Liszt: Pr?ludes No3; Faust Symphony
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CD Details
Composer: Franz LisztConductor: Georg Solti
Conductor: Jes?s L?pez-Cobos
Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra: L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra
Performer: Siegfried Jerusalem
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2001-03-13
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- No. 1, Faust
- No. 2, Gretchen
- No. 3, Mephistopheles
- Movement 1
- Movement 2
- Movement 3
Music reviews of Liszt: Pr?ludes No3; Faust Symphony
Music Review: Liszt program music
Rating: 4 Stars
On this disk are three separate orchestras under various conductors, all of famous symphonic works by Franz Liszt. The Faust Symphony from 1986, the symphonic poems from 1978 (analogue), and the Dante Symphony from 1982.
Liszt's Faust Symphony is really three character studies, from Goethe's drama of the same name, rather than a traditional symphony. The story is about Johann Faustus, a man who makes a pact with the devil in order to have all his desires satisfied, at the expense of his soul. Eventually Faust falls in love with Gretchen and their love saves his soul. The movements of the symphony portray the three characters mentioned: I. Faust, II. Gretchen, and III. Mephistopheles, with a coda adding organ, solo tenor, and men's chorus to the orchestra. The Faust movement could be a work in and of itself, totaling approximately 30 minutes, and encompassing a wide range of motives and emotions. One critic labeled the 5 motives as "passion, pride, longing, triumph, and love. The first theme is a craggy one with odd intervals (often called the first 12-note tone row) and the other themes are evocative of their titles. The music is an easy view of the influence of Liszt upon Richard Strauss; the imaginative thematic material and the dramatic program music and orchestrations are all very suggestive of what will become R. Strauss. The Gretchen movement shows Liszt as a master orchestrator and forward-looking composer. While the second movement is lyrical in nature, Liszt creates various chamber ensembles and keeps changing the instrumentation of those groupings. The best example is after the brief woodwind introduction, a solo viola and solo oboe have a duet with a sort of peasant dance feel, then in comes the solo clarinet, flute, and violin, and a new chamber ensemble take over. Very interesting music. The Mephistopheles movement is a scherzo, utilizing all of the themes from the previous movements, but casting a crooked view of those melodies. While Mephistopheles gets a creepy scherzo theme, he also revels in a triumphant theme as well as a dance-like 6/8 theme. It is a movement of masterful design and an interesting take on Mephistopheles. The work concludes on a positive note. The male chorus and tenor solo (here sung by Placido Domingo) comment on the lesson to be learned from the story. It gives a mysterious, yet glorious conclusion to this epic work. Faust Symphony, like Les Preludes, has a lot of inventive and memorable melodies. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti give a clean performance with few to no loose ends. First class performance.
The two symphonic poems Les Preludes and Prometheus have not had such impassioned performances such as this one of the London Philharmonic under Sir Georg Solti. The famous Les Preludes has such great motives of many moods: passion, pastoral, triumphant; and all so inventive. Solti perhaps takes the maestoso a bit too "Maestoso", but exhilarating nonetheless. Prometheus, lesser known, is also very fiery, with occasional instrumental recitatives of lyricism. The playing is excellent all around, and the music is captiviating.
Liszt's Dante Symphony, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, is played here under Jesus Lopez Cobos with the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande. In two movements (Inferno and Purgatorio), this is a work not nearly as popular or as fleshed out as the other works on this disk. Certainly not as thematic, but instead, Liszt creates musical depictions of the places described. The Inferno begins just that way, with wild playing by Cobos, and eventually descends into lyricism. Purgatorio begins off-kilter and unresolved with solos for harp, while the middle section is chorale-like. It ends with a view of heaven with the heavenly chorus singing a portion of the Magnificat. The forward looking harmonies make a dramatic and interesting depiction of heaven. Included is Liszt's alternate loud ending as well. While an aggressive interpretation, the brass cannot stand up to the other orchestras represented on this CD, with occasional tuning issues. Compare this Dante with the one offered on Teldec under Barenboim and the Berlin Philharmonic. That said, this is a fiery interpretation and the ending is particularly well played.
Three separate fiery performances of 4 Liszt symphonic works is hard to beat. Even with the Dante Symphony not attaining the heighest of heights, this disk is an excellent buy. Compare these works to those released on Teldec under Barenboim and the symphonic poems to that on Sony under Mehta and this 2 for 1 CD is a bargain.
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