Piano sonatas by Schnyder von Wartensee & Liste

[Alan Howe]

...from Guild:
http://www.guildmusic.com/shop/wbc.php?sid=4115640f7554&tpl=produktdetail.html&pid=15760&rid=261&recno=1

[Mark Thomas]

The Schnyder van Wartensee in particular is an intriguing prospect, and the Liste, at 55 minutes, is an absolute monster!

[Alan Howe]

Quite so. Very intriguing.

[eschiss1]

there's a pun there that really has to be avoided, but maybe Liste only wrote one sonata in which case the pun would be very avoidable...

[Alan Howe]

I've ordered this, but has anyone heard the Liste yet?

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I have. It's pretty most of the time in the expected late classical / early Beehoven manner, but for me its material is way, way over-stretched. I wasn't so much bored, as stopped noticing all the tinkling. Sad to say, highly as I rate his symphonies, I wasn't too impressed with the Wartensee piece either, although it's comparative brevity is in its favour. It seems a limp creature compared with the orchestral works. My over-riding opinion is that it was a cruel thing to do to couple these two sonatas with Beethoven's!

[Alan Howe]

Oh well, at least the two CDs are offered for the price of one.

[Mark Thomas]

I'm sure that you'll form your own view, so don't be downhearted. Who knows, you may disagree!

[Alan Howe]

I just couldn't resist exploring a 55-minute early romantic piano sonata - especially as IRR has given the set a good review.

[Mark Thomas]

Robert Matthew-Walker's review in IRR focuses very much on the structure of the Wartensee and Liste pieces and praises the composers for their innovations (a Waltz in Wartensee's case for instance). He views both works, and especially the Liste, as being important milestones in the development of the romantic piano sonata. All of that may be true for all I know, and I certainly respect his opinion, but I just found that they failed to hold my attention in the way that the Beethoven certainly did.