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Wagner-Liszt : "Isolde's Liebestod"

Discussion in 'Submission Room' started by Chauvineau, Jul 31, 2016.

  1. Chauvineau

    Chauvineau Member Piano Society Artist

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    Live recording (Japan August 2007) Piano Bösendorfer Imperial
     

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    Chauvineau, Jul 31, 2016
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  2. andrew

    andrew Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist

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    I know this piece well, so over time I have arrived at distinct personal interpretative preferences. There are things I don't agree with (e.g. the abrupt introduction - in truth I think the piece, as a transcription, would be better without it). Some of your tremolandi on the first page become overly loud and a bit uneven/vague (I think they are the hardest thing to get right in the piece - the ones on the last page are much better). Overall, though, the mood and character are good, as is the playing.
     
    andrew, Jul 31, 2016
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  3. Chauvineau

    Chauvineau Member Piano Society Artist

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    Hello Andrew,
    thank you for your comment! I agree that the way the piece starts is somewhat strange, considering its global character. Maybe begining the piece directly a few seconds later, by the PP, would make sense. It could be a worth suggestion (supporting some liberty with respect to the text) that could be justified by the fact that these loud accords are not present in the opera (at this place), but are rather (I guess) just a (short) way Liszt found to enter the piece ... It would be so nice however begining the piece by some whispering sounds!
    Nevertheless, I don't know if I would dare to take such a liberty with the written text (unless proposing a Wagner/Liszt/B.C. version ... ;) ... but this would certainly require more work !!!). Anyway, I do not play this piece from long, and I will probably not play it in the close future, since my full musical time is devoted to composition from about three years ago ...
    Best, Bertrand
     
    Chauvineau, Aug 2, 2016
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  4. Rachfan

    Rachfan Active Member Piano Society Artist

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    Hi Chauvineau,

    I very much enjoyed hearing your rendition of this beautiful piece by Wagner and transcribed by Liszt. You play it with much expression.

    Regarding the strange opening of the piece, it is actually "preluding". Back in the Romantic Age it was very common to hear a prelude leading into the piece at hand. The prelude could be the work of the composer (if notated), or improvised by the performer. Once at a master class with Liszt, he angrily stopped a student and demanded that preluding be employed -- always. He went on say in so many words that if the pianist be incapable, then he must at least play a three-chord cadence in proper key at the beginning of any piece in recital. There are a few examples of preluding by Mendelssohn in his Song Without Words. One of the greats at preluding was Blumenfeld in my opinion, for example his Op. 45. Why? Because the prelude lead-ins were relevant to the composer's music to follow. I would not be at all surprised if piano preluding as a custom made its way into the 1910s before it died.

    Thanks again for posting this gorgeous transcription.

    David
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2016
    Rachfan, Aug 3, 2016
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  5. Chauvineau

    Chauvineau Member Piano Society Artist

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    Thank you David for these interesting explainations. Yes, this way to enter the piece is certainly characteristic of those times. As for me, I really like when a piece starts in a PPP tone, as if the music emerges from nothing, as a continuity of a silently time. But that is a personal point of vue, of course ... that maybe does not fit with the remantic times ...
    Thank you for your encouragement, Bertrand
     
    Chauvineau, Aug 3, 2016
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  6. Rachfan

    Rachfan Active Member Piano Society Artist

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    Hi Bertrand,

    One other point I forgot to mention. Back in the late 19th and very early 20th century, there was a fundamental restructuring of a typical piano recital. The format was to handle each piece like this: Opening the first piece with preluding, playing the piece itself, then the preluding for the next piece, etc. The effect was a continuous string of pieces, each with appropriate preluding. There would be a lead-in for an Intermission too. Nowadays there is virtually no preluding, and there are numerous ways to set up a sequence for the modern recital -- historical order, tribute to a composer, etc. Very different indeed!

    David
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2016
    Rachfan, Aug 3, 2016
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  7. Chauvineau

    Chauvineau Member Piano Society Artist

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    Hi,
    here is the same file, but properly named, following François's and Monica's suggestion!
    Sorry for the bad naming, but I were not aware of the rule concerning the namings at the time of my first posts ...
    Best, Bertrand
     

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    Chauvineau, Sep 4, 2016
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  8. Chauvineau

    Chauvineau Member Piano Society Artist

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    Hi,
    the same file, with the required pièces of information in the tag. I hope that all is in order ...
    Best, Bertrand
     

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    Chauvineau, Sep 12, 2016
    #8
  9. Francois de Larrard

    Francois de Larrard Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Done again !
     
    Francois de Larrard, Sep 17, 2016
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