Franz Liszt: Perhaps The Best Pianist To Ever Exist | Classical Destinations
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Simon Callow explores the memorable legacies and music of Liszt, Bartok and Kodaly in the magnificent city of Budapest, before a stirring rendition of Bartok's `Roumanian Folk Dances'.
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From "Classical Destinations With Simon Callow"
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As a Hungarian I immensely appreciate how much care and attention went into pronouncing the names and places correctly.
It might seem like a tiny detail but it really warms my heart!
Do they pronounce Liszt properly also ?
Yes they did☺️
There is no perhaps! He is the bench mark of all the pianists in the world. It is very hard for us to judge him because we never heard him play. Our information is based on the writings and the evaluations of his contemporaries. He had reached a higher plateau of music and arts than the other pianists of his time. You can also reach that dimension through painting and other forms of arts.
Personally I don't think its a very good question. There are too many factors to consider. Perhaps for technique you could claim Liszt as the best at the time, or maybe Alkan, but I don't consider either of them the best piano composers at the time. I would put both Rachmaninoff and Chopin before Liszt as composers. Chopins melodies have withstood the test of time and I would argue are much more emotive than most of Liszts work. Then in terms of creative span I would say Rachmaninoff has it hands down. He was the culmination of everything from the Romantic period of music. Personally he is my favorite too :)
@@michaelbarker6460 I would have to agree with you! However, I feel and fervently believe that Liszt was the *greatest pianist who ever lived. Despite there being no (discovered) recordings, the written evidence left to posterity provided but a glimps into one’s imagination of hearing the sound of Liszt playing.
@@michaelbarker6460In compositional practice, he had a bigger creative output than chopin and Rach too, since he paved the way for atonality, whole tone pieces, invented symphonic poems, made the best and most groundbreaking revolutionary sonata ever to exist, so yrs
@Louís Exterminador De Demônios Thats true but imagine if Chopin lived as long as Liszt. I'm sure he would have been right beside Liszt in making important innovations at the time.
I'd say that Alkan was probably even better. All accounts point to it being the case. The problem is that Alkan was an antisocial hermit who never sought the public like Liszt. That is why the world does remember Liszt as the best.
All in all Liszt as a musical figure, especially as influential composer, is still, highly underestimated and misunderstood, perhaps due to the many detractors that he had and that wrote disparagingly about his music. I'd call that a mixture of ignorance and envy.
But anyone who takes the time to really listen to his stuff extensively, and not just the known pieces, will find that he left a mark like no other composer on people around him. His treatment of the piano as if it was a one-man orchestra in the italian style, his harmonic language that always looked into the future, his championship of others both alive and dead (what he did for making Schubert known to the world is immeasurable), his generosity. I consider him the most important musical figure of the 19th Century, despite others surpassing him in popularity and in musical substance.
There was a composer, Franz Listz,
Who's fine cooking was not to be mistz.
While sautéing some millet
Saw Gawd in the skillet,
And thus became a pan-theistz.
Actually, Liszt is said to have considered Alkan to be the most technically proficient pianist of his era.
Did he say Alkan is better than him though
It is natural to see one who is considered the greatest to deny that he's the greatest; it is a testament to how humble and respectful Liszt is, and shows that there's no shred of vanity or boasting in him.
But ultimately, it is not up to the pianist - Liszt - to decide if he's the greatest, but to his contemporaries, who know pianists of their eras and heard them play. To them, Liszt was the greatest pianist of all time.
More technically proficient =/= better pianist
It's clear many of those commenting here have no clue about Liszt's full oeuvre, if they did, they'd know he was FAR MORE than bombast and was the most innovative and prophetic composer/pianist of his day. In addition to being a leader of his Romantic Era, Liszt gave birth to two future genres, impressionism and atonal, clearly cementing his position as the greatest musical innovator, something that Alkan, Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart and others cannot claim.
Guess you’ve never actually looked into chopin 💀
I certainly have, and you cannot say Chopin invented two future genres.
U suggest you read Alan Walkers book on Liszt..also David Dubal. Notably Brahms stated, if you haven't heard Liszt play then you've never heard the piano played..
I can't afford to go to these wonderful place but Simon allows me to see all the places I would love to go to and I learn about all the classical composers I love to listen to. Fran lizt is one of my favorite composers. Thank you for all the wonderful place I'v been I'm well traveled Simon.
ok
Theresa…it is less expensive than you think…go off season (October) for plane fair, unless you’re in Europe.
Wow Budapest is so beautiful. I wish I could visit there.
Liszt is at the top of my list too ...
Great video. My favourite piano work is Liszt's transcriptions of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies. Vladimir Horowitz called these transcriptions "the greatest works for piano ever written".
For technique and power, Liszt probsbly is unequalked - however,
i easily could live without the music of Liszt; not so easily without piano music of Chopin.
I live in Warsaw and I know all these places perfectly, including charming village church in Brochów, where Chopin was baptized. It is worth to add that we have an International Chopin Piano Competition every 5 year. It is a genuine celebration of Chopin's music which makes people listening to and discussing about pianist and their interpretations. It's a great event, worth watching and listening. Come if you can (and buy tickets first). ❤
Just a little error at 10:03 about the nationality of Henri Lehmann
How wondrous this tour! Franz was a pillar of my piano aesthetic. It is noted that you skirted some of the Bartok which departs from the more ‘romantic’ tones. But this is a gorgeous pendant purloined from a dowager’s Danube-length necklace of goodies! Thank you.💐
Budapest Hiányzik.
I Miss Budapest.
Very enjoyable program and beautifully photographed. Given the range of Bartók's opus, I found it slightly strange that the selection played in this video about Hungarian composers was from a suite he called Romanian Dances (originally composed for piano). Like Kodály, Bartók collected folk music by recording singers and instrumentalists on wax cylinders which he later notated and then analyzed. During one of these trips, (I think in1907) he specifically went to Romanian villages in Transylvania and the music we heard is based on selections from that collection.
Liszt was a German, NOT an Hungarian at all. His original name was List. His native Language was German. He never spoke a word of Hungarian! The maiden name of his mother was Lager, also German ... His birthplace Raiding belonged politically to Hungary but ethnically to German-Austria because of its German population ... In other words: Liszt belonged to the German-speaking minority in Hungary, and German was his mother tongue. At his time Austria and Hungary was one country (double-monarchy) with different peoples: Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Croats, Ukrainians, Jews, Poles, etc.
“Budapest: Franz Liszt, Bela Bartók and Zoltan Kodaly,” _Classical Destinations,_ (2007)
The "Vote to join the Third Reich" was not a decision by the people to be made.
So far this is self-advertising and travelogue. Still waiting for biography 1/4 through…. At last, it begins there!
FOR ME, Chopin was the very best pianist and PIANO COMPOSER WHO EVER LIVED ….
I APOLOGIZE for differing…
TO me Liszt was merely a technical VIRTUOSO, and no more.
His adapting Beethoven’s symphonies to the piano was a feat.
Imo, I believe Liszt was the best pianist and the best composer to exist for the piano, but I respect your opinion. Chopin too, was a wonderful composer and I used to love his works a lot before I explored more into Liszt.
Chopin was the best pianist who ever lived…
I would suggest Rachmaninoff is considered the greatest pianist in History
Wilhelm Kempff.
Liszt is the reason play to the audience in their profile, because he was convinced he looked best for his audience in profile.
Well, this was a documentary more about Hungarian music (I’m a quarter) and modern than Liszt’s music.
Unfortunately recordings didn't exist in Liszt's time so we'll never know.
No doubt he was one of the best. Problem is, once you achieve legendary status people can't be objective about you anymore. Your reputation becomes unassailable.
Liszt ? the playboy who cant be a father thats Liszt musically speaking
I wish I could have watched all of these Simon callow videos, this is the first one that I’ve been able to watch. The rest are not available in Australia for some reason. I’ll have to go back through them and check if they are now working. Fingers crossed 🤞 and thanks so much for sharing this, much appreciated 🙂🐿
Yes I agree. There was some broadcast on SBS ten or so years ago and we devoured them. Simon Callows voice and presentation make him one of the best in the business.
Simon Callow has that clipped elocution reminiscent of Noel Coward . High camp at its finest and a delight to listen to.
A great visit to beautiful Budapest, through this wonderful video. As wel as a great musical treat. Charmingly presented. Thank youl.
I visited Budapest some years back. As a former student of ethnomusicology, I really wanted to visit the Kodaly Museum, but sadly it was closed for repairs or something.
Somehow we cannot comprehend the remarkableness of Franz Liszt taking orders later in life.
A comparison might be: Elvis Presley becoming a minister later in life.
Franz was an earnest, dedicated musician who took his art very seriously!
His artistry with the piano does not undermine his fantastic orchestral skill!
He was a ground-breaking composer, an earth-shaking pianist, and a dedicated human-being who
nurtured so many composers: Brahms, only one!!
I encourage a listen to his ‘FAUST SYMPHONY”. His knowledge of the ‘beauty of the shadow’ gives a glimpse, potentially, of his Transcendental Études, and his earnest meditative life. Balance might be a clue here. Was he a Libra?😎
@@pchabanowich I agree with you completely!
What a marvellous accent this Simon Callow has.
Troubadours
Mi ba 16:55
We have plenty of visual and audio evidence to affirm that Maestro Marc Andre Hamelin is the greatest pianist in the history of mankind. Liszt never played the most challenging and intricate works written by Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Godowsky, Albeniz, and others. Would Lizt have been able to tackle such works?? Perhaps no.
You can’t even “tackle” his name correctly,but you do have an opinion.
And a keyboard. Congrats.
@@stogies3
I missed a hyphen, but your reply is useless.
D😮id the wife of the Russian czar fell 4 him
Superb! Thank you!
"Perhaps the best pianist to have ever existed"?
the ads are too damn loud
Respighi "didn't write any opera at all"?! Maybe you should have your scripts revised before shooting the videos.
He would be compared to present day Prince Rogers Nelson. Liszt was such a super star. The rivalry between him and Chopin was similar to that of Prince and Michael Jackson. But Liszt was the more gifted musician by far.
Raiding (Austria) ??
For what's a man
What he has got
BRAVO !
Oh yezzzzzz fans, just keep calm & love Classical destinations, dedicated your new partners in business these days guests of Olympic games in Cina, let's connect people some more, let's feel just like a nice big large global family united sharing the same good vibes, let's get the best inspirations from these Amazing champions of the music, try to imagine the world at Liszt ages, how much he had to struggle sweat and run like hell to make himself accepted and. ..trying to succeed, to seduce bewitch and entertain wealthy aristocrats is still today ..mission impossible fans
Like very much be
Liszt fans: there is an awesome and more comprehensive bio of Liszt life, music, and influence on a UA-cam video, called " Liszt in the World".
Beautiful ❤️
Amazing video also showing his apartment ! Thank you
Glad 2 know
He was also just a good guy gave the largest private donation in hungrain history and he payed a lot of money to support many upcoming pianists so he uplifted music as a whole
Thank you for this fascinating history of music and Budapest. An educational experience.
Nice but the first part is about Budapest through the past.
Someone : says liszt. My mind : 250 notes of la campanella
My piano : R.I.P
The best pianist is a subjective measure.
It’s too bad all we have of his work are his compositions. Contemporaries, such as Schumann, praised his piano playing highly… but not his compositions.
Schumann and many others in his sphere at the time were way too conservative (almost puritan even) when it came to music.
Liszt on the other hand was one of the most innovative composers during his time, and experimented with many things that most contemporaries either misunderstood or loathed because they wanted to keep everything the same.
Liszt foreshadowed impressionism, atonality, and even created the symphonic poems which at one point, was held to a standard of composition in many compositional circles (a thing Tchaikovsky didn't like at the time).
Even Debussy later on - as a student - hated how conservatories restricted his abilities because they set themselves way back to the past, instead of looking ahead to the future. It's this reason why there was a lot of disdain among many contemporaries to the music of Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner; because they wanted to keep to the same methods of the past instead of having ideas, innovations, etc.. Even some of Chopin's music was criticized like this.
It was also worse for Liszt because he was an international composer, who knew more music in different countries than anyone else. As a result, he also created music that explored concepts and styles from different countries.... As a consequence, to quote Liszt, his music was deemed "too french for germans, too german for french, too catholic for protestants, too profane for catholics, too gypsy for Austrians, too foreign for Hungarians" etc.
With that context, how can anyone trust what these contemporaries thought of Liszt's compositions with such biases like this? It's absurd.
He was great because he had Chopin's music to raise him up....greatest music ever composed for the piano.
He was the greatest pianist ! xxxxxxx
🌷💖Franz Liszt 💖🌷
Liszt
Wonderful
Thank you 🎹🌺🙏🏻
So a whole show about Liszt and not one note of his music?!?
First piano concerto from 11 mins. La Campanella later on.
Liszt never met Beethoven. The kiss story is a myth.
By whose opinion,was he the best pianist?! Don't you think you overdo by saying that? And what are these qualities that make him stand out?!
Nan, the greatest pianist was Chopin and Chopin only.
Have you ever played a Liszt piece? I imagine not, ask a pianist which one is harder to play.
Chopin's music is indeed beautiful. But I suggest you listen to Harmonies du soir, by Liszt, a gem!
Well . . . THERE we have it!
For some sorts-peculiar, the mere stating of a thing, on account becomes a reality for all.
Ha!
What fiendish force underlies such asinine compulsion, and it's causal weakness? (That is not rhetorical, requiring of an answer.)
Well, whatever might prove the truth-actual, our tonyman2c here seems a perfect example of it.🥴
@@jamesmiller4184 Ignorance is a bliss
Ahh... But, Chopin himself stated that Liszt is the better Pianist than him.
Liszt deferred to the pianist Allcan who was killed by a collapsing book case.
Alkan
Alkan
Unfortunately Alkan was very boring and inspirationless composer
Liberace was better and so was Jerry Lee Lewis
Not even close
@@JramLisztfan Yes!!! Even they would say:"we are not even close"!!!!
Liszt, perhaps the greatest pianist who ever lived! er, I think not. He may have been the fastest, the loudest, with a lot to say maybe, but the greastest, no!
Enesco for instance was a real pianist with real music in him. And lots of others as well, but not Piszt.
His Hungarian ego was enormous and fooled a lot of people.
Musicians from eastern Europe are not at the top of the Lizst, far from it.
He was German (Austrian), not Hungarian. He bearly spoke Hungarian.
You really no know nothing about Liszts personality, don’t you?
fastest?? loudest?? ego?? That's a very ignorant thing to say about Liszt.. and to generalize "musicians from eastern europe" - that itself is racist and ignorant.
@@mazeppa1231 the commenter is a pseudointellectual dont bother arguing with him
No way. Mozart and Beethoven would wipe the floor with him......
Hungarian Omelet Recipe: First, steal an egg . . .
Yeah? Say it to a hungarian face and see what happens!!!
Liszt was a great musician but NO he is the NOT the best pianist to ever exist. Not one of the White European pianist could match the great Jazz and Bebop players of America. Please.
Feel uplifted now?
Give me a break. You’re out of your mind. You haven’t a clue what you are saying. Leave the racial nonsense out of this.
Pop music garbage. Yeah sure. You’re delusional.
Let’s hear them play his transcendental Etudes
Well if if you love running up and down on scales then enjoy.
the narration seems 1,5x too fast
oh my goodness. i miss the liszt music. i miss the narrator not
But, we can understand every single word he utters.
How's YOUR pronunciation/elocution?