Right then, here's the article that I promised on the Muscial Connections thread:

Tausig Reviews

Note: The problem with writing reviews about the music of Tausig is that there are very few recordings available.  Many of the works, even the most well known, have only been recorded once or twice at the most.  The only works that have been recorded several times are the transcriptions of Johann Strauss II’s waltz “Man lebt nur einmal” (“One Lives but Once”) (Op.167) and the notorious Schubert “March Militaire”.  Therefore, it is impossible to comparatively review recordings as in many cases, only one exists and the definitive recording has yet to be made and perhaps never will.
This situation seems to have occurred to works by Tausig for several reasons.  Firstly, Tausig only lived until the age of 29 and so did not have time to perform works in public or, indeed compose very much at all.  Secondly, he was an exceptionally talented individual and therefore his piano works are phenomenally difficult.  Thirdly, he seems to have had a predilection for not promoting his own works and lastly, to make matters worse, many works are still in manuscript and, like Beethoven, Tausig’s working was, to say the least extremely messy!
However, some works have been played and recorded (although not always for the right reasons, usually as an excuse to show off)!  Tausig was a prodigious talent and therefore to perform his works a very solid technique is required.  It is also a requirement that the pianist plays with utter commitment.  It is why some recordings I mention are not what I would judge to be the definitive version, because such a recording has yet to be made.

The recordings

Please note that this is not a complete listing of all of the recordings of Tausig’s piano music, as I do not possess all of his works and, as I pointed out earlier, many works have yet to be recorded.  I possess several recordings of works by Tausig within my CD collection.  In no particular order, I start with Rian de Waal’s recording on Etcetera.  This disc is entitled “Romantic Transcriptions” and consists of a selection of transcriptions by Balakirev, Liszt, Godowsky as well as Tausig.  Ignoring the other works on the disc (although it is an excellent disc all round and sadly, now deleted and very hard to get hold of) the recording is of Tausig’s Op.1 - “Das Geisterschiff”.  I have a copy of the score for this work and it is extremely difficult and does require a total commitment from the pianist.  Mr. De Waal manages very well and plays the work the way it should be.
Next, on a VoxBox set of Piano transcriptions of Operatic works (including Liszt’s “Reminiscences de Don Giovanni”) comes Michael Ponti in a very dry acoustic.  These recordings date from the 1960s - 70s and have been re-mastered for CD purposes.  The original Tausig work is the “Reminiscences de Halka” after Moniuszko’s Opera of the same name.  Again, this is a fantastically difficult work, somewhat in the manner of Liszt’s operatic transcriptions.  Mr.Ponti manages well with the technical demands of the piece and also from a commitment point of view but he seems to miss out a few bars along the way, including the last few notes!  This seems strange but I imagine that musicology has moved on since the recording was made.  I suppose and alternative reason could be the score may not have been very legible or, more likely; it is a different edition to the one that I have.  He also recorded the famously difficult transcription of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” that is also on this disc, and is terrifyingly played!  Mr.Ponti also plays the Two Concert Etudes Op.1 on the “Romantic Piano Etudes” CD, also on Vox, very well although the works are not distinctive enough to my ears – they sound too much like Liszt!
I also have Stephen Hough’s recording on Virgin entitled “The Piano Album”.  This consists of a two CD set of various pianistic showpieces including works by Liszt, Macdowell, Godowsky and numerous others.  The Tausig piece is the Hungarian Gypsy Melodies (sometimes cited as his best work).  Again, an excellent recording well made and showing that great level of commitment.  Stephen Hough also recorded the transcription of Schumann’s song “La Contrabandista” for his “Piano Album” CDs and made an excellent job of the fiendishly difficult little piece.
Rachmaninov is thought, by many, to have been the greatest pianist ever to leave recordings and he recorded the transcription of Strauss’s “One Lives but Once” that I mentioned earlier, and superbly at that.   British/Australian pianist Piers Lane has also recorded the work although perhaps not quite as well as Rachmaninov.  However, from a listening point of view in a much better and clearer acoustic (remastering has some drawbacks on material that is over 70 years old)!  Mr. Lane also recorded the other two “Nouvelle Soirees de Vienne” after J.Strauss II (on “Nachtfalter” (Op.157) and “Wahlstimmen” (Op.250)) in the set and has made an excellent case for them.
The Russian pianist, long resident in England, Evgeny Kissin, has also recorded the notorious transcription of Schubert’s “Marche Militaire” (D733 part 1) as an encore from one of his recitals.  The piece is well known in the original version for piano duet and Tausig’s arrangement more than makes up for the lack of 4 hands.  Mr. Kissin makes an excellent job of the work, suitably bombastic and breathtakingly difficult.

Tausig was a great admirer of Wagner and arranged many of his works for piano including “Ride of the Valkyries” (see above), pieces from “Tristan” and various others.  He also arranged the prelude from “Die Meistersingers von Nuremberg” but for two pianos.  This arrangement was made with assistance from A. Horn, of whom I know nothing.  The work is a straightforward transcription that works very well but is not on the same sort of level as the solo arrangements.  However, the duo pianists Gabriella Molnar and Erika Rezmuves make a good job of the piece and the end is especially exciting.
Benno Moiseiwitsch recorded the arrangement of Weber’s “Invitation to the Dance” and he does extremely well with it.  In the wrong hands, it can sound like a cascade of notes that is not going anywhere.  However here, the music seems to have a direction and, despite the age of the recording and the fact it is re-mastered, this is an excellent recording and transfer.
Konstantin Scherbakov has also recorded one of the transcriptions of Strauss’s Waltzes for his debut disc on EMI.  This is mixed in with various other Strauss transcriptions including Max Reger’s “Improvisation of the Blue Danube”, (which I think is amazing).  The piece is credited to one “Karol Tausig” and does not give exact details of which one of the “Nouvelle Soirees de Vienne” that it actually is.  This small slip aside, it is an excellent recording of the “Nachtfalter” (Op.157) transcription.  It is also taken at an amazing speed!
Our society president Leslie Howard included Liszt’s additions to the Tausig transcription of “Wahlstimmen” (Op.250) made by Liszt when in his 70’s.  This makes the work only very slightly longer than the original and seems in much the same character as the rest of the piece.  I am sure that Tausig would have approved!  The recording is very well made (as is the rest of the series) and Mr. Howard is more than able to cope with the technical demands of the piece and also brings the necessary commitment to this item.
The pianist known by his first name only, Sertak is the only one to have recorded Tausig’s “recomposition” of Chopin’s first piano concerto (Op.11).  As it says in the cover notes, Chopin purists may not like this treatment of the work but as many have pointed out, the orchestration is not especially good and Tausig re-writes this as well as the piano part.  The whole effect is slightly odd, especially if you know the original well.  The most noticeable changes appear to be in the final movement, where the ending is completely rewritten.  However, this recording is excellent and the piece, no matter how odd sounding, is very well played and recorded.
Australian pianist Dennis Hennig seems to have made a special study of Tausig - he has recorded three discs of his works, for Etcetera (also hard to obtain these days).  They are one disc of Wagner transcriptions, another of Schubert and some original works and a third of Liszt’s Symphonic Poems.  This is the first (and only) released recording to date of four of the symphonic poems (specifically “Les Preludes”, “Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo”, “Hamlet” and “Orpheus”).  According to Mr. Hennig’s article for the 1992 (Volume 17) Journal of the Liszt Society in Britain, he states that Tausig arranged eleven of the twelve Symphonic poems that Liszt had written at the time.   Sadly, the thirteenth and final one, “From the Cradle to the Grave” was written over a decade after Tausig’s death but Liszt arranged this himself for piano solo.  Tausig only missed out “Mazeppa”, perhaps as it started life as one of the “Transcendental Etudes”.  Interestingly, Liszt proof-read and corrected a solo piano transcription by his pupil, Theodor Forchhammer which has been recorded by Leslie Howard.  Liszt also authorised arrangements by various pupils of several other of the Symphonic poems, including “Hungaria” and “Les Preludes”.  Anyway, this Tausig Liszt transcription CD is perhaps the best of the three.  The “Tasso” transcription and (to a slightly lesser extent) “Les Preludes” and “Orpheus” all come across very well and “Hamlet” is beautiful.  I have also recently read that Oleg Marshov (who recorded all of Emil von Sauer’s piano works for Danacord) has recorded the Tausig “Tasso” transcription (along with the Liszt Sonata in B minor) due for release later this year (2006) – I look forward to hearing this when it is released.
The Wagner disc is second and although the “Ride of the Valkyries” is not as good as Ponti’s recording (see earlier), it does include the first recording of three pieces from “Tristan und Isolde”.  On this disc, the Prelude and Liebestod especially work very well.  The third disc is of miscellaneous pieces, including the five “Nouvelle Soirees de Vienne” (subtitled “Valse Caprices d’Apres J.Strauss II”) that include the transcriptions I mentioned earlier and three Schubert transcriptions.  Other pianists have made a better job of the “Soirees” but Mr. Hennig is the only one to have recorded all five of these pieces.   The last two of these are original works by Tausig but they seem to lack a compositional spark found elsewhere, (e.g. in the “Hungarian Gypsy Airs”).  The Schubert transcriptions are of the “Marche Militaire” (not as well played as Kissin, see above), the French Rondo from the “Divertissement of French themes” and the “Polonaise Melancolique”.  All are played well but seem to lack the commitment I spoke of earlier.  The best of the three recordings is of the lovely “Divertissement” that is a really great little piece that deserves to be better known.
To end with we have two different recordings of the transcription of Bach’s great “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” (BWV565), from nearly opposite ends of the 20th century.  As the work is not for this medium, the only way to perform it is via a transcription.  Liszt really started the trend for transcribing Bach for piano, Tausig continued it and later so did Busoni and many others.
Anyway, one recording is by Ignaz Freidmann and the other by Earl Wild, a pianist much influenced by Freidmann.  This recording is from a piano roll he made in March 1924 but, despite the age of the recording and the weaknesses of the playback system, it is a very powerful and fast performance, full of nuances and suitably hair-raising in the middle of the toccata.  It does seem just a fraction too fast and out of the player’s control at the start of the toccata but he seems to get in to the stride later on.  The fugue is especially good and is also quite beautiful in places.  Having heard many of Freidmann’s other recordings; possibly he was having an “off day” when he made this one.  Earl Wild is actually, in total, almost a minute faster in performance but the whole thing sounds less frantic.  It also seems to hold together better than the older recording.  The acoustic is also, of course, different and you can hear the excellent and diplomatic use of the pedal, especially at the beginning.  The fugue is much more measured also, the start is much gentler and the overall sound is also more beautiful.

Directory of Recordings reviewed above.

Pianist   Work(s)   Label and catalogue no.

Benno Moiseiwitsch   Invitation to the Dance (after Weber)   Naxos 8.110669
Dennis Hennig   Wagner Transcriptions   Etcetera 1076
Dennis Hennig   Schubert Transcriptions and Original works   Etcetera 1086
Dennis Hennig   Liszt’s Symphonic Poems   Etcetera 1135
Earl Wild   Toccata and Fugue in D minor (after Bach)   Philips Great Pianists of the 20th Century vol.98
Gabriella Molnar and Erika Rezmuves   Prelude to “Die Meistersingers von Nuremberg” (after Wagner)   Lydian 18152
Ignaz Freidmann   Toccata and Fugue in D minor (after Bach)   Nimbus Great Pianists 8808
Konstantin Scherbakov   “One Lives but Once”, (Op.167 - after J.Strauss II)   EMI Classics Debut
Leslie Howard   “Wahlstimmen”, Op.250 – after J.Strauss II) (Introduction added by Liszt in about 1880)   Hyperion CDA 67414/7
Michael Ponti   Reminiscences de Halka (after Moniuszko), Ride of the Valkyries (after Wagner)   VoxBox 11 58462
Michael Ponti   Two Concert Studies, Op.1   VoxBox 5151
Piers Lane   Three “Nouvelle Soirees de Vienne” (after J.Strauss II)   Hyperion CDA 66785
Rachmaninov   “One Lives but Once”, (Op.167 - after J.Strauss II)   Philips Great Pianists of the 20th Century vol.81
Rian de Waal   Das Geisterschiff (Op.1)   Etcetera 1016
Setrak   “Recomposition” of Chopin Piano Concerto no.1   Le Chant du Monde 278 902
Stephen Hough   La Contrabandista (after Schumann), Hungarian Gypsy Airs    Virgin Classics VBD 5 61498 2
Yevgeny Kissin   Marche Militaire (after Schubert)   Philips 456872-2

And now, here's the associated discography:

Tausig - Directory of Recordings

Pianist   Work(s)   Label and catalogue no.
Alexander Brailowsky   Pastorale (after Scarlatti), March Militaire (after Schubert)         Enterprise/Piano Library 256
Ania Dorfmann   Pastorale and Capriccio (after Scarlatti), “One Lives but Once”, (Op.167, after J.Strauss II)   Pearl-Koch 10
Benno Moiseiwitsch   Invitation to the Dance (after Weber)   Naxos 8.110669
Benno Moiseiwitsch   Pastorale and Capriccio (after Scarlatti)   Pearl 142
Daniel Berman   O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, O Mensch, bewein' dein Sünde gross, Wir glauben all an einen Gott (all after Bach)   Danacord 483
Dennis Hennig   Wagner Transcriptions   Etcetera 1076
Dennis Hennig   Schubert Transcriptions and Original works   Etcetera 1086
Dennis Hennig   Liszt’s Symphonic Poems   Etcetera 1133
Earl Wild   Toccata and Fugue in D minor (after Bach)   Philips Great Pianists of the 20th Century vol.98
Earl Wild   “One Lives but Once”, (Op.167 - after J.Strauss II)   Ivory Classics 70907
Egon Petri   Andante & Variations (after Schubert)   APR 7027
Ethel Leginska   Marche Militaire (after Schubert)   Ivory Classics 72002
Evgeny Kissin   Marche Militaire (after Schubert)   Philips 456872-2
Gabriella Molnar and Erika Rezmuves   Prelude to “Die Meistersingers von Nuremberg” (after Wagner)   Lydian 18152
Ignaz Freidmann   Toccata and Fugue in D minor (after Bach)   Nimbus Great Pianists 8808
Janina Fialkowska   Hungarian Gypsy Airs   CBC Enterprises 1114
Jorge Bolet   “One Lives but Once”, (Op.167 - after J.Strauss II) and “Nachtfalter”, (Op. 157 - after J.Strauss II)   Philips Great Pianists of the 20th Century vol.10
Josef Hoffmann   Marche Militaire (after Schubert)   Video Arts International 1036
Josef Hoffmann   Pastorale and Capriccio (after Scarlatti), La Contrabandista (after Schumann)   Nimbus 8818
Konstantin Scherbakov   “One Lives but Once”, (Op.167 - after J.Strauss II)   EMI Classics Debut
Leo Sirota   Marche Militaire (after Schubert)   Dante Records – HPC 54
Leopold Godowsky   March Militaire (after Schubert)   Enterprise/Piano Library 266
Leslie Howard   “Wahlstimmen”, Op.250 – after J.Strauss II) (Introduction added by Liszt in about 1880)   Hyperion CDA 67414/7
Michael Ponti   Two Concert Studies, (Op.1)   Vox 5151
Michael Ponti   Reminiscences de Halka (after Moniuszko), Ride of the Valkyries (after Wagner)   VoxBox 5047
Michael Ponti   Seigmunds Love Song (after Wagner), Two (of 3) Paraphrases on “Tristan” (after Wagner)   Arlecchino/Arl 9653
Nikita Magaloff   Invitation to the Dance (after Weber)   Denon 77346
Piers Lane   Three “Nouvelle Soirees de Vienne” after J.Strauss II   Hyperion CDA 66785
Rian de Waal   Das Geisterschiff (Op.1)   Etcetera 1016
Robert Vanderschaff   Ride of the Valkyries (after Wagner)   Centaur 2417
Sergei Rachmaninov   “One Lives but Once”, (Op.167 - after J.Strauss II)   Philips Great Pianists of the 20th Century vol.81
Sergei Rachmaninov   La Contrabandista (after Schumann), Pastorale (after Scarlatti)   Aura Classics 193
Setrak   “Recomposition” of Chopin Piano Concerto no.1   Le Chant du Monde 278 902
Josef Lhevinne   La Contrabandista (after Schumann)   Naxos 8.110681
Stephen Hough   La Contrabandista (after Schumann), Hungarian Gypsy Airs    Virgin Classics VBD 5 61498 2
Thomas Labe   “Nouvelle Soirees de Vienne” 1-4 (1 –3 after J.Strauss II)   Dorian 80102
Vladimir Horowitz   Marche Militaire (after Schubert)   The Studio Recordings, New York 1985
Vladimir Horowitz   Pastorale (after Scarlatti)   Pearl-Koch 9262

This is a very interesting review of what's been recorded, Jonathan.



I'm interested that he was a devoted follower of Wagner, doing all those transcriptions, and that an epitaph composed by Wagner was inscribed on Tausig's tombstone.

Hi Martin,
I assume that it's notorious because it is so completely over the top and difficult!  I read that it was that somewhere years ago and so quoted it without checking and it seemed appropriate!  It really is way over the top (I played it through on Sunday) and spoils the original.  Liszt transcribed it as well and his version is much more reasonable and subtle.
Your Mark Hambourg recording could well be of the Tausig arrangement - my discography is not exhaustive and I'm somewhat lacking in knowledge of 78s and the like which have yet to be remastered.  If you read music and can figure out what you're listening to while looking at the score, here it is: http://imslp.ca/images/imslp.ca/5/54/Schubert-Tausig-Military-March.pdf
Hope this helps!

Some good news: in iTunes, there are 13 albums which contain arrangements by Tausig. There are three complete Tausig albums performed by Dennis Hennig (only £4.74 each) and some mixed programmes by the likes of Levitzki and Moiseiwitsch. The Rian de Waal disc which Jonathan included in his review is happily there too.

I was surprised too! Have downloaded the Wagner transcriptions, the Schubert Marche Militaire and Das Geisterschiff, which is a real barnstormer. It was good to follow your pdf whilst listening to the Schubert transcription and I'm convinced that I've heard this before somewhere - as soon as the trio section started, it rang a bell. Perhaps it's featured on R3 sometime.

Jonathan - your #4.

My Hambourg Marche militaire 78 is indeed the Tausig. Thanks for solving that puzzle.