Literary Inspiration

Liszt's orchestral music is often slighted but seems to be undergoing some kind of reappraisal. I certainly find much to enjoy in this back catalogue raiding double cd. Disk 1 features what is probably his most ambitious orchestral work A Faust Symphony, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sir George Solti. Margaret Hillis directs the chorus and there is a solo tenor part sung by Siegfried Jerusalem. The symphony does not seek to tell the Faust story in sound but rather to portray the three central characters of the tale ( Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles ) in the three movements. Some might argue but I find it succeeds admirably and is a great showcase for any orchestra. Solti also conducts two of the three pieces on disk 2, this time with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. These two works are Les Preludes ( which was one of those "oh, so that's where that tune comes from" moments for me ) and Prometheus and mark Liszt's expansion of the overture form towards that of the hitherto unknown tone poem. The final work is the other big literary inspired piece the Dante Symphony. this is based on the Divine Comedy and is a two part work split between the inferno and purgatory. Obviously meaningful to the devout Catholic Liszt, it occupies similar territory to the Faust and is another strong piece. Performers for this are L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Jesus Lopez-Cobos and like the Faust there are choral contributions, in this case from Choeur de la section artistique du College Voltaire and L'Atelier choral de Geneve with director Philippe Corboz.