Alfred Cortot, Liszt recordings

Cortot recorded 8 of Liszt’s works; 6 original works and 4 transcriptions. La Leggierezza 1919, 1923 and 1931 Les Au borde d’une source 1923 Chopin Chants polonais Op. 74 No. 12 Moja pieszczotka 1919 and 1923 Verdi Rigoletto paraphrase 1920, 1923 and 1926 Second Hungarian Rhapsody 1920, 1923, 1926 and 1952 Eleventh Hungarian Rhapsody 1925, 1926, 1930, 1952 and 1953 St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots 1937 Sonata in B Minor 1929 It may be of interest to know that he also recorded Paganini etude 3; la Campanella 23 times between 1919 and 1925… all destroyed! Presumably none of them met a standard that he was completely satisfied with. I have always been fascinated by the fact that Cortot recorded the 11th Rhapsody 5 times. It must have held a strong fascination for him. Alfred Cortot saw pure virtuosity as a means and not an end in itself. From there, to think that he did not have outstanding technical means, there was only one step that a number
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