October 21, 2013.Liszt, Bizet, Scarlatti.October 22nd marks the 202nd birthday of the great Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt.Liszt, who lived a long life (he died in 1886, at almost 75 years of age), went through many phases during the years.He started as a brilliant piano virtuoso traveling all across Europe, but eventually stopped performing to concentrate on composition.In his youth he was an idol and lover of many brilliant women (including George Sand) but in later years he joined the Order of St. Francis.In the last 20 years of his life, Liszt’s compositional style also changed dramatically.It became more reflective, economic, and often experimental: he used atonality and unusual harmonies years before Viennese composers introduced such techniques in the first decade of the 20th century.Compare, for example, the brilliant showmanship of his Transcendental Etudes, which Liszt started composing in his youth and completed in 1852 (here is Etude No.5 in B-flat major, "Feux Follets," performed by Boris Berezovsky), to such impressionistic, introverted composition as Nuages gris, a piano piece he wrote in 1881 (Carlos Gallardo on the piano).No wonder Claude Debussy admired this piece.
A generous man, Liszt was a benefactor of many composers; first and foremost of Richard Wagner, a friend and, later, his son-in-law (interestingly, Wagner was just two years younger than Liszt and 24 years older than his daughter Cosima).He also promoted the music of Hector Berlioz, Edvard Grieg, Alexander Borodin and many others.He wrote a prodigious number of transcriptions, often popularizing the music of composers he admired.An unusual transcription was written in 1879, Sarabande and Chaconne from Handel's opera Almira, S. 181.In his earlier period Liszt wrote many transcriptions of Bach’s organ works, but this Handel is the only baroque piece transcription from his later years.Handel changed the sequence of dances and wrote some additional music; in this respect it’s more of an original work than a transcription.Sarabande is performed by the Danish-American pianist and composer, Gunnar Johansen.Johansen, who died in 1991, was one of the first pianists who attempted to record all of Liszt’s music.He didn’t record all of it but 51 LPs is a prodigious effort (Leslie Howard, the Australian-American virtuoso, did record all of Liszt on 97 CDs).You can listen this 1948 recording of Sarabandehere.
Domenico Scarlatti was born on October 26, 1685 in Naples.He composed 555 keyboard sonatas, and many of them are absolutely brilliant.During his lifetime "keyboard" usually meant the harpsichord, but these days they are often performed on modern piano.Some of the greatest pianists of the 20th century were great admirers of Scarlatti and performed his music: Vladimir Horowitz, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Emil Gilels all played and recorded Scarlatti’s sonatas.These days the Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin excels as a foremost interpreter.Here’s Sonata in b minor, K. 27, played (live, in March of 1955) by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (the great technician Emil Gilels takes almost twice as long to play it: 5 minutes instead of Michelangeli’s 2:45).
Finally, Georges Bizet was also born this week, on October 25th of 1838.We dedicated an entry to him a year ago, so this time we’ll just listen to one of his most popular duets.Bizet wrote the opera Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) when he was just 25.It had one run at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris and was not revived during Bizet’s lifetime.These days the duet from the opera is one of the most famous and often performed numbers.Here is the 1950 recording with one of the greatest tenors of the 20th century, Jussi Björling, and the wonderful American baritone Robert Merrill. Renato Cellini conducts the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra.
Liszt, Bizet, Scarlatti 2013
October 21, 2013. Liszt, Bizet, Scarlatti. October 22nd marks the 202nd birthday of the great Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. Liszt, who lived a long life (he died in 1886, at almost 75 years of age), went through many phases during the years. He started as a brilliant
piano virtuoso traveling all across Europe, but eventually stopped performing to concentrate on composition. In his youth he was an idol and lover of many brilliant women (including George Sand) but in later years he joined the Order of St. Francis. In the last 20 years of his life, Liszt’s compositional style also changed dramatically. It became more reflective, economic, and often experimental: he used atonality and unusual harmonies years before Viennese composers introduced such techniques in the first decade of the 20th century. Compare, for example, the brilliant showmanship of his Transcendental Etudes, which Liszt started composing in his youth and completed in 1852 (here is Etude No.5 in B-flat major, "Feux Follets," performed by Boris Berezovsky), to such impressionistic, introverted composition as Nuages gris, a piano piece he wrote in 1881 (Carlos Gallardo on the piano). No wonder Claude Debussy admired this piece.
A generous man, Liszt was a benefactor of many composers; first and foremost of Richard Wagner, a friend and, later, his son-in-law (interestingly, Wagner was just two years younger than Liszt and 24 years older than his daughter Cosima). He also promoted the music of Hector Berlioz, Edvard Grieg, Alexander Borodin and many others. He wrote a prodigious number of transcriptions, often popularizing the music of composers he admired. An unusual transcription was written in 1879, Sarabande and Chaconne from Handel's opera Almira, S. 181. In his earlier period Liszt wrote many transcriptions of Bach’s organ works, but this Handel is the only baroque piece transcription from his later years. Handel changed the sequence of dances and wrote some additional music; in this respect it’s more of an original work than a transcription. Sarabande is performed by the Danish-American pianist and composer, Gunnar Johansen. Johansen, who died in 1991, was one of the first pianists who attempted to record all of Liszt’s music. He didn’t record all of it but 51 LPs is a prodigious effort (Leslie Howard, the Australian-American virtuoso, did record all of Liszt on 97 CDs). You can listen this 1948 recording of Sarabande here.
Domenico Scarlatti was born on October 26, 1685 in Naples. He composed 555 keyboard sonatas, and many of them are absolutely brilliant. During his lifetime "keyboard" usually meant the harpsichord, but these days they are often performed on modern piano. Some of the greatest pianists of the 20th century were great admirers of Scarlatti and performed his music: Vladimir Horowitz, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Emil Gilels all played and recorded Scarlatti’s sonatas. These days the Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin excels as a foremost interpreter. Here’s Sonata in b minor, K. 27, played (live, in March of 1955) by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (the great technician Emil Gilels takes almost twice as long to play it: 5 minutes instead of Michelangeli’s 2:45).
Finally, Georges Bizet was also born this week, on October 25th of 1838. We dedicated an entry to him a year ago, so this time we’ll just listen to one of his most popular duets. Bizet wrote the opera Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) when he was just 25. It had one run at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris and was not revived during Bizet’s lifetime. These days the duet from the opera is one of the most famous and often performed numbers. Here is the 1950 recording with one of the greatest tenors of the 20th century, Jussi Björling, and the wonderful American baritone Robert Merrill. Renato Cellini conducts the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra.