THALBERG
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
LISZT Sonata
SCHUBERT
Wanderer Fantasy
JANÁCˇEK
Sonata 1.X.1905
Philipp Kopachevsky
PCL0082
PCL0083
PCL0084
BRAHMS
Handel Variations 2 Rhapsodies Fantasien Op. 116
Ginastera Sofya Gulyak PCL0085
Danzas argentinas Piano Sonata 1 • Suite de danzas criollas 3 Pieces
François-Xavier Poizat
PCL0087
PCLM0088
OPERA FANTASIES Mark Viner
Thalberg in c.1860
Sigismond Thalberg was born on the 8th January 1812 in Pâquis, a town just outside Geneva, Switzerland. While he was generally accepted to have been the illegitimate child of Prince Franz Joseph von Dietrichstein (1767-1854) and Baroness Maria Julia Wetzlar von Plankenstern,
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his birth certificate gives as his parents a certain Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein, both from Frankfurt-am-Main. We can safely regard these names as a fabrication made on behalf of his aristocratic forbears in an attempt to avert scandal. Furthermore, the title of von Thalberg is among numerous titles held by the Prince von Dietrichstein. While little is known about Thalberg’s early musical training, it’s likely that his mother, an accomplished amateur pianist herself, provided her son with his first musical instruction. In the spring of 1826, he arrived in London to study with Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870). A year later his op.1, Fantaisie et variations sur des différens motifs de l’opéra Euyranthe de C. M. de Weber, was published, and in 1830 he made the acquaintance of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1849) and the ten year old Clara Wieck (1819-1896) in Leipzig. He arrived in Paris in 1835, playing at a private concert of the Hungarian-born Austrian diplomat, Count Rudolf Apponyi (1812-1876), later participating in a concert of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris and giving his first solo concert in the French capital on the 16th April 1836. It caused a sensation. It was during this period that Liszt, having
eloped to Switzerland with the Countess d’Agoult (1805-1876), heard of Thalberg’s triumphs, later comparing himself to the exiled Napoleon. Upon Liszt’s return to Paris, a rivalry developed between the two virtuosi which culminated in their famous ‘ivory duel’ on the 31st March 1837 at the salon of the Princess Cristina di Belgiojoso (1808-1871). The Princess, best remembered for masterminding the creation of the Hexaméron variations, later diplomatically stated “Thalberg is the first pianist in the world; Liszt is unique.” It was during this period of his career that Thalberg developed the so-called ‘three-hand effect’ where a melody is passed between the hands which simultaneously busy themselves with rapid, typically arpeggic figurations in the treble and accompanying chords in the bass, thus creating the aural illusion of three hands at the keyboard. The impact this new device had on piano writing thereafter is immeasurable and, together with his rivalry with Liszt, is what Thalberg is best remembered for today. Following its first appearance in the Fantaisie sur des thèmes de Moïse de Rossini op.33 (1839), it appears in some form or other in most of his piano music. By this point his fame had grown considerably,
and over the next few years he made several short tours of Europe. In 1843 he married Francesca Lablache (1816-1895), eldest daughter of the celebrated bass, Luigi Lablache (1794-1858). The ensuing years included further, more extensive tours across Europe. After the failure of his two operas, Florinda (1851) and Cristina di Svezia (1855), staged respectively in London and Vienna, he realised his ambition to tour the Americas and set sail to South America in 1855. An extended tour of North America followed in 1856 before his return to Europe in 1858. These transatlantic tours were immensely successful. Further concerts in London and Paris in 1862 were followed by a final tour of Brazil in 1863 before he retired to Posilippo, Naples, in order to cultivate his vineyard. He died on the 27th April 1871 at the age of 59, his name enshrined in the pantheon of pianist-composers and having amassed a vast fortune from one of the most illustrious careers the world of music had ever seen.
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Fantaisie sur des thèmes de l’opéra Moïse de G. Rossini op.33 (1839)1 Thalberg’s Fantaisie sur des thèmes de Moïse de Rossini op.33 was composed in 1837 following the continued success of Gioachino Rossini’s (1792-1868) French revision of his Mosè in Egitto (1818), renamed Moïse et Pharaon ou Le passage de le mer rouge, in 1827. Thalberg’s work proved to be one of the most enduring concert pieces of the nineteenth century and found its way into the repertoire of many notable pianists including Franz Liszt’s (18111886) daughter, Blandine Liszt (1835-1862), and Clara Schumann (1819-1896). Like many of Thalberg’s other operatic paraphrases, original compositional material, unrelated to the opera, is found alongside the chosen themes on which the work is based; notably, the chorus, La dolce aurora, che il ciel colora, from Act I Scene III and the famous prayer, Dal tuo stellato soglio, from Act IV Scene III. The most remarkable feature of the work, and undoubtedly the key to its prolonged popularity, is Thalberg’s setting of the prayer in the closing pages where it is assimilated into the fullest realisation of the so called ‘three-hand effect’. Powerful arpeggios
arch reverentially over the theme which is passed between the two hands thus creating the aural illusion that three hands are playing. The following excerpt from a review by Joseph d’Ortigue (1802-1866) of Thalberg’s concert at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he performed the work on the 12th March 1837, gives us an impression of the sensation it created: ‘The Fantasy on Moïse roused an enthusiasm which we shan’t attempt to describe. There was nothing more beautiful than the prière unfolding majestically beneath the pianist’s fingers amid the richness of the accompaniment and billowing harmonies imitating celestial harps. One should have been there to see the audience during the course of this piece, ready to give way to their emotion; taming themselves so as not to miss a note, not a chord of this sublime execution; one should have been there to hear the shiver of excitement reaching from all corners of the hall no sooner than to expire; the auditorium was breathless, delirious, and seemed to be waiting impatiently for the last chord, to burst into the furore which held them [...]’2
So revolutionary was this new effect that the impact it was to have on piano writing thereafter was lasting and immeasurable. No doubt due to its popularity, the work was later arranged for piano duet. Grande Fantaisie sur La Sérénade et Le Menuet de Don Juan op.42 (1842) The enduring success of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-1791) opera, Don Giovanni K.527 (1787), during the nineteenth century may be attributed not only to Mozart’s fine score, but to the legend of Don Juan itself which, like that of Faust, captured the nineteenth century imagination and resonated strongly with urgent concerns of the time. Among the innumerable works which pianist-composers based on themes from this opera, notable examples include Charles-Valentin Alkan’s (1813-1888) Variations-Fantaisie à 4 mains sur Don Juan op.26 [sic] (1844), Frédéric Chopin’s (1810-1849) Variations for piano and orchestra on Là ci darem la mano op.2 (1827) and Franz Liszt’s Réminiscences de Don Juan S.418 (1843). Thalberg had already composed a Grande Fantaisie et variations sur deux motifs
de l’opéra Don Juan de Mozart op.14 in 1835, but his Grande Fantaisie sur La Sérénade et Le Menuet de Don Juan op.42 (1842) seems to draw more on the opera’s dramatic narrative while the former work is rather more idiomatic in conception. The Grande Fantaisie sur La Sérénade et Le Menuet de Don Juan op.42, as the title suggests, is based on the the serenade, Deh vieni alla finestra, from Act II Scene I, and the minuet from the Act I Scene V of Mozart’s opera. A lengthy introduction of original material prefaces the serenade which is consequently varied. At this point, the work ceases to function like most others in Thalberg’s output. Instead of introducing the minuet and varying it, he interweaves fragments of it with the occasional phrase of the preceding serenade. After working up a development of considerable urgency, quietly and with an air of solemn majesty, the minuet is finally stated in its entirety, enshrouded by enormous scales which sweep the breadth of the keyboard while the melody is passed between the hands, harnessing a crescendo of implacable verve. Though published in 1842 the work was first mentioned in the press in 1840. A review of a concert
1 All dates given refer to the first publication of works. 2 Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris, 19th March 1837, 12 (1837) p.96-7 [all translations made by the author]
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given by Thalberg with the violinist Charles Auguste de Bériot (1802-1870) on the 11th March 1840 appeared in the Journal de Rouen and in truncated form, in the Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris and included the following sentences: ‘The souvenir de Don Juan [sic] is a beautiful composition. Many themes within it are treated with remarkable artistry. In this (unpublished) piece, Thalberg has united all the resources available to him and of which he is the creator. The most ingenious combinations surround and sustain the melody; the traits themselves, however brilliant they may be, always allow the melody to be heard, which, ever-evolving, recurs constantly. The famous minuet of Don Juan is developed therein in the most alluring ways and concludes this beautiful fantasy in a variation where it is played alternately by both hands while a rapid brilliant scale sparkles across the keys like a thousand diamonds. This piece produced the greatest sensation, and, as with Bériot, a wreath came as a testament of the public’s enthusiasm.’’3
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) later reviewed the work favourably in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik after a charity concert Thalberg gave on the 8th February 1841 in Leipzig where he played it alongside his Andante final de Lucia de Lammermoor op.43, his Thème et étude op.45 and the Grand Caprice sur des motifs de La Sonnambula de Bellini op.46.4 The work also exists in a shortened version. Andante final de Lucia de Lammermoor op.43 (1842)5 Like Liszt’s Réminiscences de Lucia de Lammermoor, fantaisie dramatique [op.13] S.397 (1840), Thalberg’s Andante final de Lucia de Lammermoor op.43 (1842) is based on the famous sextet, Chi mi frena in tal momento, from Act II Scene II of Gaetano Donizetti’s (17971848) opera, Lucia di Lammermoor (1835). Both pieces could be classified as arrangements rather than paraphrases. While Thalberg’s work is prefaced by a brief, improvisatory introduction which draws upon motifs of the ensuing sextet, the general form otherwise adheres strictly to the structure of Donizetti’s original. Each recurrence of the work’s themes, however, is
3 Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris, 15th March 1840, 22 (1840) p.180 [ibid.] 4 Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, 15th February 1841, 14 (1841), p.58 5 Also published as op.44.
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varied through differing employments of the three-hand effect: the first theme through powerful volleys of octaves, the second crowned with billowing garlands of notes which draw the piece to its inexorable close. Grand Caprice sur des motifs de La Sonnambula de Bellini op.46 (1842) Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) completed his opera, La Sonnambula, in 1831 and, naturally, it elicited a shoal of paraphrases from pianistcomposers of the day. Apart from the quintet from Act I Scene II, D’un pensiero e d’un accento, Thalberg’s composition is based on entirely different themes to Liszt’s work, Fantaisie sur des motifs favoris de l’opéra Sonnambula de Bellini (1842) S.393, published the same year.6 A powerful introduction based on orchestral fragments from the duet from Act I Scene II, O ciel! che tento?, sets the scene, before Amina’s aria from Act II Scene II, Ah! non credea mirarti, is introduced and varied through a sumptuous employment of the three hand effect. The quintet from Act I Scene II, D’un pensiero e d’un accento, then follows, comprising various interludes, before the work closes with a
trenchant coda based on an eight and a half bar fragment from the duet from Act I Scene I, Ah! vorrei trovar parole. An interesting anecdote detailing Felix Mendelessohn’s (1809-1847) response to the work has been preserved in the second part of a three part article entitled Reminiscences of Mendelssohn by his English pupil, Charles Edward Horsley (1822-1876), published in Dwight’s Journal of Music: ‘One day I received a note from him asking me to come to dinner, as Thalberg had arrived the previous evening, and would be his guest. We were a trio, and after dinner Mendelssohn asked Thalberg if he had written anything new, whereupon Thalberg sat down to the piano and played his Fantasia from the “Sonnambula,” then very recently composed, and in MS. This composition is one of the most individual and effective of all Thalberg’s works. At the close there are several runs of Chromatic Octaves, which at that time had not previously been heard, and of which peculiar passages Thalberg was undoubtedly the inventor.7 Mendelssohn was much struck with the novel effect produced, and greatly admired its ingenuity. When we
6 Whilst appearing the same year, both composers’ works were also published by the same editor, Mme. veuve Launer. 7 An earlier example of chromatic blind octaves can be attributed to Liszt in the third of his Etudes d’éxécution transcendante d’après Paganini S.140 (1840), composed in 1838.
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separated for the evening he told me to be with him the next afternoon at 2 o’clock. When I arrived at his study door I heard him playing to himself, and practising continually this passage which had so struck him the previous day. I waited for at least half an hour listening in wonderment to the facility with which he applied his own thoughts to the cleverness of Thalberg’s mechanism, and then went into the room. He laughed and said: “Listen to this, is it not almost like Thalberg?”’8 Grande Fantaisie sur Don Pasquale op.67 (1844) Gaetano Donizetti’s opera, Don Pasquale, was first staged on the 3rd January 1843 in Paris and proved a great success. The cast included four of the most celebrated singers of the day, among whom was Luigi Lablache (1794-1858), who played the role of Don Pasquale. The same year, on the 22nd July, Lablache’s eldest daughter, Francesca Lablache (1816-1895), and Thalberg were married, and little more than a year later, Thalberg’s Grande Fantaisie sur
Don Pasquale op.67 appeared in print bearing the dedication, ‘à Mr. Lablache’ – undoubtedley a tribute to his father-in-law.9 The work opens with an introduction of original material before a line of Norina from Act I Scene 3, (Sta a vedere, vecchio matto, ch’or ti servo come va), is introduced and dissolves into an interlude. This sets the scene for Ernesto’s serenade from Act III Scene VI, Com’è gentil, which is varied at each reprise with octaves and arpeggios. The popularity of this serenade was such that Thalberg later published his setting separately. A further interlude then introduces an orchestral melody from Act II Scene IV, Fra da una parte etcetera: a short, inconspicuous seven bar fragment which Thalberg spins into eight pages of ravishing pianism. At each reprise, the melody is ornamented with increasing elaboration, as gossamer-like figurations, chromatic arabesques and whirling arpeggios usher the work to its exhilarating conclusion. © Mark Viner, London 2015.
8 Dwight’s Journal of Music, 28th December 1872, vol.XXXII 19 (1872) p.355 [part 2] 9 While Luigi Lablache played the role of Don Pasquale at the opera’s prémière, his eldest son, Frederick Lablache (1815-1887), played the role of Carlino, the cousin or Dr. Malatesta and who acts as notary. It is likely, however, that Thalberg’s dedication was intended for Lablache senior.
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Thalberg in1836
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MA RK VINER, PIANO Mark Viner is recognised as one of the most exciting British concert pianists of his generation and is becoming increasingly well-known for his bold championing of unfamiliar pianistic terrain. Born in 1989, he began playing at the age of 11 and two years later was awarded a scholarship to enter the Purcell School of Music. There he studied with Tessa Nicholson for the next five years. Another scholarship then took him to the Royal College of Music where he studied with Niel Immelman for six years and graduated with both first class honours in a Bachelor of Music degree and the Sarah Mundlak Memorial Prize for Piano for having gained the highest mark in the year for his final recital and, following a bursary from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, a distinction in Master of Performance. After winning 1st prize at the AlkanZimmerman International Piano Competition in Athens, Greece in 2012, his official début recital in the Hellenic capital was hailed by the press as the most important musical event of 2012 while engagements at home and abroad have flourished. Having given acclaimed performances at London’s St. James’s Church Piccadilly, St. John’s Smith Square and Wigmore
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Hall, engagements in his hometown of Oxford include recitals at the Holywell Music Room, the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building and the Sheldonian Theatre where he made his début with the Oxford Philomusica Orchestra under the batôn of Marios Papadopoulos. On another occasion he was invited to play for the royal visit of H.R.H. Prince Charles. Invitations to festivals include the ProPiano Hamburg and Raritäten der Klaviermusik, Husum in Germany, Indian Summer in Levocˇa, Slovakia, and the Cheltenham Music Festival and Oxford Lieder Festival in the United Kingdom, while radio broadcasts include recitals aired on Deutschlandfunk and interviews on BBC Radio Oxford. Aside from a busy schedule of teaching and performances he is also a published writer and his advocacy for the music of Charles-Valentin Alkan has led to his election as Chairman of the Alkan Society in the United Kingdom. We would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support: Elizabeth Boyd, Philippe Cahill, Anna Hanslip, Christine Smith Photo © Vladimiros Giannakakos