(Due to a recent review in Gramphone, I felt urged to write this review)

Liszt:  The complete music for solo piano (!?) vol 53a and b; Music for
piano and orchestra (complete) HYPERION CDA 67401/2 and 67403/4.  2+2 CDs
including a "bonus track" on a separate CD).

LESLIE HOWARD piano, BUDAPEST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, KARL ANTON RICKENBACKER
conductor.

Summary: The development of the romantic piano concerto over 50 years
(actually 1833-1886)!

This is a very welcome release, since it shows that Liszt was a very
productive composer when it comes to works for piano and orchestra.
Looking at his enormous output for solo piano, this can hardly be a
surprise.  Still, he only completed five "original" works during his Weimar
period (the two piano concertos, the Hungarian Fantasy, the Ruins of Athens
Fantasy and Totentanz.  Most of the other "original" works dates from the
1830s, and finally Liszt made some arrangements of which Schubert's
Wanderer Fantasy and Weber's Polonaise brillante are the most reworked by
Liszt's hand.

A recording was made some fifteen years ago with Beroff and Masur (it's
recently reissued on EMI classics).  It included nine out of the sixteen
works recorded by Howard and Rickenbacker.  Since the EMI recording the
Concerto in E flat (minor) has been (re-)discovered and Howard and
especially Jay Rosenblatt has done of lot of work to prepare some
unpublished manuscripts for performance.

Who is then the potential buyer of the Hyperion recording? I guess if
you believe that only the two piano concertos (and maybe Totentanz) is
of interest to you, you wouldn't buy four CDs to get three works that can
fit into one CD.  If you however have a keen interest in Liszt and/or the
romantic piano concerto, this is something for you.

Howard's keyboard technique is as usual transparent and brilliant, but
I 've also discovered an enhanced poetic quality on this recording.  The
Budapest SO conducted by Rickenbacker is an excellent accompanist.  The
BSO is probably one of the few orchestras in the world who previously has
encountered some of the obscure works presented here.  Also, Karl Anton
Rickenbacker recently recorded Liszt's "Trois Ode Funebre" (on Koch), and
that world premier recording (I believe it is) showed that he is able to
handle Liszt's orchestral language.  Masur favours a more Mendelsohnian
approach on EMI, and in general the orchestral playing is not what you
would expect from the Leipzig orchestra (The beginning of the Ruins of
Athens Fantasy is a particularly bad example).

How does then Howard compare with Beroff on EMI? In general,
Beroff is consistent and exciting, but Howard can match that.  The
Howard/Rickenbacker recording of the Lelio Fantasy is especially worth
mentioning, because it didn't appeal to me at all when I heard the
Beroff/Masur version.

If you like Richter's old (early 60s) recording of the 1st piano concerto,
you will definitely enjoy Howard's.  To me, these two recordings differ
a lot from most other recordings of No 1.  The 2nd piano concerto and
Totentanz also receive the interpretation they deserve.  Overall, it's
especially notable that Howard doesn't rush through the cadenzas as some
pianists tend to do.

If you only are interested in acquiring The Hungarian Fantasy, the Wanderer
Fantasy or "the Sophie Menter concerto" (the bonus track), they were all
recorded in the late 70s with Katsaris/Ormandy on EMI (is it re-released?).
Howard/Rickenbacker's recording of these works is comparable in standard
to this early EMI recording.

Finally, what about the musical content on these discs? The two piano
concertos (and maybe Totentanz) may be considered as part of the standard
repertoire, but many of the other works are little known (not counting
the Weber and Schubert arrangements/editions).  The Piano Concerto in E
flat minor is definitely the missing link between the E flat and the A
major concerto, and its overall structure is less complicated than its
companions.  Grand Solo de concert (based on Liszt's first version of
Grosses Konzertsolo) is also a minor masterpiece that I hope will be heard
on the concert podium in the near future.  Malediction (first?) recorded by
Alfred Brendel about 40 years ago) and the Lelio Fantasy also deserves more
performances.  Other works, such as Hexameron, the Hungarian Fantasy
(closely related to the 14th Hungarian Rhapsody) and the Ruins of Athen
Fantasy represent the lighter side of Liszt's composership, and should be
regarded as such.  Fun to hear (and play!)!

Extensive information about the works on these discs can be found at:

   http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/

Mikael Rasmusson
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