Liszt Funerailles Rubinstein Rec 1953

Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses was composed by Liszt in 1849 after the Habsburgs had put down the Hungarian Revolution. Funerailles, No. 7, is the most often performed section of this composition.. Liszt was as fervently Hungarian as Chopin was fervently Polish. I doubt that Liszt conceived the Funerailles as a mindless show piece. Here Rubinsteins reflective performance, gives us a somewhat more poetic conception of this work than we may be used to hearing. This is not to say that it supersedes other pianists performances, but it allows us to hear another master pianists thoughtful interpretation of this composition. Unfortunately, this approach did not work in his 1963 recording of Liszts B Minor Sonata which requires more Sturm und Drang than Rubinstein felt comfortable with in his later more cautious years.