Marcello-Wild: Adagio (From Oboe Concerto in d-minor)

Hi everyone,

I've not uploaded anything for a LONG time. Time to start being more active.

This was recorded at a recital at the Steinway Piano Gallery of Pittsburgh in September 2012. I was fortunate to study under the late Earl Wild for a period of time when in University, and I've always appreciated that for all his brilliant technique, he was (especially in his later years) absolutely brilliant with slow pieces - second movements of Beethoven Sonatas and such. He absolutely could draw you into his world and make you hate to have to leave back to "the real world." I'm not there yet, but if I keep playing as long as he did, perhaps someday.

This is Wild's Adagio after Allesandro Marcello's Oboe Concerto. Bach also did his own transcription of this piece. Wild's version is in C-minor. Here are the video and MP3. Thanks!

Oh, a note about the tagging - I followed the posted guidelines, but I am not sure if I should have listed Wild (as the transcriber) or Marcello (as the composer of the Oboe Concerto). Obviously, I listed Wild. Hope that is correct.
VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrp-W7XUsyM

Marcello-Wild - Transcription of Oboe Concerto in D minor, II: Adagio

 

That is absolutely beautiful ! It must be great to have studied with such a gentle giant as Wild. I am sure he'd been proud of you.

Oh bit I hate having to put transcriptions on the site. I can never remember whether we finally adopted a rule for the naming. I hope someone will help me out.

 

Hi Monica,

Thanks for the great comments and advice! I will definately play this again at some point so can make good use of your help. In the case of this particular performance, it was the first time I had played this piano and I was being perhaps over-cautious. The first E-flat when the right hand begins playing the melody line rang out so loudly that I think it made me a bit "gun shy" - given the quiet and introspective nature of the music. Next time I will try to do better!
Yes, I was SO lucky to have been able to study under Wild. He taught the Lit & Rep course for two semesters and I also had private lessons with him on select repertoire. He was such a phenomenal pianists, but equally known as a story-teller and joker. We affectionately referred to him as "Uncle Earl."

If you would be interested in creating a page for Earl Wild as a composer, you may want to use this bio (see below), which I just pulled together. Perhaps others will want to record some of his works?

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Earl Wild (1915-2010)

Widely regarded as one of the premier concert pianists of the 20th century, (Royland) Earl Wild has been described as the “white-maned lion of the keyboard,” and a “national treasure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1915 to a working-class steelworker family, Wild first displayed his precocious talent at age three when he would play along with phonograph recordings of opera overtures in the same key. Labeled as a prodigy, he began piano lessons immediately, eventually enrolling in Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), from which he graduated in 1937. As a young person he studied with Selmar Janson, Egon Petri, Paul Doguereau, Marguerite Long and Jean Roger-Ducasse. He also was a friend and protégé of Maurice Ravel.
Wild’s composing career began as a teenager when he regularly composed solo piano works, transcriptions, and arrangements for chamber orchestra. Although he was constantly engaged as a recitalist and orchestral soloist, he remained active as a composer. In 1962 he was commissioned by the ABC Network to compose an Easter Oratorio, “Revelations,” which was based on the apocalyptic visions of St. John the Divine. Other important works that he composed include Variations on a Theme of Stephen Foster (“Doo-Dah Variations”), a set of virtuoso piano etudes based on George Gershwin’s popular songs I Got Rhythym, Somebody Loves Me, Liza, Embraceable You, The Man I Love, Oh Lady Be Good, and The Man I Love. He also composed a solo improvisation in the form of a theme and three variations on Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me,” as well as a Grand Fantasy on Porgy and Bess. Well known as a transcriptionist, he also composed transcriptions based on fourteen songs of Sergei Rachmaninoff. In the year 2000 he composed his Piano Sonata 2000.
Wild served on the faculties of the Julliard School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Penn State University, Ohio State University, and Carnegie Mellon University, his alma mater, where he held the title of Distinguished Visiting Artist.

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Uploaded with modifications to tags/title.

 

Well, I have his "Jarabe Tapatio" on my shelf - I could give that some attention but it would not be ready to record for a while as I have a very difficult piano concerto that I am working on right now. Marcello did not (to my knowledge) compose for the keyboard, so for now I would lean towards "Various" for now. If I (or others) record other rep by Wild in the future perhaps we could create a page and then reclassify?

 

I found this a highly enjoyable performance of a well-crafted trnscription. Even though this is B. Marcello, it reminded me of one of Bach's preludes from the Well-Tempered Klavier.

 

And that one too, how right you are.

 

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your listen and comment. I cannot say that I hear shades of WTC in this, but the writing makes it easy to bring out different voices at various times, so I understand the Bach connection. I can see the similarities to the 2nd of the Italian Concerto. I actually played the Italian Concerto on the same recital, perhaps I will upload that in the future. I'll have to edit (clean up a couple of hiccups in) the 3rd movement though, or re-record. On an aside, I wish that I had more time to practice so I could acquire some more Bach! My teacher for the two years before I left for University was a HUGE Bach man - Although I have played a decent amount of Bach I was always more disposed to trend towards the Romantics. The older I get, however, the more I appreciate and enjoy Baroque keyboard music.

 

Thanks Monica!

Okay, 192bps it will be from now on. I know very little about the technical side of recording and editing - I just muddle along as best I can. I am lucky to have this experienced group to learn from!