Beethoven-Liszt - Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 Pierre-Alain Volondat Live 2003 (Score)

I have no words. This is Liszt’s transcription of the legendary Beethoven Symphony No. 9, my favourite symphony, and is unanimously regarded as the most difficult Liszt composition he ever made. The piece is over an hour long, in this case 79 entire minutes, divided into four enormous movements, and the stamina, voicing, speed, clarity etc. required to pull this off for that amount of time is one that only a few pianists in the world can achieve. The contrapuntal and super complex melodies plus with the orchestral textures that the pianist has to figure out is tremendously difficult to pull off. As such, there are only a few recordings of this piece on youtube, only 2 I find convincing, this and Katsaris. Even Liszt expressed that “after a great deal of experiementation in various directions, I was unable to deny the utter impossibility of even a partially satisfactory and effective arrangement of the fourth movement.”

I first discovered Katsaris’ amazing recording of this and all the other symphonies, and was convinced that no other recording can stand a chance until I discovered this by Pierre Alain Volondat, which is a LIVE recording! Katsaris recording is overall cleaner, faster, and higher accuracy but Volondat keeps the ears on an emotional and powerful journey with this piece. I prefer this recording by a landslide as it is always so much more fun to listen to. In all the movements, there is tremendous power especially in the overpowering and fervent bass. Unlike Katsaris’ recording which is on a Borsendorfer Imperial 290 (because of the low D’s in the end of the first movement), this is on a standard 88 key piano and its crazy that on a recording only 21 years ago he makes the bass notes sound so earth shattering. In addition, the speed clarity and his vehement touch in the second movement is super enjoyable and his voicing of the contrapuntal melodies in the third movement is very impressive and distinct. The fourth movement is an a whole nother level. Just listen the ending. 1:12:56 is one of my favourite parts and reminds me of bells tolling and is right before the final climax. Here he clearly sounds like an orchestra and he plays this section so clearly. 57:26, the dramatic recapitulation of the ode to joy theme, is played very passionately and I want to point out how I love the added bass notes likewise the low A notes that compliment the D octaves. The part before that has amazing voicing.
Just like Katsaris, and all pianists who do, I admire and truly enjoy the liberties taken with the score as for almost all of them, especially in the ending, they captivate the piece. However, one example of one I really dislike is at 1:06:51 where he plays 3.5 measures an octave higher and does not play the repeat which definitely detract from the music especially given that it is one of the most important sections, and Beethoven had clear instructions for it. At 1:08:09 I wish he did not play the music 1-2 octaves down and instead as written. At 1:12:18 it would have been much better if he had played the octaves in the RH more evenly so I could hear all of them. The way he is playing it does add tension but it does not sound proper.
But overall, I this recording should definitely be shared with more people and in my opinion is one of the most magical.

Recording used:
   • Beethoven / Liszt: Symphony No.9 - Pi...  
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