Strauss Paraphrases & Transcriptions

I’ll take a look. Though I genuinely think most don’t work where Wagner is concerned. Even some Liszt ones don’t do it for me and Tausig isn’t inspiring. Brassin Magic Fire is a success.

Haha dat is actually a photo of da BOL’s gf. This is some ancient CG from the Chopinfiles forum circa 2004.

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Yes, that one’s very good.

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Helps when it has one of the alltime great piano recordings to advertise it! I just listened to Ponti in it, and much as I appreciate what he did for unknown music, fucking hell I now need headache tablets :joy:

Festin, are you a Wagnerite? Maybe it’s since you’re so used to the originals?

I don’t necessarily disagree fwiw, but I do like just about all Liszt’s (and very much the Brassin). Tausig’s Ride of the Valkyries for instance doesn’t really work though.

I’m not a Wagnerite per se. I find it very difficult to listen to all of Tristan, for example. Even attending one act of it was enough to make me feel it was, dramatically speaking, a bit saggy. Rossini had a point. His use of orchestral colour, though, just wonderful. The Liebestod for me is one of the utmost pinnacles of Western art: both emotionally and technically.

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Of the Wagner-Liszt pieces (and I’ve learnt about half and played through most of the rest):
Rienzi: love it pianistically, very effective but not deep
Flying Dutchman: not a big fan of the Ballade, played it once live. Spinning Chorus: ok.
Tannhauser: I think Abendstern is a success. The big transcription needs truncation.
Lohengrin: not a fan of any, tbh. Even if I recorded one :stuck_out_tongue:
Tristan: :heart::heart:
Meistersingers: don’t really have an opinion
The Ring and Parsifal, interesting and worthy but the piano has now ceased to be adequate to represent the original.

One Wagner transcription which I think works is the Busoni Siegfried’s Death March. Not as spinechilling as the original, but very effective imo.

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Pozz. I wouldn’t know.

I really like the Holy Grail March.

I think it needs a special pianist, one with an affinity for late Liszt, and that’s a big requirement in itself.

For the Strauss Parasheeyat & trannies, there are (in Pianopear’s opinion) a few indispensable recordings that aren’t mentioned here yet:
KAROL SZRETER - you can find them on a Pearl CD-set. Just dazzling playing of Künsterleben, Fledermaus etc.
ERNO DOHNANYI - Du & Du and Schatzwalzer, they really have the authentic Viennese feeling
ANATOLE KITAIN - God Fledermaus
DAVID SAPERTON - God was his father-in-law, stunning rec. of Künsterleben
SHURA CHERKRACKERS playing “Wein, Weib & Gesang”

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The Liebslut is a great transcription imho, it is a model of how to transcribe material which will can never be expressed on the piano

Liszt makes it an unapologetic piano piece. Many nuances can be explored, like the 2+3 accompanying rhythm in the first presentation of da theme, always a bland quintuplet in the orchestra…

And that touch up in the lead up to the big climax, where Liszt ties over to the first beat each time, sublime.

One sequential section in the middle is not very effective without an orchestration… but that is that.

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Hooray! I thought I was the only who didn’t like this tranny. And da prelude is just a joke on da 88.

I remember preferring the moszkowski but haven’t heard it for ages.
He’s an underrated composer with lots of trannies. Paderewski said the best Polish piano writer behind chopin. Played his offenbach barcarolle which is gorgeous imo.

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The climax absolutely pales in comparison to the original, and even that doesn’t have the same effect if you haven’t earned it by listening to the whole opera first.

Who has time for the whole opera?

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Speaking of Wagner I think this is an amazing trans and performance!

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Tru, but the effect isn’t the same if you give it the “concert” treatment, i.e. just playing the prelude and the liebestod.

The idea is not new though…

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There are nice things about the Moszkowski (arguably he makes less compromises than Liszt), but his climax is so cheesy imo! Agreed about the Barcarolle, it is lovely.

I think the ossia tremolando climax works just fine on da 88 :laughing: I don’t like the chordal original tbh, find it crude.