Michael Halasz, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Naxos 8.557846.
Franz Liszt wrote thirteen tone poems, and between 1997 and 2007 conductor Michael Halasz recorded all of them for Naxos. This is the third volume of the material, containing the poems Festlange, Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne ("What is heard on the mountain"), and Hunnenschlacht ("Battle of the Huns"). Halasz and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra perform all of them competently, and Naxos record them fairly well.
Things begin with Festlange, a lengthy, festive overture more than a symphonic poem but appropriate for getting the album off to a zippy start. Halasz handles it well, with plenty of contrast and color. The poem Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne is too long for its own good at nearly half an hour, as it tries to convey something about the voice of Nature clashing with the voice of Man. It's a noble sentiment that applies as much as or more today than in Liszt's time, but it gets weighted down with too much excess, redundant baggage.
Far more concise, vivid, and descriptive is Hunnenschlacht, based on a fresco by Wilhelm von Kaulbach depicting the legendary battle between the Emperor Theodoric and Attila the Hun at the gates of Rome. It's a fiery concoction, and it is here that Halasz does his best, most-exciting, most-evocative work.
The Naxos sound comes up well, although it is a tad thick and billowy at times. Realistic, yes, probably; transparent, not really. The catch with this whole Naxos low-priced series is that we also have available Bernard Haitink's excellent renditions of the Liszt tone poems with the London Philharmonic at not much of a cost difference, actually, for even better performances and better sound.
JJP
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