Grateful for the elegant tour of one of my favorite short pieces in the classical canon. Saint-Saens doesn’t receive nearly as much attention and reverence as he so richly deserves.
Sadly I haven't listened to much of him either, apart from this piece and the carnival of animals. Oh, and his organ symphony (no.3 I think). That was magnificent to hear live.
Marc, a million thanks for recommending this program! I have finished listening to the week's episodes on Saint-Saëns and you are absolutely right - he is sorely underrated! Be rest assured that he's well on his way to be one of my favs now! Also became a fan of exploring music along the way, can't thank you enough for sending such a wonderful program my way!
McLaughlin hosted a week-long program in December on Sergei Rachmaninoff, which was fabulous. McLaughlin’s programs have a tendency to disappear after a couple of weeks but if you Google “WFMT Bill McLaughlin Sergei Rachmaninoff” you can find a link to play the week’s program. If you have trouble, I will email the link to you.
Btw, I believe I misaddressed you in an earlier comment as Sumi. It’s Yumi, correct?
Yes I saw their archive, so many excellent selections! Really hoping that the past recordings will also be made public at some point - such a wonderful broadcast!
A great description of the Danse Macabre. I like it too, both the orchestral and piano versions.
I love Liszt. He was a kind of nineteenth-century rock star, crazy at the piano. What about his Totentanz? It's the other death piece. It's mad, bad and dangerous to know on the piano.
You say that you like Beethoven’s fifth. I do too. Do you know that Liszt made transcriptions for piano of Beethoven’s symphonies? Katsaris has recorded the whole set. His Eroica version is very good, and so is this one, the fifth. Let me know what you think of it.
Wow, what a powerful sound! Yes, I'm aware of Liszt's Beethoven transcriptions, he wrote so many transcriptions, even of Bach! Thank you for sharing the recording, the tempo is a tad bit too fast for my liking, but I really like the intepretation and the sheer force of it all. I have a feeling that it will grow on me 😃
The recording of Liszt/Beethoven Symphony 5 that I'm accustomed to is by Gould, I wonder what you think of it :D
I’ve got Gould’s version of the 5th, but I prefer the Katsaris rendering. I like his faster tempo because the 5th is a huge tidal wave of musical power with a relentless forward momentum. And I think Katsaris does that better. Gould’s typical eccentric tinkering with tempi doesn’t work so well for this piece.
However, the 6th by Glenn is sublime. It’s one of my all-time favourite pieces of music and I never tire of listening to it.
Grateful for the elegant tour of one of my favorite short pieces in the classical canon. Saint-Saens doesn’t receive nearly as much attention and reverence as he so richly deserves.
You're most welcome! 😃
Sadly I haven't listened to much of him either, apart from this piece and the carnival of animals. Oh, and his organ symphony (no.3 I think). That was magnificent to hear live.
Bill McLaughlin has a wonderful exploration of Saint-Saens’ music on the WFMT website.
Marc, a million thanks for recommending this program! I have finished listening to the week's episodes on Saint-Saëns and you are absolutely right - he is sorely underrated! Be rest assured that he's well on his way to be one of my favs now! Also became a fan of exploring music along the way, can't thank you enough for sending such a wonderful program my way!
McLaughlin hosted a week-long program in December on Sergei Rachmaninoff, which was fabulous. McLaughlin’s programs have a tendency to disappear after a couple of weeks but if you Google “WFMT Bill McLaughlin Sergei Rachmaninoff” you can find a link to play the week’s program. If you have trouble, I will email the link to you.
Btw, I believe I misaddressed you in an earlier comment as Sumi. It’s Yumi, correct?
Marc
Yes I saw their archive, so many excellent selections! Really hoping that the past recordings will also be made public at some point - such a wonderful broadcast!
No worries about the name - Yumi is correct :)
Totentanz (Dance of Death), arranged by Lszt.
A piece in which:
A) the piano begs for mercy.
B) the pianist begs for mercy
C) But Liszt says: "No mercy! You will play this piece or die in the attempt! "
😄
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=01zFysxnlQU
A great description of the Danse Macabre. I like it too, both the orchestral and piano versions.
I love Liszt. He was a kind of nineteenth-century rock star, crazy at the piano. What about his Totentanz? It's the other death piece. It's mad, bad and dangerous to know on the piano.
Ah yes, that crazy piece!
You say that you like Beethoven’s fifth. I do too. Do you know that Liszt made transcriptions for piano of Beethoven’s symphonies? Katsaris has recorded the whole set. His Eroica version is very good, and so is this one, the fifth. Let me know what you think of it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LOVSMpDxuas&pp=ygUaQmVldGhvdmVuIDUgbGlzenQga2F0c2FyaXM%3D
Wow, what a powerful sound! Yes, I'm aware of Liszt's Beethoven transcriptions, he wrote so many transcriptions, even of Bach! Thank you for sharing the recording, the tempo is a tad bit too fast for my liking, but I really like the intepretation and the sheer force of it all. I have a feeling that it will grow on me 😃
The recording of Liszt/Beethoven Symphony 5 that I'm accustomed to is by Gould, I wonder what you think of it :D
I’ve got Gould’s version of the 5th, but I prefer the Katsaris rendering. I like his faster tempo because the 5th is a huge tidal wave of musical power with a relentless forward momentum. And I think Katsaris does that better. Gould’s typical eccentric tinkering with tempi doesn’t work so well for this piece.
However, the 6th by Glenn is sublime. It’s one of my all-time favourite pieces of music and I never tire of listening to it.
I mean this version:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UMOW4nkwFQ8&pp=ygUZR291bGQgbGlzdHogYmVldGhvdmVuIDZ0aA%3D%3D
Yes. It’s 10,000 volts all the way. :)