Reminiscences: Lisa Schatzman / Benjamin Engeli - Franz Liszt: Am Grabe Richard Wagners, S. 135

 

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) 8. Am Grabe Richard Wagners, S. 135 Lisa Schatzman, Violin Benjamin Engeli, Piano We live in an age where it has become easier than ever to appreciate musical works in their original and unadulterated forms. Such was not the case for the well-educated middle-class of the 19th century. Among those who sought out the music of Wagner, Liszt, and Richard Strauss, it was often by means of piano reductions and small-scale instrumental arrangements that could be performed in the intimacy of the home. The advent of violin virtuosos like Eugène Ysaÿe, Jascha Heifetz, and Toscha Seidel brought this tradition into the concert hall. If the musical transcriptions represented, to varying degrees, a departure from the composer's original intentions, one should remember that there already existed strong historical precedent: J.S. Bach had refashioned several of his own violin concertos for harpsichord; Mozart had rescored Handel's Messiah for a larger sized orchestra; Beethoven had recast his 9th Piano Sonata as a string quartet; and Rossini had liberally reused overtures and arias from earlier works. Whether resulting from lofty artistic considerations or the need for additional income, composers and performers had for centuries willingly arranged and tailored their own works and those of others to the constraints of particular venues and specific performers, so much so that a natural inclination towards flexibility and adaptation seems woven into the very fibers of the music itself. Wagner was no exception to this rule. Beginning in 1839, he spent three destitute-ridden years in Paris eking out a living as an arranger of French operatic music. Mignonne, one of his more noteworthy lieder from this period, exhibits a melodic grace perfectly suited to the language and style of Pierre de Ronsard's poem. In 1861, hoping finally to triumph in a city that had seemingly ignored his talents two decades prior, Wagner returned to Paris with a newly revised version of his opera Tannhaüser. The production was a failure and closed after only three performances. In the wake of this bitter disappointment, Wagner composed two short but emotionally charged works for piano: Albumblatt, dedicated to the wife of the Austrian ambassador to France, and Ankunft bei den schwarzen Schwänen (The Arrival of the Two Black Swans), inspired from an early morning walk in the Tuileries. In the first work, presented here in an arrangement by 19th century violin virtuoso August Wilhelmj, a lyrical yearning theme gradually [read more: http://www.claves.ch/categories/chamber/albums/lisa-schatzman-reminiscences] http://www.claves.ch Chamber category: http://www.claves.ch/categories/chamber All the albums of Lisa Schatzman : http://www.claves.ch/artists/lisa-schatzman All the albums of Benjamin Engeli : http://www.claves.ch/artists/benjamin-engeli Album N°: CD 50-1303 EAN: 7619931130323 _________________ Find more: http://www.claves.ch/categories/chamber/albums/lisa-schatzman-reminiscences Contact us: info[at]claves.ch / +41 21 721 13 66 Press: presse[at]claves.ch _________________ We are on the most famous digital stores ! eMusic: http://www.emusic.com/album/lisa-schatzman/reminiscences-romantic-works-for-violin-piano/14902379/ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ch/album/reminiscences-romantic-works/id863463216?l=fr Amazon: http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/278-8354381-6987829?__mk_fr_FR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=lisa%20schatzman Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/4ikhD7SFUrawp8tTFIsfK9 Deezer: http://www.deezer.com/album/7719765 .. _________________ EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Claves records S.A, Patrick Peikert RECORDING PRODUCER & EDITING Philip Schulz RECORDING ENGINEER Philip Schulz ARTISTIC DIRECTION Philip Schulz PIANO Steinway & Sons PIANO TECHNICIAN Dirk Jenfeld, Musikhaus Hug PHOTOGRAPHS Jürg Isler DESIGN Amethys © 2014 Claves Records SA, Pully (Switzerland) Recorded at the Künstlerhaus, Boswil, Switzerland, March 5-7, 2013 Coproduction with Radio SRF 2 Kultur With the support of the Canton and Town of Lucerne. _________________ Do you want to synch that? Cézame Musique http://www.cezame-fle.com/ Find a Reseller in your Country http://www.claves.ch/resellers _________________ Website & Shop: https://www.claves.ch Twitter: https://twitter.com/clavesrecords Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clavesrecords Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/clavesrecordsofficial