Liszt: Symphonic Poems, Volume Three
Although Liszt’s thirteen symphonic poems exist in two-piano transcriptions prepared by the composer himself, it was his Czech student August Stradal (1860–1930) who was to transcribe them for solo piano – versions which demand almost superhuman virtuosity. As the late Malcolm MacDonald writes in his booklet essay, Stradal’s versions ‘transform these revolutionary orchestral compositions into viable and effective piano works, faithfully preserving their masterly musical substance’. A Fanfare review of Volume One in this series had high praise for Risto-Matti Marin’s pianism: ‘One marvels at the stamina that can keep such a plethora of detail in place with such relentless élan; at his narrative shaping, which can turn up an already withering heat, so to speak, at climactic moments; at his overarching persuasiveness’.
Risto-Matti Marin, piano
Listen To This Recording:
- Hunnenschlacht (Symphonic Poem No. 11; 1856—57)
- Festklange (Symphonic Poem No. 7; 1853)
- Prometheus (Symphonic Poem No. 5; 1850)
- Mazeppa (Symphonic Poem No. 6; 1851)
FIRST RECORDINGS
MusicWeb International :
‘Risto-Matti Marin’s pianism has everything technically, but it is all used in the service of the music, in which he so wholeheartedly believes. His doctoral thesis focussed on piano transcription, but there is nothing dryly academic about his passionately red-blooded performances here. The piano sound copes with the wide dynamic range admirably, and the booklet has a dozen pages of enlightening notes (entirely in English).’
—Roy Westbrook, MusicWeb International