Hungarian pianist Zoltán Kocsis started his career in the early 70s, and made a name for himself as a great Bartók interpreter. His series of the complete Bartók piano works for Philips is still viewed as a reference work, for the clarity of the deliverance and the intelligent structure. I have written already about one of these.
Here he plays Liszt’s piano transcriptions of works by Wagner. These are all fragments from his operas, and to me they sound like the essential tune. I find it hard to get the image of a full orchestra though, as some people claim. For me it’s just a gimmick, to be used for when you are tired of the full version. An interesting alternative as it were.