Donald Satz wrote:

>Presently, I don't have a single Liszt disc of any type and would like to
>start with the three years/books of Annees de Pelerinage.  There's a strong
>element of nostalgia for my choice; my dad gave me his LP set of the Berman
>recordings just before his death.

I have the Berman set.  I first bought it in black disc and liked it so
much I bought it in CD format.  It's a great set.  As for Lizst's music,
the "Annees" is certainly a good place to start.  A lot of his piano music,
for me, sounds 'corny' - almost like the old-time theatre music.  On the
other hand, other pieces - like the 15 Hungarian Rhapsody as performed by
Volodos, shows how forward thinking Lizst could really be when he wanted
to.

I also have "Annees" performed by Jeffrey Swan, on Arkadia - not on your
list but also quite good.  I have mixed feelings about Howard's Hyperion
Lizst project.  A lot of it sounds like he's just sight-reading the piece
to get through the project.  His reading of the b minor sonata is really
disappointing to me.  The best reading of the b minor sonata, for me, is
the one Andre Watts made when he as 19, but Lortrie is also good.

The Years of Pilgrimage has over the years, worn well for me.  I return to
the set a couple of times a year.  The Mangos have the Symphonic Poems in
2 piano version which I enjoy more than the orchestral versions.  Another
great area of Lizst is his transcriptions of the Beethovan Symphonies.  I
haven't heard the Howard set and I would spend the money unless I could
hear them first because I find Howard too variable to spent a lot without
hearing first.  I have the Katsaris set - not bad - but he sometimes rushes
the music.

Dave Harman
El Paso, TX