Liszt - 2 Polonaises, S.223 (Cziffra, Filipec, Dubé)

Liszt - 2 Polonaises, S.223
The two Polonaises recall Chopin, but only for the titles; the epic spread of the first one, in particular, has no equivalent in the Polish composer’s canon, and there is a ceremonial feeling to the second which brings other non-Polish Polonaises to mind, such as those of Beethoven, Schubert or Tchaikovsky. The C minor piece, entitled ‘mélancolique’ by Liszt, though most editions omit to mention it, has remained rather sadly neglected, but it is an excellent work of its kind, seeming to bear the woes of the whole world on its shoulders. Even the contrasting major-key tune fails to alleviate the gloom, which is confirmed by a very strange meditative cadenza in which the pulse changes to 4/4 and the dance-style of the Polonaise becomes a distant memory. The Second Polonaise used to be something of a warhorse: Busoni played it (and saddled it with much too long a cadenza, however interesting!), and Rachmaninov and Grainger both recorded it. A little less hackneyed nowadays, it remains a good foil for its companion, and its ingredients of two splendid themes and some really musical pyrotechnical variations make it a compelling concert-piece. (Howard)
pf. György Cziffra
0:03 No.1 Polonaise Menalcolique in C Minor
10:06 No.2 Polonaise in E Major
pf. Goran Filipec
18:42 No.1 Polonaise Menalcolique in C Minor
30:03 No.2 Polonaise in E Major
pf. Jean Dubé
39:26 No.1 Polonaise Menalcolique in C Minor
51:28 No.2 Polonaise in E Major
All performances are selected by my personal preferences. Other performances such as Joseph Moog's No.1 and Marc-André Hamelin's No.2 were great, but I decided to only select cases where one person recorded both pieces. Also you may look for Stephan Hough's recording - they're copyrighted by Hyperion but can be found on TH-cam ;)
As for Cziffra's No.2, I found the original here and went through some sound quality manipulation: • LISZT - CZIFFRA 1963

[@JeSuisSalade]

I didn't even know there were Polonaises by Liszt ! Thank you for the record, I love it

[@TheModicaLiszt]

Very underrated set!

[@bosu37]

Wish #1 was recorded more often and with the intensity Cziffra brought to it.

[@dd8436]

Filipec's live recording of #1 comes close to Cziffra's, although it has bad sound quality.

[@thypie]

Wonderful!

[@dawlims1334]

Yall should also listen to Joseph Moog's pf of no. 1

[@Janeahmon]

My favourite polonaises ever composed! Better than the Chopin Polonaises by a far margin and Cziffra is the king of these pieces, #1 I really wish to play myself one day. Its impossible to listen to any other interpretation of #1 and #2 after listening to Cziffra's. They just lack the speed and ferocity of Cziffra's playing especially in the ending.

[@thypie]

It was Cziffra, and the others.

[@dd8436]

#2 has many recordings that comparable to Cziffra's, but #1 is literally peerless.

[@marcinkucharzewski2419]

Polonezy liszta nie mogą się równać z polonezami Chopina. Polonez to narodowy taniec polski i Chopin stworzył niezrównane i perfekcyjne w formie utwory. Liszta Polonezy to tylko Polonez z nazwy. Mało tu muzyki i narodowego tańca. Jestem Polakiem i nie widzę w polonezach liszta nic wartościowego z muzycznego punktu widzenia. Ale jako utwory wirtuozowskie i popisowe są dobrze skomponowane. Dużo hałasu i transcendentalnej imponujacej techniki.

[@KristianWolfe]

That’s just your opinion. You cannot possibly compare these to most, if not any, of Chopin’s Polonaise. Any serious musical scholar would say the same. Also, if it weren’t for Chopin’s Polanaises, these two Polonaises of Liszt’s would never exist…

[@dd8436]

​@@marcinkucharzewski2419Liszt was greatly influenced by Chopin when composing this piece (to be precise, after Chopin's death), and although the first one is far from the style of 'polonaise', it should not be dismissed as showmanship and noise. Of course the original comment comparing superiority between composers was also wrong, since both composers were recognized masters of their time.