Liszt: Etudes d'exécution transcendante - Edited from the sources and provided with notes on interpretation - piano - Wiener Urtext - difficult - (UT ... des indications d’interprétation. piano.

The late Badura-Skoda has written extensively about the so-called Urtext editions (especially in reference to Bach's music) and his words should be kept in mind when thinking of purchasing publications from Wiener Urtext, like the present one, or by Henle Verlag. An edition that bears added fingering cannot be legitimately called an Ur-Text: it is an edited edition. Period.This said, having just received this, I am writing the following few lines after just leafing through the music and reading the text. I was very exited about this edition of the Transcendentals and, in some ways, it has not disappointed: the layout is clear and comfortably legible; the 'notes on interpretation' are generally interesting (but one is better off in the company of Alfred Cortot); the critical apparatus is exhaustive and constitutes an excellent reference. Plus, you have the 1876 variant of the introductory bars to 'Harmonies du soir' (some 40" of music) and Nos. 2 and 7 critical edition of the Grandes Études - adding Nos. 8 and 10 (the most interesting Études in terms of piano writing) would have been welcome. However, I found the addition of Detlef Kraus' fingering totally unnecessary and, for me, it spoilt an otherwise outstanding edition. Detlef Kraus seems mostly interested in facilitating the performance of certain passages by, for instance, suggesting chords (No. 11) or arpeggios (No. 6) should be managed by both hands rather than by one hand, as indeed intended by Liszt. These suggestions may well allow a more comfortable execution, especially for those with smaller hands but, ultimately, they nullify an implicit purpose: a study is written to challenge the performer to overcome and manage certain difficulties. It is interesting, however, that in Mazeppa, for the bi-chords, Kraus only provides Liszt' own fingering, which very few pianists can afford to adopt in performance (Cziffra, is one of them) unless they choose a slower tempo. I found this somewhat inconsistent with the rationale that has led Kraus to suggest easier fingering as noted above.Addendum: after trying out some of the fingering suggestions printed in this edition I need to warn anyone approaching the Transcendentals for the first time to turn to some another edition (Cortot with Salabert has precious preparatory exercises and interpretation notes, but there are also too many misprints). If some fingering tend to facilitate the execution of certain passages (but, as I said above, it's not an advisable route for the student), others (like for instance the last triplet of bar 2 of the f minor study) are truly impossible to use. I repeat: it's a real pity as the layout is so clear but, really, there shouldn't be any fingering.This edition would have deserved better.