A l s o ava i l a b l e A selection of Piano Classics titles For the full listing please visit www.piano-classics.com
PCL0038
PCL0056
SCHUMANN
PCL0061
Earl Wild
BENJAMIN GODARD
The complete transcriptions and original piano works VOLUME 1
Schubert
Giovanni Doria Miglietta, piano
PCL0069
PCL0070
PIANO WORKS
Piano Sonata in B flat D960 Piano Sonata in A D664
Barcarolles Scènes italiennes Vingt pièces Op. 58
Klára Würtz
ALESSANDRO DELJAVAN
PCL0072
Piano Sonata Op. 14 Romanzen Op. 28 Humoreske Op. 20
The Sonata in F minor was one of the many works of which Schumann declared could “only be understood against the background of the battles which Clara cost me”. It was begun in 1835, when he finally realized that the sixteen year old daughter of his former teacher Ferdinand Wieck, whom he had known since she was nine, was the love of his life, and completed in its first version during the “sad summer” of 1836 after her outraged father had forbidden Clara to see or communicate with him. The sonata has a complex compositional history: conceived on a grand scale as a five movement work with two scherzi flanking an extended variations movement, it was ready by March 1836 when receipt of the manuscript was acknowledged by his publisher Haslinger and Schumann
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had notified its intended dedicatee Ignaz Moscheles. However dates appearing on the surviving autograph and in particular that of “5th June 1836” at the end of the work suggest that Schumann subsequently made substantial modifications to it including the composition of a new finale. It is not certain who suggested calling the piece a concerto but Haslinger, with an eye to the market for novelties, was enthusiastic about the idea. And so in order to conform to concerto format, both scherzi were dropped and for some reason Schumann also decided to omit two of the six original variations. It was published under the title Concerto sans orchestre on October 14th 1836 as his Op 14. However many including Liszt and Moscheles considered the concerto designation as meaningless
with Moscheles also judging the work to be unsuitable for the “casual listener”, and in this he was proved right as it turned out to be Schumann’s least popular sonata. Several years later, the Hamburg publisher Julius Schuberth acquired publication rights in the work and wishing to issue it as more conventional four-movement sonata asked Schumann for a scherzo. He reinstated the second of the scherzi omitted from the 1836 version and made several revisions to all the movements, in some cases reverting to the original unpublished material. The four-movement version appeared under the title Grande Sonate in 1853 but was never performed in public during Schumann’s lifetime. However Clara did play it privately to Brahms during his momentous visit
to the Schumanns in October 1853 and it had an influence on his own F Minor sonata (Op 5) much of which was composed during his stay with them. It was Brahms who gave the first public performance in 1862 and he also edited and arranged for the publication of the other original scherzo (the two omitted variations were published in 1983). Robert wrote to Clara that this sonata was a “Herzensschreinach” (a cry from the heart) in which her theme assumed “more guises” than she could imagine. This is a reference to the theme of the third movement designated Andantino de Clara Wieck whose initial descending five-note sequence – the Clara theme (which begins on C with A as its third note) - is woven into the fabric of the entire work (a similar motif appears at the opening of the Op 17 Fantasie). Its
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arresting statement begins the sonata and, in modified form, the Scherzo and is concealed throughout the Prestissimo possibile finale, acting as a defiant declaration on Schumann’s part that while Ferdinand Wieck might be able to banish Clara from his life, he could not exclude her from his music. The Op 20 Humoreske was written and (it appears) printed in the astonishingly brief period of eight days in March 1839 while Schumann was in Vienna attempting unsuccessfully to make arrangements for publication there of his journal the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. In a letter to Clara on the circumstances of its composition he wrote “I sat at the piano all week, composing, writing, laughing and crying all at once” and these mood swings are reflected in the oscillation between exhilaration and
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moody reflection (depending on which of Schumann’s alter egos – Florestan or Eusebius – has the upper hand). Schumann was the first to use the term Humoreske/Humoresque, previously applied only in literary critical contexts, as the title of a piece of music (which does not mean he intended the piece to be humorous – in fact he once described this as the most melancholy of his works). The duality of its emotional register derives from the writings of his favourite author Jean Paul and the distinction he drew between Gemütlich (showing depth of emotion/sensitivity) and Witzig (mercurial/fantastic). At bars 251-275 an additional line appears containing an Innere Stimme (inner voice) whose melodic line is reminiscent of Clara’s Romance in G minor (something which Schumann
claimed was pure coincidence and an indication of their empathetic natures). Opinions differ as to whether this line should actually be played (as it is in this recording ) or, as Clara believed, only sensed and voiced inwardly by the performer. The Op 28 Drei Romanzen were composed during the last months of 1839 in the bitter circumstances of the court case brought by Schumann in attempt to force Wieck to withdraw his objections to their marriage which in turn prompted Wieck to issue furious denunciations of him. Schumann sent the work to Clara as a Christmas present indicating however that he did not think them good enough to dedicate to her. She replied on 1st January 1840: “as your bride, you must indeed dedicate something further to me, and I know of nothing more tender than these three
Romances, in particular the middle one, which is the most beautiful love duet”. Her critical faculties were not however entirely clouded by her warm reception of the pieces: she suggested that he look at them again and he made several revisions prior to their publication in October 1840, the month after they were married. The Second Romance, which Schumann came to think of as one of his finest works, is unusual in that it is notated on three staves something of which he normally disapproved. David Moncur
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Vincenzo Maltempo Considered “one of the most interesting pianists of his generation (La Stampa)” Vincenzo Maltempo was born in 1985 and completed his musical studies under the guidance of Salvatore Orlando (disciple of the pianist Sergio Fiorentino) graduating with highest honors from the Conservatory "S. Cecilia" in Rome - and after follows the courses of Riccardo Risaliti at the International Piano Academy "Incontri col Maestro" in Imola. In 2006 he won the prestigious piano competition "Premio Venezia", held at the theater "La Fenice", in Venice, received with great favour by audiences and critics. Following this success he has undertaken a series of concerts in Europe, Asia, USA. He played in for the most importat music festival and Theaters in his own Coutry. He dedicated his first CD recorded in 2008 for the Austrian label “Gramola” to the music of Franz Liszt. After the success of this release, he began – in 2012 – a collaboration with the English record label "PianoClassics"; his 3 CD dedicated
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to the French Romantic composer Ch. V. Alkan have raised great enthusiasm getting the coveted five stars in such magazines like "Diapason", "Gramophone" and “The Guardian”. Maltempo also recorded for Toccata Classic a CD with the complete piano transcriptions by Josè Vianna Da Motta on Alkan music, a first world recording. Vincenzo Maltempo is considered today one of the most remarkable Alkan interpreters and in Japan, in November 2013, he played the complete set of the Alkan’s 12 Etudes Op 39: one of the very few times in history that an interpreter play them all in a single recital. In 2014 Maltempo’s debut in the "Miami Piano Festival" in Florida (USA) has recieved a big acclaim both from audience and critic, so he will a guest of next editions of the Festival. Vincenzo Maltempo is among the founders and piano teacher of the "Imola Piano Academy – Talent development Eindhoven" in The Netherlands.
Complete bio at: www.vincenzomaltempo.com
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