Richard Todd:

>I know musicians, or pianists at any rate, who consider Busoni one of the
>greatest of composers.  John Ogden thought him the equal of J.S.  Bach.
>Of course Ogden admitted himself to the same circle of genius.  I've never
>heard Busoni's Doktor Faustus which is supposed to be a transcendnent
>masterpiece.  Does anyone know it?

Doktor Faustus is a wonderful opera and Busoni an opera composer with a
keen, complex, and poetic sense of drama.  I know only the Fischer-Dieskau
recording from maybe 30-odd years ago, which I understand has cuts.  The
opera is so very well written, I can't imagine what they left out or, more
importantly, why.

To get some flavor of Busoni's theater, try the Nagano recording of the
short Turandot and Arlecchino.

Steve Schwartz