facilitations, heh.
Thracozaag 3 years ago
spectacular
dsamogray 3 years ago 2
ha what a cheater at 5:38! if you're gonna play liszt, really play it.
and a a-sharp minor chord at 7:41? really?
N8Shokr 3 years ago
the a sharp minor is not a mistake, maybe you should actually look at the music before you accuse him of making mistakes.
shoogishoogi 3 years ago 4
how is it supposed to be, I don't know this piece ...
tchebinai71 3 years ago
he's playing 8th notes instead of 16th notes. and no, shoogishoogi, liszt wrote an a-sharp major chord. what crap edition do you have? (before everyone puts negatives on my comment, i think brendel is overall a great pianist. and don't say "lets see you play it then..", i'll be playing it in a concert in a few months, but i'm not a professional.)
N8Shokr 3 years ago
It's OK , thanks
tchebinai71 3 years ago
Well the first thing you said was bullshit.
You are right on the second, though.
However, if you notice the previous chord, he plays it right: f. Therefore the A-sharp minor was totally his decision. Otherwise he would have played f-minor.
There are some editions which let you choose between those mood-defining chords. A-sharp minor is obviously more hopeless which suits better fot that section.
To sum up i support Alfred Brendel over YOU.
Why can´t you enjoy the masterfully played masterpiece?
FABrendel 3 years ago
So he plays 16ths?
twooffour 3 years ago
He plays semiquavers (right hand) and quavers (left hand)which is correct. His accentuation of C and B sharp with his thumb may sound misleading.
FABrendel 3 years ago
Then it was a failure of my (and n8's) perception - I really thought (or it kind of seemed to me) that he played the octaves simultaneously rather than broken.
Not because I'd think he wasn't able to (it's not exactly the hardest technical challenge), but I wondered why he did that :)
Thanks for the info.
twooffour 3 years ago
It might have look that way. But really the angle of the camera isn't the greatest to realize what he is doing with his 4th finger (actually playing B sharp). Yes, exactly, the octaves are being played broken.
Thinking that Alfred Brendel was unable of playing semiquavers instead of quavers is a sin, haha. That isn't even difficult and more if you take a look at the ease with which he plays this piece with no mistakes, relaxed and perfectly clear sound.
No problem man, good luck.
FABrendel 3 years ago
I beg to differ. The octaves are NOT being played broken, and your argument with the accentuation of the thumb is invalid, because even if he played them broken, it doesn't sound like it, and that is what counts. And to call his technique "relaxed" is just pure irony. I think his technique is very stiff and far away from relaxed. He was also starting to have problems with arthritis when he grew old.
Schamschi 3 years ago
Furthermore, I really think that he was unable to play the octaves broken. Just listen to the 1st movement of the Hammerklavier Sonata here on Youtube, at the end, there are some broken octaves, and he's having difficulties with them, and he was young back then. And I'm sure there are lots of other examples where you can hear his difficulties with broken chords or octaves.
Schamschi 3 years ago
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This is not what Liszt intended :S
nico22059 3 years ago
expert performance
i've been working on the this section of the piece for 4 months and its a pain
VirgilFaust99 3 years ago 14
Wonderful Analysis, Excellent Performance.
54spiritedwill54 3 years ago 4
I don't like his analysis. Liszt was a true Romantic at heart. I don't think the piece is as symbolic as he makes it sound. To me, it's a Romantic, unprocessed improvisation by Liszt. He just wrote it down.
aldebussy 3 years ago
Of course it's very symbolic. If you look and study the score you realize how much Liszt has put an effort to use themes derived from each other in clever ways. It's not an improvisation allthough he may manage to make it sound like one. That's his genious. He actually read the Divine Comedy and knew the poem by Victor Hugo. He was a rather learned and intellegent man besides being a passionate and romantic virtuoso. People who are trying to unjustly diminishing him will allways fail.
phyramus7 3 years ago
He was intellectual, but that doesn't mean he successfully suppressed his Romantic fervour.
MOST of his pianistic output is improvisatory, simply because he wrote them down as it would have come to him on a piano.
aldebussy 3 years ago
Developing themes into larger and more complex phrases is a VERY typical method for improvisation.
aldebussy 3 years ago
And who are you to determine what a good transition is and who are you to make such huge judgements on me and my personal opinion?
I'm sorry, but YOU started this.
NO. I don't expect this to be harmonious. A LOT of pieces take literature as a source of inspiration. Look at Strauss's Elektra. It's not a typical opera. It's not harmonious, but what makes it valuable is consistency. The opera flies in various directions, but it still maintains consistency.
Bach wrote VERY lyrical music.
aldebussy 3 years ago
"YOU started this". Well, you don't even remember that you have been completely dismissive of both Brendel and Liszt in your previous comments to which I reacted. I think you are a 16 year old inmature person who needs to grow up. Don't take it badly. BTW, your rendition of "Oiseaux tristes" (Ravel said: "it evokes birds lost in the oppressiveness of a very dark forest") sounds like seagull-automats on steroids. It totally displays your lack of musical judgement so far. You have much to learn!
phyramus7 3 years ago
Thanks for being honest about my rendition!
Hmmmm...it's none of your business if I leave a comment, so either SHUT your mouth or provide EVIDENCE that my comment was OBJECTIVELY wrong, or don't write anything. You know why? Because my comment was CLEARLY subjective and you have stated that I was wrong.
Yes. I do have much you learn, but not from a 39 year old who spends time on YT arguing with people....
aldebussy 3 years ago
None of my business? ANY comment on YT could potentionally be ANYONE's business, otherwise please keep your comments in a private diary! Come on, don't be silly! You think you can hide behind the "subjective" argument. Well, not surpringly, you're happily listening to the yes-saying people who please you. Believe me: I'm visiting YT for amusement only and to check up Brendel's Dante-version. I really don't need to prove anything on YT. No hard feelings; be well and use your heart AND brain!
phyramus7 3 years ago
It's night and I would like to enjoy some music history and Mary Poppins (I haven't watched it in ages! It's going to be fun) and there's nothing more distracting than new messages in my mailbox with lots of capital letters and punctuation marks.
Yes, the 'subjective' argument is a perfect way to protect one-self.
aldebussy 3 years ago
Also: After all, this is not exactly a guy you could discuss a tritone with, much less retrograde inversion. Rigorous debate with anyone so intellectually wanting and so appallingly undisciplined is impossible. I could annhilate his shabby pretentions, masquearding as doxa,in fewer than 100 words, but as no one is paying me to do so, why bother? Stay tuned...
bonsoiree2 3 years ago
My advice: Pay no attention whatsoever to aldebussy, who is blatantly out of the loop in aesthetic, historical, and compositional categories as to render his views mere anachronism. He doesn't have a clue; he is an amateur whose drivel serves only to betray his wholesale ignorance. No need to take him so seriously!
bonsoiree2 3 years ago
well said.
xtocablenet 3 years ago
thank you for wonderful upload, and to argimenes to share it.
gugulia 3 years ago 2
thank you very much for posting this, I like Brendel and his commentary on this piece along with his cute accent, however, I feel I prefer Leif Ove Andsnes' tempo during his Carnegie Hall recital recording especially at 4:57-5:32.
dr3Am3r73 3 years ago
Yep, I like Andsnes' rendition as well...very clear and powerful story telling.
I do adore Brendel though...his Schubert Op.90/3 is just out of this world...still very happy to find him playing this piece.
thekidwhocameback 3 years ago
Does he actually play the stutter effect at 6:47 or is it a problem with the video? I guess the latter..sounds cool though :)
MiksuK 3 years ago
And I am Liszt....and I suggest you people stop fighting....and concerntrate on your own work....youll find peace that way....
nanotechxe 4 years ago 6
Can anyone please tell me where I can find a better recording of this piece?
BachFong11 4 years ago
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Uhmmm. well.... in many different versions....but...... just to tell you an option. I really dislike a lot this work. Is ridicoulos and pretencious ....some kind of circus work. Listz wrote maybe 30% of his production so beautiful music, but his other 70% was really cheap, or just focussed technicaly, or with some kind of silly religious, or literature background. His materwork: The B minor sonata. That´s is superior music. I don´t know how he plays it, but i have an idea.....
ytpiano7
ytpiano7 4 years ago
you're talking crap,do you know that? I really don't like people judging Liszt this way,like he was a cheap composer or just for a show-off ! how can you criticize this way? Liszt wrote so Many! works,it's logical that some of them are just for showing off the superb technique...you cannot find any meaning in the 70 percent just because some people cannot understand that music.
lilalo15 4 years ago 2
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Sorry dear, but here you make a great mitake. i also stdied composition and graduated parallel in it togheter with my piano mayor. I understand Liszt music very well, but if you dont like "White" it doens´t means "White" doen´t exist. Listz music is superb form many different point of view, but some of his music is just for music show and finger dexterity, and among this kind of music is alo a very cheap muic too. At the same time he composed beautiful muic, and among these....to conyinue......
ytpiano7 4 years ago
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continuing...pieces , some of them are superb, as the Funeraille, Mephisto Waltzer, and the great sonata in B minor. BUT among greatest works are also his organ and choral works. unfortunately this "Dante Sonata" is among the pretencious and at the same time very illy works.
ytpiano7
ytpiano7 4 years ago
lilalo15, you know of any law of nature that prevents people who create good works unable of producing also bad works?
Ernesto7608 4 years ago 2
I see that you're generally a hateful person over the youtube....how can say anything fro Liszt? could you ever ever compose even the 1% of what He Composed???
EilisErina 4 years ago 3
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Your comment has a wrong direction. Just use a little more of your brain and you will realize you focussed bad your comment.
ytpiano7
ytpiano7 4 years ago
oh is that so? I don't really care for what you're saying anyway...I'm a musician myself and I know what I'm talking about.
EilisErina 4 years ago
I actually agree. I like his Legends. SOME of the pieces from the Years of Pilgrimage. I like his polonaises and some of his rhapsodies.
But the Transcendental Etudes, this and many of his pieces are JUST pretentious. The etudes, I think, are painful to listen to.
aldebussy 3 years ago
Sorry, may I ask WHAT exactly is pretentious for you? Or painful? I seems to me as you are using words that you just learned to describe things that you haven't really achieved to undrstand yet.
phyramus7 3 years ago
I usually don't argue with somebody who can hardly manage to write a full sentence (i.e. you). But here's the deal:
1. Melodies have no clear contour and are very disjunct to a point they don't make sense at all. Of course, Bach wrote disjunct subjects for his fugues too, but which one makes crave for more drama or a point of departure?
2.Random virtuosic passage work clearly blur good transitions.
aldebussy 3 years ago
Sorry for my bad english, it's one of several languages that I fail to master fully. I disagree with you idea of lack of contours and disjuntures in these works. Your comparing to Bach doesn't make sense to me as we are here in a completely different idiom. You seem insensitive to a genre which was that of the romantisicm era. Good transitions don't need to look exactly as in the theory book.
phyramus7 3 years ago
3. IN-CONSISTENCY. Liszt keeps switching back and forth to these programmatic, over-the-top, intellectua phrases and sections to completely Romantic outpours, like he was sick of sticking to Dante.
And then he goes back again....
Liszt's output is HUGE and some of it is downright boring (i.e. his sacred music). He was an improvisor and he wrote down somethings that needed A LOT of polishing.
aldebussy 3 years ago
What you call inconsistency is actually his dramatic use and juxtaposition of different motifs symbolizing the struggling going on within ourselves and as described by Dante. If you expected this to be harmonious then you're in the wrong place. I don't argue for ALL of Liszt's output to be great but you are attacking some of his masterpieces and show off a learned Attitude but still lacking of understanding the essential ideas of this music. Behind the words your arguments stay shallow.
phyramus7 3 years ago
THat makes comparing the two easier.
And Strauss was definitely a Romanticist.
aldebussy 3 years ago
I'm not a fan, I feel that it is a beautiful piece played by-the-numbers. But I absolutely appreciate the accomplishment.
kasluvs 4 years ago
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thank you mrcatalan1 - i am glad someone else cant stand brendel!
pianoenthusiast11 4 years ago
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He is a terrible influence on Liszt interpretation. I'm glad that more and more people are turning away from his half-baked ideas.
mrcatalan1 4 years ago
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I agree. Brendel is a weiner schnizel.
People also think is one of the big Beethoven interpreters. What a farse!
Frozentoes1 4 years ago
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Of course. I think the same thing.
I thing for people who like him so much is just a matter of taste.
maybe Brendel have "Something i don´t understand" ...of course since the point of taste, becuase musically he has many things to desagree. But taste is taste.
ytpiano7 4 years ago
I agree with you...he is just one more pianist...nothing to do with a giant :D
nico22059 3 years ago
"Tritone: Diabolus in Musica".
And brendel originally meaning devil! LOL
pianopera 4 years ago
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He can talk about Liszt all he wants. He sure as hell can't play it. Clumsy, frumpy, ugly, lingering over little details in an effort to play analytically. His Schumann is no less hilarious.
mrcatalan1 4 years ago
Again mrjoke. You must be a friend of finchy, as both are like corky trying to read Hawking´s methaphisics.
Show us a better interpretation and tell us why. Of course there always would be someone who criticizes an interp. about a piece he can´t even play. That´s called inferiority complex.
FABrendel 4 years ago
omg. talk about facial expressions
ccen1 4 years ago 2
Great facial expressions while talking. Especially when he raises one eyebrow... Love Brendel.
mimfri 4 years ago 2
This is a kinf of fetish.........or not?ytpiano7
ytpiano7 4 years ago
beautiful...this is the way i feel it should be played
xXbookwormXx 4 years ago 2
bellino...ma non eccellente
spina990 4 years ago
Thus heed well. sanctify the orals zov the darknesses zov thy kingdom.
FranzLiszt2 4 years ago
Wonderful Analysis, Excellent Performance.
kapayazi808 4 years ago 3
this is wonderful
annaleevega 4 years ago 2
Brendel has a recording of this from the 1970's which I prefer... it is interpreted in a less seriously cerebral, restrained manner (his usual trademark :), and is one of the most astonishing recordings I have heard of this Liszt Sonata (the acoustics of the double octave runs up and down the keyboard were very resonant in the Hall he performed it in!); it has been one of my favorites for years, and have heard many pianists record it.
lurgidbee 5 years ago
cziffra1980, Study before speaking
You're very funny
kikoolesnamis 5 years ago
This is rather shallow and middle-of-the-road once you've heard Nyiregyhazi. The sound is always either thin and neutral or percussive.
cziffra1980 5 years ago
wrong note 3.31,but excellent
afertyus1000 5 years ago
Thanks Sissco for all Brendel you upload. I love him so much!!
egrosz 5 years ago
i've never heard brendel talk before this. i always wondered why there aren't many videos of him speaking. now i can see why.
ellihaysee 5 years ago 2
Give us more of this. Thank's for the analysis. Please do the Mephisto Waltz next.
70001 5 years ago