: my favourites are Norma and Liebestod, then probably Robert le Diable. Of the more obscure ones, Iâm partial to both the ones on LâAfricaine.
Thalberg: Sonnambula, Casta diva, Don Pasquale, La traviata, A te o cara.
Pabst Sleeping Beauty.
I really like the A. Jaell Norma (which is kinda why I recorded it ); less sure about some of his other stuff where heâs getting dangerously close on occasion to plagiarising da pimp.
Iâve got a Teresa Carreno one on Norma which should be recorded, but from a structural perspective her arpz orgy section is placed too early on.
Brassin Magic fire of course used to be a virtuoso staple but fashions dictate it gets played less these days.
Fumagalli Robert le Diable is crazy.
There are quite a lot of âunknownâ and barely recorded ones from the 30s and 40s: names which crop up like Herz, Dohler, Prudent. Iâm not super convinced by these tbh. Letâs not forget (on Halevy) and (opp. 16, 26).
If you had to put into wordz exactly wut drawz u to diz genre in particular, why iz diz?
I actually think diz genre iz a VERY important one to rezurrect to go zum way into popularizing da 88
Itz very accezible muzik - relatively âlightâ in termz ov âdifficulty to lizten toâ but not emotionally lightweight at all. And very importantly it uzez da inzane variety da 88 iz capable ov.
Diz iz wut I am zo pazzionate about - zpreadin da awarenezz ov da inzane variety ov texturez and zoundz da 88 iz capable ov, diz iz why itâz alwayz been ma fav inztrument
I agree with that. Thereâs also, in a live performance context, the visual aspect eg arpz:orgy:
I think they are very appealing to an open-minded public, less so perhaps to some critics, but then again Iâm not sure that all critics think "ordinary people"should enjoy mu*ic.
⊠itâs doubly absurd because much of what is being rearranged on the piano is music that is already either good or great. Of course, the âitâs only an imitationâ argument then gets used. I simply think some people believe that mu*ic appreciation should be arrived at through some kind of traumatic struggle.
I suspect that if those critics went back in time to a rectal, their internal reaction would be âugh, people openly enjoying themselves, how vulgarâ and then intellectually camouflage it in verbiage before going to print.
I have a question to which I donât know the answer. Opinions welcome.
Itâs often said that eg Mozart sonatas are great music which requires a âspecial artistâ to bring out their greatness, then why, when a different âspecial artistâ - say Katsaris or Wild, see the Don Pasquale above, makes something magical happen in salon or âshowpieceâ music - is the converse argument deployed i.e. it was a great performance making something out of mediocre material?
Lisztâs great three IMO are Don Juan, Norma & Les Huguenots. Among the lighter or experimental ones my favourites are Niobe and Robert le Diable (the WHOLE Robert le Diable, with the introductory Cavatina), but as with any Liszt thereâs barely a piece from his hand which doesnât capture something from the world. One not mentioned yet which is ready to enter the standard repertoire right away is the Berceuse from Saba.
From other composers however I really donât know. If you cherry pick there is quality music to be found from a range of composers of the time, but the vast majority struggles to meet even B or C tier Liszt if you ask me. I think the composers most worth looking in to who were productive in the genre are Czerny, Pabst and Thalberg. Maybe with a nod to Herz who does have some good things, also among his original compositions.
I agree the genre is underrepresented and overlooked today however. Its time will come⊠100 years ago youâd think piano was all about little 3 minute miniatures, with the occasional large scale work thrown in to pay hommage, even if no one really wanted to hear it. Today youâd rather think all that truly matters are sonatas, concertos and other large scale multi-movement forms.
Tausig deserves a mention. Iâve never fully got on with his Wagner, but I think thatâs partly a temperament issue on my side (also I think itâs much easier, for textural reasons, to paraphrase bel canto).
Ooh, forgot Moszkowski. Someone I vaguely know (whoâs good enough to have played 3) said the Venusberg tranny was almost unplayable
There is stuff which is probably best forgotten tbh and in some cases, I have! Not joking, but I read through probably at least 200 in preparation for the two discs I made.
Thalberg Sonnambula > da one though, he said heretically
There are only two types of these sheeyats that I really like:
The already mentioned Liszt compositions, which are almost all worthwhile, and
Anything that involves compositions of Strauss because this thematic and waltzing sheeyat works so well in virtuoso arrangements/trannies. Though not all material of it is from operettas.
GODOWSKY deserves a special mention me thinks
See this playlist: YouTube