Hector Berlioz
(1803-1869)
Symphonie Fantastique (1830)
Transcription by Franz Liszt
Idil Biret, piano
Naxos 8.550725 55:54
Franz Liszt was a frequent transcriber and arranger of his own and other composers' music, and apart from Berlioz's best-known work, also did piano versions of several of the overtures and of Harold in Italy. Some see the recording of such arrangements as superfluous as there are any number of versions of the orchestral original available, but listening to a transcription can be useful in directing attention to a number of details that may be glossed over in an orchestral recording, and thus has considerable value. The Turkish pianist Idil Biret's Brahms series for Naxos is well-regarded, and her work on this CD is every bit as impressive.
