Late works of Franz Liszt to Saint-Saëns. The three czárdás that Liszt wrote—titled "Czárdás", "Czárdás obstinée" and "Czárdás macabre"—are less freely treated than the Hungarian Rhapsodies and remain more specifically Hungarian than gypsy in thematic material. Their spare lines, angular rhythms and advanced harmonies show these pieces to be direct ancestors of Bartók's work. Because of these attributes, the czárdás are considered by Liszt scholars among the more interesting of the composer's late output. The same, some critics argue, cannot be said as uniformly about his Hungarian Rhapsodies 16-19, composed after he had neglected the genre 30 years. Of these four late rhapsodies, only the
Rhapsodies for Orchestra quirky rhythmic vitality. Van Zweden and the CSO brought the 10-minute piece to life most enjoyably." Katie Womack of the "Dallas Observer" similarly praised the piece at its Dallas premiere, commenting, "The dynamics of this piece range from intimate to bombastic and the juxtaposition of those extremes created some stunning sounds in the Meyerson. At only ten minutes, Stucky's "Rhapsodies" left me wanting more." Anthony Tommasini of "The New York Times" also lauded the work, remarking: Jeffrey Gantz of "The Boston Globe" was more critical, describing the piece as "a series of ecstatic outbursts in which one instrument essays an