Composer Anniversaries 2011?

[Jared]

I was just wondering (aside from another, welcome dose of Mahler), whose Anniversaries will we be celebrating next year?

I ask, because the Beeb usually make a big issue out of this each January, both in the mag and on BBC3... and yet this coming January, they have practically dedicated the entire month to broadcasting EVERY single note ever penned by Mozart, whose 220th (!?) anniversary it will be (even though he died in the December of 1791... ) whilst the magazine will be a Mozart Special Issue.

Now, given the complaints about 1991's 'Mozart overkill' you still hear about occasionally, have the Beeb decided that 220 is a good enough excuse to dust down their libraries, or are we fairly short of bona fide anniversaries in 2011?

I guess this is a question for Lance...

[stenka razin]

Thew following is a complete list. Anyone in particular need some 'loving' next year, my fellow CMGers?


Born:

D. Dinis (1261–1325) 750 years
Philippe Rogier (1561–1596) 450 years
Jacopo Peri (1561–1633) 450 years
Andreas Hammerschmidt|Hammerschmid (1611–1675) 400 years
Pablo Bruna (1611–1679) 400 years
Henri (Henry) Desmarest|Desmarets (1661–1741) 350 years
Giacomo Antonio Perti (1661–1756) 350 years
Georg Böhm (1661–1733) 350 years
Domènec Terradellas (1711–1751) 300 years
William Boyce (1711–1779) 300 years
Ignaz Holzbauer (1711–1783) 300 years
Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (1711–1772) 300 years
Evstigney Ipatovich Fomin (1761–1800) 250 years
Johann Christian Ludwig Abeille (1761–1838) 250 years
Antonín (Anton) Vranický (1761–1820) 250 years
Pavel Lambert Mašek (1761–1826) 250 years
Félix Le Couppey (1811–1887) 200 years
Vincenz Lachner (1811–1893) 200 years
Ambroise Thomas (1811–1896) 200 years
August Gottfried Ritter (1811–1885) 200 years
Jan Nepomuk Škroup (1811–1892) 200 years
Ferenc [Franz] Liszt (1811–1886) 200 years
Ferdinand Hiller (1811–1885) 200 years
Louis Schindelmeisser (1811–1864) 200 years
Stanislao Gastaldon (1861–1939) 150 years
Charles Martin Loeffler (1861–1935) 150 years
Pierre de Bréville (1861–1949) 150 years
Marco Enrico Bossi (1861–1925) 150 years
Georgi Lvovitch Catoire (1861–1926) 150 years
John Lemmone (1861–1949) 150 years
Anton Stepanovich Arensky (1861–1906) 150 years
João Arroyo (1861–1930) 150 years
Roberto García Morillo (1911–2003) 100 years
Gábor Darvas (1911–1985) 100 years
Jehan-Ariste Alain (1911–1940) 100 years
Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000) 100 years
Phyllis (Margaret) Tate (1911–1987) 100 years
Alberto Soresina (1911–2007) 100 years
Hans Vogt (1911–1992) 100 years
Franz Reizenstein (1911–1968) 100 years
Frederick May (1911–1985) 100 years
Bernard Herrmann (1911–1975) 100 years
Franco Ferrara (1911–1985) 100 years
Gian Carlo Menotti (1911–2007) 100 years
Jan Koetsier (1911–2006) 100 years
Gustaf Allan Pettersson (1911–1980) 100 years
Jan Mul (1911–1971) 100 years
Vladimir Ussachevsky (1911–1990) 100 years
Nino Rota (1911–1979) 100 years
Stanley Richard Bate (1911–1959) 100 years
Endre Szervansky (1911–1977) 100 years
Daniel Schnyder (*1961) 50 years
Daniel Schroyens (*1961) 50 years
Eduardo Vaz Palma (*1961) 50 years
Emanuel Frazão (*1961) 50 years
Erik Oña (*1961) 50 years
Gordon Kerry (*1961) 50 years
Hakan Olsson (*1961) 50 years
Isabel Soveral (*1961) 50 years
Vasco Pearce de Azevedo (*1961) 50 years
Virgílio Melo (*1961) 50 years
Patrizio Marrone (*1961) 50 years
Alois Bröder (*1961) 50 years
Janet Owen Thomas (1961–2002) 50 years
Craig Bakalian (*1961) 50 years
Marc-André Dalbavie (*1961) 50 years
Lowell Liebermann (*1961) 50 years
Giorgio Colombo Taccani (*1961) 50 years
Petri Kuljuntausta (*1961) 50 years
Piotr Grella-Możejko (*1961) 50 years
Hanna Kulenty (*1961) 50 years
Stephen Parker (*1961) 50 years
Alberto Jacopucci (*1961) 50 years
Karen Tanaka (*1961) 50 years
Kevin Ferguson (*1961) 50 years
Peter Machajdík (*1961) 50 years
Jean-Christophe Rosaz (*1961) 50 years
Unsuk Chin (*1961) 50 years
Rudolf Zaras (*1961) 50 years
Todd Harris (*1961) 50 years
David "Uncle Dave" Lewis (*1961) 50 years
Johan S. Riphagen (*1961) 50 years
Michael Torke (*1961) 50 years
Matthew Malsky (*1961) 50 years
Alain De Ley (*1961) 50 years
Mark R. (Richard Bush) Taylor (*1961) 50 years
Brett Dean (*1961) 50 years
Mike Edgerton (*1961) 50 years
Daron Hagen (*1961) 50 years
Edward Knight (*1961) 50 years
Matthew Fields (*1961) 50 years
Peter Zagar (*1961) 50 years

Died:

Philippe de Vitry (1291–1361) 650 years
Johannes Ciconia (1335–1411) 600 years
Antoine de Févin (1470–1511) 500 years
Jean Ghiselin (1455–1511) 500 years
Luis Milán (1500–1561) 450 years
Pierre Sandrin (1490–1561) 450 years
Vicente Lusitano (1561†) 450 years
Cornelius Canis|de Hondt (1510–1561) 450 years
Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611) 400 years
Louis Couperin (1626–1661) 350 years
Francesco Feo (1691–1761) 250 years
Ignaz (Franz Joseph) Fränzl (1736–1811) 200 years
Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781–1861) 150 years
Tekla Badarcewska-Baranowska (1834–1861) 150 years
Tomás Genovés y Lapetra (1805–1861) 150 years
Heinrich Marschner (1795–1861) 150 years
Karol Lipinski (1790–1861) 150 years
Edwin A. Jones (1853–1911) 100 years
Alexander Alexandrovich Kopylov (1854–1911) 100 years
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875–1911) 100 years
Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (1837–1911) 100 years
Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) 100 years
Johan Severin Svendsen (1840–1911) 100 years
Bruno Oscar Klein (1858–1911) 100 years
John Fernström (1897–1961) 50 years
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961) 50 years
Wallingford Riegger (1885–1961) 50 years
Uuno (Kalervo) Klami (1900–1961) 50 years
Carlos Salzédo (1885–1961) 50 years
Maurice Delage (1879–1961) 50 years
York Bowen (1884–1961) 50 years
William Walter Beaton Moonie (1883–1961) 50 years
Luís Abraham Delgadillo (1887–1961) 50 years

[Jared]

^^ fabulous list Mel... top drawer!....

I'd say that the Beeb will probably only go for Franz Liszt, and maybe a bit of Victoria/ Couperin too...

although there many others on there, which should receive more exposure, and may get an 'airing' on their anniversary day... especially Boyce & Grainger

[Fergus]

Thew following is a complete list. Anyone in particular need some 'loving' next year, my fellow CMGers?


Born:

William Boyce (1711–1779) 300 years
Ferenc [Franz] Liszt (1811–1886) 200 years
Anton Stepanovich Arensky (1861–1906) 150 years
Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000) 100 years

Died:

Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611) 400 years
Louis Couperin (1626–1661) 350 years
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961) 50 years

From your two lists above I will be curious to see how much attention those that I have picked out will receive.

I think that Boyce would be a good one for the BBC to focus on.

[John F]

Good God, 2011 will be another Mahler year! Which brings home the fact, which I'd never particularly registered, that he was only 51 when he died. Nowadays every year is a Mahler year anyway.

Liszt is the only real headliner in the lists, and Menotti the only other celebrity composer. Neither is much in fashion nowadays, so I don't expect they will get performed nearly as often as some of the recent biggies.

I wouldn't mind a 250th anniversary celebration of Vranicky, but it isn't going to happen except maybe in the Czech Republic.

[jbuck919]

Sheesh, what a dull year!

(I'd love it if we heard Victoria from every church and small hall, but I don't see it happening.)

[Modernistfan]

Not too many of these are going to get significant attention. Maybe Hovhaness, Bernard Herrmann, and Gian Carlo Menotti should get some attention. Pettersson's music is too tough for most, even if it is essentially tonal. I don't think that concert programmers or broadcasters will be "Fomin" at the mouth to program or broadcast music of the likes of Evstigney Ipatovich Fomin (sorry!).

[Seán]

Good God, 2011 will be another Mahler year! Which brings home the fact, which I'd never particularly registered, that he was only 51 when he died. Nowadays every year is a Mahler year anyway.

Quite right too.

[Donaldopato]

I will certainly celebrate the Pettersson anniversary.

[StephenSutton]

That's a super list, and will save me a lot of time and work (we have a webpage listing anniversary-composers with recordings in our catalog).
Two we have dealt with who are a lot better than often credited are Arensky (piano music - chopinesque -great) and Grainger (yes, often light, but try out the music for tuned percussion (Move MD3222) - as we have just become Move's sole agent's for the USA as well as UK,. this is one of the first batch of discs to be 'officially' released. It was the late Martin Hibble's Disc of the Year on original release in 2000.

York Bowen and certainly Couperin also should be given top status. As for BBC Mag... apart from (possibly) Liszt and Mahler, none of the listed composers is a "celebrity"......the great public has heard of him so they can sell copies with a Mozart feature..
probably not to me, I have every single copy of BBC Music mag since issue 1, but I think probably not many more.

For all you adventurers by the way, we hope to 'officially' release about 4 Move titles a month as well as our own 4 or 5, so a busy few years ahead. This new arrangement just means that the Move CDs will be available via arkivmusic, Borders, Barnes & Noble, H&B Direct etc rather than just on our (divine art) website. Not cheap (import duty.....) but another source of superb interesting material, and their jazz is exquisite.
Hard sell over!

[piston]

I concur. Some reactions to this great list further exemplify A. Ross' point about caging in a handful of "great" composers and walking out on all the others.

I would recommend Klami as well. I'm sure that Finnish classical music lovers --and there are far more of them per capita than their US counterparts-- consider him no less "great" than Hovhaness.....

[Lance]

Mel's listing is very complete. But insofar as record companies are concerned and MAJOR composers that may be featured in exceptional boxed releases like we've seen for Schumann, Chopin, and Mahler lately, I think maybe (just maybe) the BIG one will be FRANZ LISZT (born October 22, 1811) — due for a special 200th anniversary celebration of his birth.

Insofar as PERFORMERS are concerned, there might be some exceptional released (like EMI's Icon series) for these performing artists:

Jussi Bjoerling [EMI already gave us a nice boxed set]
Leonard Warren

Maybe someone will give some attention to Gian Carlo Menotti, too, born July 7, 1911.

[Chalkperson]

I too would recommend Klami...

[Chalkperson]

Maybe someone will give some attention to Gian Carlo Menotti, too, born July 7, 1911.

Hopefully not...

[Lance]

Gian Carlo Menotti, composer

Well, I'm not crazy about Menotti myself, but as far as 20th century operatic composers are concerned, he is certainly at the helm.

Maybe someone will give some attention to Gian Carlo Menotti, too, born July 7, 1911.

Hopefully not...

[Lance]

It's been fifty years passing that the great PERCY GRAINGER passed on. While Chandos (especially) and a few other labels have paid Grainger tribute in the past, perhaps some compilations will come forth of his work.

[Donaldopato]

If nothing else, there is plenty of fodder for some wonderful Saturday night radio programs from our esteemed Administrator!

[Seán]

If nothing else, there is plenty of fodder for some wonderful Saturday night radio programs from our esteemed Administrator!

Yes indeed, and hopefully next year's 2011 program list will be posted on CMG soon.

[karlhenning]

(I'd love it if we heard Victoria from every church and small hall, but I don't see it happening.)

Yes, de Victoria is always good.

Hey, the Liszt bicentenary! I'm on that.

Cheers,
~Karl

[Donaldopato]

If nothing else, there is plenty of fodder for some wonderful Saturday night radio programs from our esteemed Administrator!

Yes indeed, and hopefully next year's 2011 program list will be posted on CMG soon.

Can we request a Fomin tribute?

[Seán]

If nothing else, there is plenty of fodder for some wonderful Saturday night radio programs from our esteemed Administrator!

Yes indeed, and hopefully next year's 2011 program list will be posted on CMG soon.

Can we request a Fomin tribute?

Does our leader do requests, I wonder?

[Ted Quanrud]

Mel's listing is very complete. But insofar as record companies are concerned and MAJOR composers that may be featured in exceptional boxed releases like we've seen for Schumann, Chopin, and Mahler lately, I think maybe (just maybe) the BIG one will be FRANZ LISZT (born October 22, 1811) — due for a special 200th anniversary celebration of his birth.

Insofar as PERFORMERS are concerned, there might be some exceptional released (like EMI's Icon series) for these performing artists:

Jussi Bjoerling [EMI already gave us a nice boxed set]
Leonard Warren

Maybe someone will give some attention to Gian Carlo Menotti, too, born July 7, 1911.

Hyperion will release its complete Liszt Edition with pianist Leslie Howard in February. Ninety-nine compact discs at a "special price."

Howard has come in for some criticism because he is not (a) Sviatoslav Richter; (b) Lazar Berman, (c) Gyorgy Cziffra or (d) any of a number of other outstanding Liszt interpreters. He is, however, an eminent Lisztian in his own right, and he certainly offers a wealth of things that are not otherwise available. If previous Hyperion big boxes are any indication, the excellent liner notes that accompanied the original releases will not be included.

I rather expect Naxos to offer something similar.

[karlhenning]

Hyperion will release its complete Liszt Edition with pianist Leslie Howard in February. Ninety-nine compact discs at a "special price."

Howard has come in for some criticism because he is not (a) Sviatoslav Richter; (b) Lazar Berman, (c) Gyorgy Cziffra or (d) any of a number of other outstanding Liszt interpreters.

I've heard some of Howard's Liszt cycle, and I am perfectly content that he should be Howard, and not Richter, Cziffra, &al. One could object for other reasons.

A great friend of mine out on the west coast (who is both a huge Liszt fan, and alive to the unevenness of his oeuvre) accumulated a few of those Hyperion discs on initial release. The value is in having fresh recordings of so much which is rare; the occasional downside is, that (apart from questions of the lower range of the unevenness) some of the performances suffer from the inevitable completism fatigue (CF).

Cheers,
~Karl

[Jared]

A great friend of mine out on the west coast (who is both a huge Liszt fan, and alive to the unevenness of his oeuvre) accumulated a few of those Hyperion discs on initial release. The value is in having fresh recordings of so much which is rare; the occasional downside is, that (apart from questions of the lower range of the unevenness) some of the performances suffer from the inevitable completism fatigue (CF).

Cheers,
~Karl[/color]

Karl, at the risk of changing the subject slightly, what explanation would you give as to why Liszt's music (especially his Orchestral Works)appear to have fallen out of favour in recent times? There are very few accounts of his Symphonic Poems available at present (I have just introduced myself to the Masur boxset on EMI) and while I can understand that they wouldn't be to everyone's taste, don't see why airtime for this repertoire (Les Preludes excepting, of course...) should be so restricted.

Would this also be a worldwide phenomenon, or moreso in the UK than Europe or the US?

thanks in advance...

[maestrob]

Liszt was a piano virtuoso, and his solo work is simply his best work: his orchestral pieces leave me cold, even with the excellent Masur as conductor. Even the piano concerti are amateurish IMHO. Even his piano solo material is uneven, altho there are plenty of masterpieces there.

In spite of tthat, he should be considered a great composer, especially if one chooses carefully. It does take a very special pianist to illuminate Liszt, however.....

[erato]

Let's hope this will be an opportunity for the reissue of Commisiona's and Kamu's Pettersson discs.

We certainly could do with better representation of Peri (I love early Italian baroque opera) and Terradellas on dics.

I don't see the list as dull at all. What's REALLY dull is endless recycling of Chopin, Schumann and Mahler recordings, and endless rerecordings of all the overrecorded, too wellknown chestnuts (which doesn' mean I don't love these guys, but do we REALLY need more discs of those?).

[piston]

You've got two classical music industries: intensive farming and extensive farming. The intensive farming type will never get enough Mahler or Chopin recordings. The extensive farming type, somewhere in Saskatchewan, devours nutrients from a large, wind-swept piece of cultural land. Perhaps the extensive farmer doesn't get all the moisture in that cultural ground that his intensive counterpart gets in her/his ground, but what can I say, he/she covers a much wider ground.

[Lance]

Franz (Ferenc) Liszt, composer/pianist

Quite honestly, I would really enjoy seeing a "Liszt Edition," especially from a major company like DGG or Decca. You will note with some of these special boxed sets that the companies dig into their vaults for some pretty rare material or artists. Just how "in depth" the Liszt edition would be remains to be seen. He wrote masses, songs, violin/piano music, concerted works for piano and so much more. It may even be more difficult to arrange a Liszt edition than what has been done for Chopin or Schumann.

Perhaps the best among the budget labels—Brilliant Classics—could put together a Liszt edition NOT based on recordings previously issued by the label. I was rather impressed with the one they did for Robert Schumann.

[Ken]

Liszt steals the show, but Schumannjahr 2010 feeds quite nicely into Ferdinand-Hillerjahr 2011.

[Chalkperson]

[Well, I'm not crazy about Menotti myself, but as far as 20th century operatic composers are concerned, he is certainly at the helm.

Then lets just leave him adrift at Sea...

[karlhenning]

Well, I'm not crazy about Menotti myself, but as far as 20th century operatic composers are concerned, he is certainly at the helm.

At the very least, there are Britten, Prokofiev, Janáček & Martinů to over-master Menotti in the field of 20th-c. opera!

Further, even though each wrote only one or two, I wonder whether Stravinsky, Bartók & Shostakovich quite outdid Menotti's best efforts.

Cheers,
~Karl

[jbuck919]

Well, I'm not crazy about Menotti myself, but as far as 20th century operatic composers are concerned, he is certainly at the helm.

At the very least, there are Britten, Prokofiev, Janáček & Martinů to over-master Menotti in the field of 20th-c. opera!

Further, even though each wrote only one or two, I wonder whether Stravinsky, Bartók & Shostakovich quite outdid Menotti's best efforts.

Cheers,
~Karl

On the other hand, Gershwin and Menotti in the same sentence..... John (taking fleeing lessons from Len).

[dulcinea]

Franz (Ferenc) Liszt, composer/pianist

Quite honestly, I would really enjoy seeing a "Liszt Edition," especially from a major company like DGG or Decca. You will note with some of these special boxed sets that the companies dig into their vaults for some pretty rare material or artists. Just how "in depth" the Liszt edition would be remains to be seen. He wrote masses, songs, violin/piano music, concerted works for piano and so much more. It may even be more difficult to arrange a Liszt edition than what has been done for Chopin or Schumann.

Perhaps the best among the budget labels—Brilliant Classics—could put together a Liszt edition NOT based on recordings previously issued by the label. I was rather impressed with the one they did for Robert Schumann.

Abbe Liszt is one of the very few composers who are so popular that it can be truly said that, during every minute of every day of every year, at least one of his pieces is being played somewhere in this planet. 'tis a sure bet that Hungary and the rest of the world will go wild for FL during almost all of 2011.

[RebLem]

Mel's listing is very complete. But insofar as record companies are concerned and MAJOR composers that may be featured in exceptional boxed releases like we've seen for Schumann, Chopin, and Mahler lately, I think maybe (just maybe) the BIG one will be FRANZ LISZT (born October 22, 1811) — due for a special 200th anniversary celebration of his birth.
Insofar as PERFORMERS are concerned, there might be some exceptional released (like EMI's Icon series) for these performing artists:

Jussi Bjoerling [EMI already gave us a nice boxed set]
Leonard Warren
Maybe someone will give some attention to Gian Carlo Menotti, too, born July 7, 1911.

I wish someone would issue all the Liszt solo piano works in two boxes--one of the transcriptions, the other of the original works. I'm only interested in the latter.

[RebLem]

Well, I'm not crazy about Menotti myself, but as far as 20th century operatic composers are concerned, he is certainly at the helm.

At the very least, there are Britten, Prokofiev, Janáček & Martinů to over-master Menotti in the field of 20th-c. opera!

Further, even though each wrote only one or two, I wonder whether Stravinsky, Bartók & Shostakovich quite outdid Menotti's best efforts.

Cheers,~Karl

Not to mention Richard Strauss.

[jbuck919]

Well, I'm not crazy about Menotti myself, but as far as 20th century operatic composers are concerned, he is certainly at the helm.

At the very least, there are Britten, Prokofiev, Janáček & Martinů to over-master Menotti in the field of 20th-c. opera!

Further, even though each wrote only one or two, I wonder whether Stravinsky, Bartók & Shostakovich quite outdid Menotti's best efforts.

Cheers,~Karl

Not to mention Richard Strauss.

Perhaps Karl did not mention Strauss because he wrote slightly more than one opera. However, by the criterion of 20th century, one could certainly add Debussy and Berg to the list, and frankly, Schoenberg. I am happy to give Menotti equal billing with Gershwin, if anyone thinks that will help.

[StephenSutton]

First Liszt anniversary concert??

Peter Seivewright, between regular trips to the Far East and currently Professor of Music at the University of Trinidad and Tobago will be performing the Liszt Piano Sonata at Brandon Music on Saturday January15. Starts at 7pm, tickets $15. The music cafe will be open as usal all day from 10 am)
Peter who is currently signed to Divine Art and preparing five new recordings for release, has also recorded to acclaim for Rondo and NAxos.
His recital will also include the Gavotte from Bach's Partita in E (transcribed Rachmaninoff), Galuppi's Sonata in E flat major *, and four pieces by Edward MacDowell.

* one of them anyway, they have no numbers yet, we are working on the publication of a new complete performing edition of Galuppi's 90+ sonatas.

If snow is very heavy making parking difficult, a shuttle will be arranged by bus from the brandon town center. Come and see us!
And best wishes for 2011 to all CMGers

[stenka razin]

As someone who grew up hearing Menotti's lovely and charming 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' every year in late December, I would like to put in a good word for this great master of sweet melodies and dramatic situations.
How about the gorgeous ballet, 'Sebastian'? The Barcarolle from that ballet has one of the prettiest melodies of the 20th century.
Or his very powerful opera, 'The Saint Of Bleecker Street? Or his lovely Violin Concerto?

I could go on and on, but, there must be other admirers of Menottis compositions here in the CMG....Where are you?

[Jack Kelso]

A great friend of mine out on the west coast (who is both a huge Liszt fan, and alive to the unevenness of his oeuvre) accumulated a few of those Hyperion discs on initial release. The value is in having fresh recordings of so much which is rare; the occasional downside is, that (apart from questions of the lower range of the unevenness) some of the performances suffer from the inevitable completism fatigue (CF).

Cheers,
~Karl[/color]

Karl, at the risk of changing the subject slightly, what explanation would you give as to why Liszt's music (especially his Orchestral Works)appear to have fallen out of favour in recent times? There are very few accounts of his Symphonic Poems available at present (I have just introduced myself to the Masur boxset on EMI) and while I can understand that they wouldn't be to everyone's taste, don't see why airtime for this repertoire (Les Preludes excepting, of course...) should be so restricted.

Would this also be a worldwide phenomenon, or moreso in the UK than Europe or the US?

thanks in advance...

Well, Jared I'm not Karl, but I'll try to answer your question.

The Liszt tone poems are stunning works, full of pomp, drama, sentiment, bombast and original harmonies. But several are overlong (e.g., "Festklänge", "Die Ideale") and inspirationally inconsistent ("Heroide funebre" and both above). One should listen to the Raff symphonies to understand why Liszt's orchestral music is not as appreciated as it should be. Today's music-loving public wants Romantic Era works to be consistently interesting from start to finish. Had Liszt composed Raff's 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th symphonies they would be proclaimed great masterpieces and performed often today. Had Raff composed the Liszt tone poems, they would largely be forgotten.

Along with "Les Preludes", the most interesting ones are the melodious "Tasso", the well-formed and wildly dramatic "Mazeppa", the touchingly patriotic "Hungaria" and perhaps the most beautiful of them all, "Orpheus"---with wonderful harp and violin solos, ending with one of Liszt's most poignant statements.

But they all have something to offer the patient listener. I wouldn't recommend the Masur set, rather the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Arpad Joo conducting on Brilliant Classics 99938, five CDs with excellent sound. The performances are superb. Stay away from Karajan and Solti; they don't bring to this music what Lisztians need and want!

Tschüß,
Jack

[erato]

Well, I'm not crazy about I am happy to give Menotti equal billing with Gershwin, if anyone thinks that will help.

He's that great? I wasn't aware of that. Must explore - urgently!

[diegobueno]

I think this would be a good year to give Wallingford Riegger a little more exposure.

[Chalkperson]

Well, I'm not crazy about I am happy to give Menotti equal billing with Gershwin, if anyone thinks that will help.

He's that great? I wasn't aware of that. Must explore - urgently!

Give it plenty of thought, Menotti sucks...

[StephenSutton]

one more not in the list: music on the light side but no less entertaining and well constructed for that:
Lionel Monckton, composer of English operetta post-Sullivan par excellence, born 150 years ago (1861-1924)