The best recording of TOTENTANZ.

Iian Neill

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Apr 12, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/12/98

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I have heard five recordings of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" so far:
Alfred Brendel, Jorge Bolet, Joshua Pierce, <unknown Russian>, and
Kristian Zimerman. The best of these I judged to be Kristian Zimerman's
performance.

Now, I am wondering if there are any other performances of "Totentanz"
of similar or higher calibre?
If you also happen to know how I can find these on CD, I would be very
grateful.

Thanking you in advance,

Iian Neill.

Paolo Pesenti

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Apr 12, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/12/98

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Iian Neill wrote:
>
> I have heard five recordings of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" so far:
> Alfred Brendel, Jorge Bolet, Joshua Pierce, <unknown Russian>, and
> Kristian Zimerman. The best of these I judged to be Kristian Zimerman's
> performance.
>
> Now, I am wondering if there are any other performances of "Totentanz"
> of similar or higher calibre?

Zimmerman is indeed very good among recent versions (where does the
<unknown Russian> come from?). Two other classic recordings:

Gyorgy Cziffra (pf); Orchestre de Paris / Gyorgy Cziffra Jnr. EMI

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (pf); Orchestra of the RAI, Rome /
Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Memoria Historic Recording mono (Full price) (CD)
999001 (four discs "The Authorized Vatican Recordings")

A note: ABM's Totentanz is by far the best piece in the 4-cd "The
Vatican Recordings"; the rest of the collection is of somewhat uneven
quality.

Ramon Khalona

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Apr 13, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/13/98

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I am a big fan of Totentanz and the recording that I enjoy most
is not yet on CD: Alexander Brailowsky with Ormandy and the Philadelphia
Orchestra. This electrifying recording was issued on LP with Brailowsky
and Ormandy's magnificent recording of the 1st Chopin piano concerto.
This is a prime candidate for release in Sony's Masterworks Heritage
series.

--
Ramon Khalona "Die Sechste ist die Keckste"
Carlsbad, California - Anton Bruckner -

bruce...@hotmail.com

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Apr 13, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/13/98

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Iian Neill wrote:
> >
> > I have heard five recordings of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" so far:
> > Alfred Brendel, Jorge Bolet, Joshua Pierce, <unknown Russian>, and
> > Kristian Zimerman. The best of these I judged to be Kristian Zimerman's
> > performance.
> >
> > Now, I am wondering if there are any other performances of "Totentanz"
> > of similar or higher calibre?

I have always liked Byron Janis with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony
(RCA, now BMG). I'm not sure if it is considered great, but it certainly send
sh-sh-shivers down my spine when I listen.

Bruce Jensen

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Joe

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Apr 13, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/13/98

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Jeno Jando on a Laserlight Cd with Ligeti -not as quixotic as Czzifra (who
is?) but very suited to Liszt. The zimmerman is another good one.
JOE

Iian Neill wrote:

> I have heard five recordings of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" so far:
> Alfred Brendel, Jorge Bolet, Joshua Pierce, <unknown Russian>, and
> Kristian Zimerman. The best of these I judged to be Kristian Zimerman's
> performance.
>
> Now, I am wondering if there are any other performances of "Totentanz"
> of similar or higher calibre?

HankM219

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Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

to

>I have heard five recordings of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" so far:
>Alfred Brendel, Jorge Bolet, Joshua Pierce, <unknown Russian>, and
>Kristian Zimerman. The best of these I judged to be Kristian Zimerman's
>performance.
>
>Now, I am wondering if there are any other performances of "Totentanz"
>of similar or higher calibre?
>If you also happen to know how I can find these on CD, I would be very
>grateful.
>
> Thanking you in advance,

I would add to the list the solo piano version, thrillingly performed by
Arnaldo Cohen on the Naxos label.

Henry Maurer, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA
hank...@aol.com or hsma...@worldnet.att.net

dter...@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca

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Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

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Talking about the Totentanz, do you know that Viana da Motta made a record of
it in 1945 or 1946 and that is considered the LAST record made by a student of
Liszt?
(Da Motta has died in 1948)
Dimiter

In article <3531590A...@phoenix.princeton.edu>,
Paolo Pesenti <p...@phoenix.princeton.edu> wrote:

>
> Iian Neill wrote:
> >
> > I have heard five recordings of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" so far:
> > Alfred Brendel, Jorge Bolet, Joshua Pierce, <unknown Russian>, and
> > Kristian Zimerman. The best of these I judged to be Kristian Zimerman's
> > performance.
> >
> > Now, I am wondering if there are any other performances of "Totentanz"
> > of similar or higher calibre?
>

> Zimmerman is indeed very good among recent versions (where does the
> <unknown Russian> come from?). Two other classic recordings:
>
> Gyorgy Cziffra (pf); Orchestre de Paris / Gyorgy Cziffra Jnr. EMI
>
> Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (pf); Orchestra of the RAI, Rome /
> Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Memoria Historic Recording mono (Full price) (CD)
> 999001 (four discs "The Authorized Vatican Recordings")
>
> A note: ABM's Totentanz is by far the best piece in the 4-cd "The
> Vatican Recordings"; the rest of the collection is of somewhat uneven
> quality.
>

David Agdern

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Apr 14, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/14/98

to

I have heard some of the mentioned performances. My favorite by far is
a performance by the late, great Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli with the
Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino - Rafael Kubelik conductor on an Arkadia -
Historical Performances recording.

Thanks
Dave A.

Allan Evans

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Apr 15, 1998, 3:00:00 AM4/15/98

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In article <6h0t8t$kl1$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, dter...@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca
wrote:

> Talking about the Totentanz, do you know that Viana da Motta made a record of
> it in 1945 or 1946 and that is considered the LAST record made by a student of
> Liszt?
> (Da Motta has died in 1948)
> Dimiter

It is probably the finest extant version of the work. Da Motta was also a
pupil of Bulow and colleague of Busoni: great intellect, cultured man and
artist, a cut above mere interpreters.
There is a version with Egon Petri (unpublished and missing a few minutes)
that is also superb. Am busy hunting for the missing moments.
Allan Evans

--
http://www.tiac.net/users/arbiter/

Farhan Malik

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May 2, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/2/98

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Ramon Khalona <rkha...@adnc.com> writes:

>I am a big fan of Totentanz and the recording that I enjoy most
>is not yet on CD: Alexander Brailowsky with Ormandy and the Philadelphia
>Orchestra.

Look for SONY 48167, unfortunately coupled with Entremont in
the Liszt Concertos and Hungarian Fantasy.

Farhan

Message has been deleted

gggg gggg

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Nov 24, 2021, 5:09:26 AM11/24/21

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On Saturday, April 11, 1998 at 9:00:00 PM UTC-10, Iian Neill wrote:
> I have heard five recordings of Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" so far:
> Alfred Brendel, Jorge Bolet, Joshua Pierce, <unknown Russian>, and
> Kristian Zimerman. The best of these I judged to be Kristian Zimerman's
> performance.
> Now, I am wondering if there are any other performances of "Totentanz"
> of similar or higher calibre?

> If you also happen to know how I can find these on CD, I would be very
> grateful.
> Thanking you in advance,

> Iian Neill.

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