Please DO NOT plug in any commercial advertisements during a classical music playing !!! Put it in the beginning or at the end .

A piece of divine peace, as though the Maker himself were sitting at that piano.

Claudio Arrau’s tonal quality is the acme of pianism. Scores of pianists could play faster scales, arpeggios and octaves, but when it comes to the beauty of the piano as a cantabile instrument, former pianists, such as Vladimir Horowitz and Claudio Arrau, are still unrivaled. The key to their artistry is “personality,” which stamps every note with something unique, ethereal and inexplicably beautiful! Now, I have to say that Franz Liszt was not just a superb musician of the highest rank, but a mystic...and hence his artistic sensibility when writing such sublime music as only possible to blessed spirits from the higher spheres of Pythagoras... From this perspective, Franz Liszt’s conception of glorious things could surpass our religious squabbles and schism. Even if one is an atheist, one is bound to admit a superior numinous experience with the Benediction of the illustrious Master of yore.

Arrau plays this "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude" with the interior feeling and the correct tempo which makes him one of the best if not the best interpret of this sublime music.

17:20 il y aurait tant de choses à dire sur ce morceau, mais ce passage en particulier est tellement beau... l'acceptation, le pardon, la paix intérieure et la gratitude pour tout ce qui nous a été donné. Un des plus beaux passage que la musique a pu me donner jusque là.

Liszt playing homage to God... serene, divine, beautiful. Arrau is the perfect messanger... capturing the soul of the music perfectly !

Thanks to Jin's short film, I aprecciate this masterpiece

Third classical LP I bought as a teenager (the first ones were Mussorgsky's complete works for piano by Michel Beroff - 2 LPs, equally outstanding). 46 years later I still don't think I was misguided in theses choices and I don't think I ever will! The Arrau disc also included the Bm Sonata (A-side) and 2 Concert Études: Gnomenreigen (Ronde des lutins) and Waldesrauschen (Murmures de la forêt) to fill up the B-side!

the Perfect piece of music in these trying times of Quarantine. May God be with us all.

Still the best rendition of this sublime work.

Absolutely my favorite piece from the Romantic repertoire. Perfect ABA structure with the B "Schumnannesque" section recalled in the Coda. A perfect prayer and love song for a divine or human love.

Maestro Arrau = THE ONLY PIANIST in the world who actually UNDERSTOOD this piece. Whoever else plays this, you never get to hear THIS balance of bliss and internal peace.

It's heaven. Arrau's work was all heaven as well. What a truly wonderful man. :-)

The Greatest Master of the Pianoforte ever. Arrau forever. Pupil of a pupil of Liszt, Martin Krause, Arrau revealed to the world what composer Liszt really is.

Deeply fascinated and touched again by Claudio Arrau's playing....

12:46 piano gives LIFE !!!!!....MY GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is HEAVEN !!!!!

One of the the noblest and grandest of piano works

Beauty beyond words and even thought. Wondrous Liszt. Fabulous Arrau. :-)

Franz Liszt and Claudio Arrau. Reverie and Spirituality and Contemplation lifting the listener to new heights. My 96-yr-old friend drifts off into a peaceful slumber..

My father's piano teacher playing. This was the first Liszt I ever heard and fell in love with it. Only recently did I learn it and I always hear something new when I play it. A masterpiece.

Arrau definitely has my favorite interpretation

My last wish will be this recording to be played at my funeral, so every one gets reminded of how delicate this life can be. And of course, everyone will be very near to God, listening to this piece, and I hope they will continue to listen - in solitude. That's when it hits the most.

What a performance of this sublime piece. Not much more can be said.

Il y a quelque chose de vraiment divin dans la musique de Franz Liszt. Du point de vue des accords, des émotions, des harmonies qui aspirent au ciel, à l'immense, à l'éternel. J'aurais vraiment aimé rencontrer cet homme.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Beginning to end marvelous!

Most pieces fall apart when played too slowly. This would be too slow in any one else's hand but Arrau's, and, in fact, gains hugely in stature. Revelatory. And what utterly glorious sound.

when i first heard this composition i was spellbound, i continue to feel the same way to this day; it is to my feeling one of the best compositions Liszt ever wrote and of course Arrau plays it beautifully

This is the best version of this heavenly piece. Thank you, Master Arrau and Master Liszt.

don't know if others feel this too, but this piece gives me peace and brings me to a state of reflection. i wonder what pianists themselves feel or ponder when they play this masterpiece.

I love this piece with Arrau, but there is also a very beautifull rendering from the young Brendel! For the ones who adore the piece, very worthy hearing that is!

Arrau really changed everything i understood Lizst!

absolutely breathtaking.........it seems impossible that a human being could have written this..thank you.

Just out of this world....

Magnifique

While struggling to learn the piano in the late 30's and 40's, I played my grandparents' piano paper rolls recorded by Ferruchio Busoni. To me then and now they were a blessing, encouraging me a promise of the reality awaiting me when I pushed on.

Fantástico gran maestro Claudio Arrau. Después de abandonar esta vida, quedó catalogado como uno de los mejores pianistas de todos los tiempos.

WOW! This brought me closer to God. I think I'll start going back to church from here on.

Por que Liszt é tão tocante assim? Maravilhoso, sublime e celeste!

@newFranzFerencLiszt I heard Garrick Ohlsson in concert yesterday play this. He was a student of Arrau, and I'm finally glad I got to hear him live.

This very recording of this very piece, might be the pinnacle of mankind.

Fantastic interpretation of this great pianist that I was lucky to listen alive more than once, in São Paulo (Brazil), many years ago. Mário Santos,SP (Brazil)

What a sublime performance, quite the best on record in my view. I grew up with this recording, having been introduced to it by Garrick Ohlsson the moment it was released in 1970 or so, I believe. Not too long afterwards,I played it for and studied it briefly with Arrau in Chester, Vermont.

As beautiful as the music is this wonderful landscape.

Arrau's is the only interpretation of this music that makes sense to me. The others play it too fast, that the experience of being with God, the 'solitude with God' referred to in the title, completely disappears in their interpretation, making the music sound banal. Under the hands of a great master like Arrau, one gets transported to a spiritual place, the experience of it, sublime and heavenly, just as Liszt intended it to sound.

I see references below to unfavourable comments long since deleted. But for anyone with an emotionally sincere response to this music, what is there not to enjoy? This is one of the highlights of the piano repertoire and in performance here it is given the most eloquent and noble breadth of expression.

When I hear ARRAU play this or any other piece, i simple can´t hear from another hands !!

I love it. Arrau is one of my favorites.

It is a wonderful piece of music. The title says it all. Putting it in more words lessens it.

Grazie Arrau, grazie Liszt ❤

Qué hermosura! Gracias Claudio Arrau donde se encuentre al otro lado de la vida. ❤️

Outstanding interpretation of that great piece by Arrau !!!!!

through the eyes of an elder man, standing on a hill alone, nostalgically remembering his past days, while watching the nature that he grew up in; the warm fields, blades of grass waving with the wind - just as they did before, in his childhood. the events of his short, yet seemingly never-ending life start rushing out of his subconscious like water breaching the dam; the good, the bad, everything. in the end, he returns to the present moment, his wise eyes calmly observing as the final rays of sunlight grace the land, before he closes his tired eyes and lets out one final sigh. it had been a good life.

deep into the heart

Praise The Maker for: 1) Liszt 2) Maestro Arrau 3) The makers of Steinway 4) for Philips records 5) the inventor of youtube 6) for the smart phone 7) for everything good

I don't know any pieces that are more peaceful than this one, honestly I'm looking for it, Liszt is an absolute genius

Played with art .

Love this performance. Thanks, also, for selecting this picture: it's really nice!

I've been a fan of Arrau for a very long time. My father saw him in the 1930's (in Kentucky!) and brought him to my attention when i was studying the piano (to limited effect haha) Anyway I highly recommend his recordings of the Transcendental Etudes. I wold say he is rather neglected as a huge talent of his time.

Powerful performance! I love how it sounds like he's just digging the sound from out of the piano. Gives it a full robust sound which I can't get enough of. As far as the speed is concerned, I honestly think this piece loses a lot at faster tempos. I personally like the slower tempos better, but that's just a matter of opinion and tastes. Liszt probably would have played it at all kinds of different tempos.

Arrau is the best

El maestro interpretaba estas hermosas obras con la mayor fidelidad posible. Grande Don Claudio

Arrau is the only pianist I listen to on almost a dalily basis.

Hasta las lagrimas con la belleza sublime de esta pieza y Arrau...

Un suono meraviglioso,inconfondibile,

very noble playing :)

A calm existence, an evocative, meditative and contemplative pilgrimage, as only possible to the peculiar psychic constitution of some privileged souls...Franz Liszt, Claudio Arrau, Jacob Boeheme, St. John of the Cross, and all those lofty spirits from paradisiac worlds of light, beauty, purity, beatitudes and love for the marvels of life! Claudio Arrau’s rendition of this journey is one of the finest renditions: rarely he is ruffled into something extraneous to the underlying heroic calmness and grandeur. It is very possible that he was living a very calm, unruffled, undisturbed existence...free from the din and noise of modern society.

The best exampe of the angelic side of Ferenc Liszt.

Terrific, marvelous! The number One.

Maestro Arrau, que sublime tu voz, como gotas de lluvia tus manos se posan sobre las teclas de tu piano y así tus notas se posan sobre mi alma

Arrau no hay otro que interprete mejor. a Liszt .Lo amo

Sublime,Transportador, Armonía Infinita... Rejuvenece nuestro Ser despertando nuestra Alma, ayudandonos a La Ascención... "Yo Soy La Resurrección y La Vida, Yo Soy La Resurrección y La Vida,Yo Soy La Resurrección y La Vida"... Hagamos 3 respiraciones profundas y nos Elevamos a La Luz de La Inmortalidad...

Brilliant

No one but Claudio Arrau has played this piece the way it should be. Just sayin.

Che meraviglia!

Un verdadero maestro.Gracias por tan religiosa interpretación.

Here because I like Liszt.

yup. arrau was as good as ive ever heard the piano played.

Inspiration sans esbrouffe , moyens pianistiques au service du mystique , phrasés et plans sonores profondément présents mais sans être soulignés ...

Wonderful!

Astounding. I was not very familiar with this piece until my professor recommended it, saying it is one of their "desert island" compositions. It is now one of mine as well, and this performance of it a "desert island" performance too.

this music you listen here is 150years old... and a lot of people are still listening and loving it...do you think that lady gaga's music will be loved in 2200? this is IMMORTAL music, pop music is COMMERCIAL and TREND music,liszt's wrote in sheet human feelings...that's the mean difference between your music and liszt's music.

Thanks for the recommendation Yunyi.

Avevo 8anni quando la conobbi la solitudine, solo in casa sull'attico, seduto in terra fuori al balcone con le gambe ciondolante e gli occhi fissi verso l'angolo da dove doveva sbucare mia madre, quella tarda sera, in quel piccolo vicolo, sotto l'unico lampione, solo passanti frettolosi e alcuni pipistrelli a zig-zagare, davanti i miei occhi annebbiati dal pianto..

Wow! This piece by liszt is a great masterpiece! Arrau and Brendel are my favourite. There is a magnificent and rare performance by Brendel (very rare LP Philips '70). If you can, find it and you are a lucky man.

Magical! Thank you.

Wowwwww !!! It is at the top magnificence

Maravilloso. Gran Artista . Muchas gracias. Bendiciones

17:22〜 Gentle time goes by

magnifique merci à Matthias Enard de me l'avoir fait decouvrir avec son roman BOUSSOLE

Beautiful.

Super best!!

Finally, someone who agrees with me!!! Why does it seem like people like us are so few and far between...

Superbe

Beatles are a pop group, rolling stone a rock group, clash a punk band and after 40 year we still listen and love them and I think we will continue on this way.

이곡 들으면 뭔가 마음이 정화된다..

Tim, I am happy you share my love love for this lovely piece. I was fortunate to hear it t live twice played by Jorge Bolet at SUNY Purchase and Duchable at Lincoln Center. He wrote it for his mistress and was he ever in love and a very spiritual man .. If you love Liszt as I do (a member of the American Liszt Society) make sure you read Alan Walker's trilogy biography of Franz Liszt. A great biography of he most fascinating musician in the 19th century.

Thank you.

Good god that was beautiful...

This is what you would hear while walking through The Garden of Eden or crossing the Elysian Fields.