Liszt Annees de Pelerinage Suisse S 160

A key release for the Liszt anniversary year: Alfred Brendel: Liszt - an addition to the series of Artist's Choice albums in which Alfred Brendel has selected his preferred recordings from his Liszt discography. Three generously-filled CDs include such masterpieces as the Sonata in B minor and a selection of late pieces as well as the complete "Italie" from the Années de pèlerinage.

Franz Liszt: Harmonies du soir – Neslon Freire, piano
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 205 MB (3% recovery) | FLAC+LOG+M3U+Cue | Full scans | RS & FS links
Publisher: Decca | Recorded: 2011 | Published: 2011

In short, Freire's gorgeous, utterly inspired Liszt playing belongs in every piano lover's collection. -Jed Distler www.classicstoday.com
With his new CD appropriately titled "Harmonies du soir" Nelson Freire brings a magnificent homage to Franz Liszt's bicentenary. This is a tremendous disc. Highly recommended. - Marc Haegeman; www.classical.net

Liszt brought new meaning to the term “virtuoso.” His works for piano are some of the most difficult ever written. This album presents not only the dazzling technical side of Liszt but also his beautiful piano melodies including Liebestraum, La Campanella and Un Sospiro, played by some of the greatest pianists including Daniil Trifonov, Martha Argerich, Vladimir Horowitz and Daniel Barenboim.

To commemorate Liszt's 200th birthday year, this release gathers together all of Vladimir Horowitz's Liszt recordings controlled by the Sony/BMG group and previously issued by RCA, CBS, and Sony in a four-disc collection. Each disc covers a specific period of Horowitz's recording career, such as "The Last Decade", "Horowitz at Carnegie Hall–Early Live Recordings", and "Early Studio Recordings".

Claudio Arrau - Liszt, Piano Works
EAC Rip | APE, CUE, LOG | Complete Scans | 6 CD | 1.1 GB
Classical | Philips | Catalog Number: 473775 | 2003

Of all the composers Claudio Arrau recorded extensively, Liszt was perhaps the most central, the most essential and the most personal. Trained as a youth in prewar Berlin by a Liszt pupil, Arrau's commanding virtuosity and compelling authority is clearly a continuation of the grand Romantic manner in general and of Liszt in particular and on these six discs are dozens of performances that speak with the power of tradition infused with strength of true belief. From the glittering cascades of Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este to the harrowing sonorities of Gnomenreigen and from the radiant arpeggios of Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude to the hushed intimacy of Liebestraum, Arrau knows Liszt's music with the fervor of a prophet and the passion of a lover. While it's true Arrau was in his seventies and eighties when he made these recordings and that time had mellowed his virtuosity, it's also true that time had matured his interpretations. Some listeners may prefer their Liszt players more vigorous, but few could ask for a more sensuous Liszt player. Including two performances of Liszt's Sonata in B minor, one an almost youthfully ardent recording from 1970 and the other a slower but more penetrating recording from 1985, provides a wonderful way to compare Arrau's approach to the composer's masterpiece. Philips' stereo sound is so realistic one can sometimes hear the pianist shift on the bench.