FRANZ LISZT : Magyar Dalok & Magyar Rapszódiák (Leslie Howard) 2CD (1998) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Before saluting the first real contribution of Liszt Ferenc to an essentially Hungarian literature, a word about titles and sources. It is customary to preserve the Hungarian titles of these works in order to avoid confusion with the well-known second cycle of Rapsodies hongroises. In the sources, numbers 1 to 11 are titled Magyar Dalok / Ungarische Nationalmelodien / Mélodies hongroises; numbers 12 to 17 are titled Magyar Rapszódiák / Ungarische Rhapsodien / Rapsodies hongroises; numbers 18 to 21 are just called Ungarische Rhapsodien, although No 20 was editorially entitled Rumänische Rhapsodie in the first edition of 1936. Pester Carneval was published separately in 1847 and, although not otherwise titled, clearly marks the conclusion of this first series of Hungarian Rhapsodies. Early editions of some of these pieces employed different titles (like Album d’un voyageur – Troisième année) which has added to the confusion, so in these notes the first series is always referred to as Magyar Dalok / Rapszódiák (‘Hungarian or Gypsy Songs / Rhapsodies’) and the second as Hungarian Rhapsodies / Rapsodies hongroises / Ungarische Rhapsodien. (In the first series, No 13 was also issued in a simplified version, which will appear on a later volume of these recordings.)
More Notes of Leslie Howard