Wes Crone ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>His music strikes me (just me, not everyone) as being all show and no
>heart.  Maybe I should say that he sells me the sizzle without the steak.
>I don't feel this way about all composers of virtuoso music.  I think
>Chopin wrote some very difficult piano music but his music seems to aim for
>a higher goal than the music of Liszt.  When I hear Liszt's music I feel
>like I'm listening to a man who plays piano with incredible skill, a man
>who knows how to put on one hell of a show, and a man with nothing much to
>offer musically.  This is just an opinion so don't take offense.  That's a
>pretty fair description of how I feel about the music of Franz Liszt.

Thanks Wes, that clarifies matters.  I don't agree, of course, but then it
would probably depend on which Liszt you've been exposed to.  The HUngarian
Rhapsodies, for instance, especially if not extrememly well played, or the
Symphonic Poems, might easily make you feel that way.

I'd be surprised, though, if you had the same reaction to the late piano
music - e.g.  La Gondole Lugubre or the Villa d'Este piece (forget the name
offhand) which showed Ravel the way to portray water on the keyboard - or
some of his religious works, like Via Crucis.

Deryk Barker
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