Thanks, yeah I think itās a very cool theme and variations (even if itās in reality āthe second halfā of a larger entity). Iām not so convinced by the other part of the fantasy (I did record the full thing): it seems a bit rambling and overlong thus I think itās quite hard to make it come over effectively. Lewenthal made a pretty kickass recording of the full piece, though I find it also quite eccentricā¦ maybe thatās to be expected with him.
Tru mass rezpec for playing this legendary mofo!
I kinda agree with your opinion of the whole piece; even if I still like it, this section is head and shoulders above the rest.
If I could time-travel, it would be to the Liszt/Thalberg duel, no doubt at all. It must have been amazing to see this first time round; itās so texturally inventive for its time. Thereās a lovely story in Kenneth Hamiltonās āAfter the Golden Ageā where the contemporary pianist- composer Dohler was giving a recital and the audience realised that Thalberg was amongst them. Result being that Dohler wasnāt allowed to continue his concert until Thalberg got up and played Moses.
Did you listen to the Syracuse 1969 recording I uploaded a few weeks ago? I think he does it marvelously there.
Liszt did have a point with Thalberg, but I think this is possibly his best composition and well worth reviving. I am very glad you choose to work on this rather than the Don Juan, say.
Yeah, Liszt was out on deep waters there, with Thalberg surpassing himself and Liszt playing perhaps more an experiment than a masterpiece. Still, I really like Niobe as well. Itās ācoolā somehow, and thereās nothing else quite like it.
Is that the recording which was on YT at one point, but it was a semitone flat? In any case, I must recheck it.
Tbh I think the Sonnambula is better, or at least more consistently good. I suppose it helps that the thematic material therein is of really high quality (imo). I like La traviata a lot too and probably more than Moses; itās deceptively insane though. Iāve recorded it under studio conditions and last time I listened I was happy with the rec, but itās too difficult for me to play āliveā with any degree of reliability and besides Iāve not looked at for a few years now, haha. (Oleg Marshevās La traviata recording is really interesting btw.)
Yeah, Iāve dabbled with Niobe, keep meaning to get round to taking it seriously. Thereās a Gekic masterclass on it on YT, I watched about half of it and never finishedā¦
I actually donāt remember either the Sonnambula or La Traviata. Would you care to share your recording of the latter? (or the Marshev disc?) Many, many years ago now I was part of a team who collected Thalbergās complete piano works, and I scanned through the paraphrases at the piano then to get an impression of what he did and what they sounded like, but I donāt remember much of it now. I vaguely recall liking his Les Huguenots, Don Pasquale and the Barber in Seville as well, but I havenāt heard either since I was in my late teens.
Call it bad taste if you like but my favorite Niobe is actually still Howard. Gekic is fine, but there are too many eccentricities and too little fury there for me. I think it would have been a different story if he had taken it up ten years earlier however.
The Marshev Traviata is under the YT topic of Oleg Marshev, but the video/audio recording isnāt showing as available. Iāll pm you (and/or anyone else interested!) a dl link for mp3 of my recording. No matter how much I worked on the godamn thing (and believe me, I worked a lot on it) I donāt think itās nearly as interesting as Marshev though
Nicolosi is always pretty solid in the paraphrases but Iām not sure heās really a match for the likes of Earl Wild, whose Don Pasquale I love. Thereās a recent (c.2014?) Thalberg disc by the Finnish pianist Satu Paavola and itās great.
