SAINT-SAENS
LISZT I
MICHELE GAMPANELLA,
Conducted by Aldo Ceccato
SAL]
6500 095 m
side 1:
Camille Saint-Saens ( 1835-1921 ;
Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44
1. Allegro moderato
2. Allegro vivace — Andante — Allegro
side 2:
Franz Liszt (isii-1886)
“Totentanz”
Paraphrase on “Dies irae”
for piano and orchestra
Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Tunes
(Hungarian Fantasy)
for piano and orchestra
Michele Campanella, piano
Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra
Conducted by Aldo Ceccato
Saint-Saens was an assiduous writer of concertos, and the
most successful of nineteenth-century French composers
who adhered, for the most part, to the traditional concerto
mould as opposed to those (such as Chausson and d’lndy)
who experimented with novel, programmatic forms. For the
piano he wrote — apart from shorter pieces such as the
“Rapsodie d’Auvergne” and the fantasy, “Africa” — no fewer
than five concertos, the first four of which he himself per¬
formed in one concert at the St. James’s Hall in London on
June 18, 1887 (the only other work in the programme was
Weber’s Overture “Der Freischiitz”).
The fourth concerto dates from 1875, Saint-Saens’s fortieth
year, and was dedicated to the Austrian pianist and teacher,
Anton Door; the composer performed it for the first time at a
Colonne concert in Paris on October 31, that year. Despite
what has been said above, the formal layout of the fourth
concerto is by no means regular. It is cast in two movements,
each of which has distinct sub-divisions that are, however,
thematically inter-related.
The first movement consists, basically, of an Allegro modera¬
to in C minor and an andante in A flat, and introduces the
melodic material that is developed or modified in the second
movement. This is in three linked sections: a scherzo-like Al¬
legro vivace in C minor (which has, as its subsidiary idea, a
jaunty independent tune in 6/8 whose resemblance to that of
“The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo” has not es¬
caped notice); another Andante in A flat, which begins fugal
ly and ends with a brief cadenza; and an extended Allegro in
C, which brings the work to its exultant finish.
Liszt’s “Totentanz”
In 1831, when he was twenty, Liszt met three musical giants
who were to exercise a tremendous influence on his develop¬
ment both as a pianist and as a composer: Berlioz, Chopin,
and Paganini. It was probably the gaunt figure of the aging
Italian fiddler that made the most lasting effect on him, for
not only did Liszt accept the challenge of Paganini’s un¬
equalled skill on his instrument, determined to do for the
piano what the Italian had done for the violin, but he was
powerfully affected by the legends that, even in those days,
surrounded Paganini’s past: his reputed acquaintance with
the Devil, and the terribilita that emanated from his pre¬
sence. This macabre quality found its echo in Liszt’s own
Camille Saint-Saens
personality, and it engendered a series of compositions all of
which share the same Mephistophelean spirit: the “Faust”
Symphony, the Sonata “Apres une lecture du Dante,” the
“Mephisto” Waltzes, and the “Totentanz.”
The “Totentanz,” which is possibly Liszt’s finest composition
for piano and orchestra was allegedly inspired by Orcagna’s
fresco depicting the Last Judgement, in the Campo Santo in
Pisa, which Liszt and the Comtesse d’Agoult visited in 1838.
The work appears to have been sketched during the course of
the following year, but was then laid aside until 1849, when
it was completed; it was revised twice, in 1853 and 1859, and
was given its premiere at The Hague on April 15, 1865, by
Hans von Billow.
The work is in the form of a series of 30 continuous varia¬
tions on the medieval “Dies irae” theme. The theme is pre¬
sented at the outset by lower strings and wind, and the first
variation is a brilliant introductory cadenza for the solo
piano. From this point onwards the essential outline of the
theme can be heard, more or less distinctly, in every one of
the variations, although it is often partially concealed by new
counter-subjects — as in Nos. 5 and 7 (bassoons and clari¬
nets) and No. 17, in which a scherzando motif is introduced
by the strings, and persists through the four succeeding
variations.
The variety of colour and mood with which Liszt invests his
30 different settings of the theme is truly astonishing, and
ranges from the pensive, reflective calm of the first two of the
three variations for piano solo (Nos. 12-14) to the bizarre
bone-rattlings of Nos. 23-27. The latter are preceded by a
horn-call representing the last trump, and succeeded by a
peroration that has all the grandeur of Liszt’s boldest ges¬
tures, yet none of the vulgarity that sometimes impairs
them.
“Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Tunes”
Being Hungarian by birth, Liszt was naturally acquainted
with the popular music of his native country, but it was only
when he returned to Hungary on concert tours in later years
that he showed an active interest in it and began systemati¬
cally to make piano transcriptions and adaptations of gipsy
music, which he published in various collections between
1839 and 1847 (he also wrote a book on the subject). Many of
the pieces were subsequently adapted as the Hungarian
Rhapsodies for piano, which began to appear in 1846, and
six of these were issued later still in orchestral versions.
The “Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Tunes,” finished probably
PHILIPS
in 1852 and dedicated to Hans von Bulow, is an arrangement
for piano and orchestra of the fourteenth Hungarian Rhap¬
sody. It is at once a colourful pot-pourri of gipsy tunes,
thoughtful and exuberant, and a superb example of Liszt’s
brilliant keyboard writing — in this case full of suggestions
of the shimmering sound of the cimbalom so beloved of
Hungarian gipsy bands.
Robin Golding
Michele Campanella
Michele Campanella was born on June 5, 1947, in Naples.
He received his musical education there from Vincenzo
Vitale at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, pursuing
at the same time classical studies at Naples University.
In 1964 he won a national piano competition after which he
received a scholarship from the Italian radio and television
organisation RAI. In 1966 he entered for the eighth Alfredo
Casella International Piano Competition of the Accade-
mia Musicale Napoletana. There were 83 candidates from
all parts of the world and he won first prize, being the young¬
est ever to do so and the first Italian pianist to win it.
Since then he has made concert appearances with great suc¬
cess in Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, Cze¬
choslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Great Britain.
Other recent Philips recordings:
6500 081
TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No. 6“Pathetique”
Concertgebouw Orchestra,
Amsterdam
Bernard Haitink
839 788 LY - SAL 3750*
LISZT
Les Preludes — Orpheus —
Tasso, Lamento e trionfo
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Bernard Haitink
*For United Kingdom only.
6500 155
BRAHMS
Symphony No. 3
Tragic Overture
Concertgebouw Orchestra,
Amsterdam
Bernard Haitink
3
V’
ficsSIi fiyt
6500 048
RICHARD STRAUSS
A Hero’s Life
Concertgebouw Orchestra,
Amsterdam
Bernard Haitink
Photograph: Johnny Dirkse
This stereo record can be played on mono reproducers provided either a compatible or stereo cartridge wired for
mono is fitted. Recent equipment may already be fitted with a suitable cartridge. If in doubt, consult your dealer.
WARNING - Copyright subsists in all recordings issued under this label. Any unauthorized broadcasting,
public performance, copying or re-recording in any manner whatsoever will constitute infringement of such
copyright. Licenses for the use of recordings for public performance may be obtained from Phonographic
Performance Ltd., Evelyn House, 62 Oxford Street, London W. 1.
PHILIPS
Printed in Holland
Stereo 6500 175
beetiioven *
KI AY IEPK( )NX EI JT Nr. 1
S( )XATENr.5,o| >.10,1
STEPHEN
BISHOP
roi'iN * “
dayis • r?
Stereo 6500 297
Stereo 6500 294
Stereo 6500 179
Stereo 6500 367
Stereo 6500 322
Stereo 6500 381
mji
■
Stereo 6500 325
Stereo 6500 180
IBR7IHMS
VloUnkofuart O-dur. 0pJ7
ARTHUR URUMliWX
flew Phtthormonic. Ofche/lra
COLIN D7WIS
Stereo 6500 299
Stereo 6707 014
1
BIRGIT NILSSON \
COLIN DAVIS
PHILIPS
PHILIPS
SIERI0T33.
6500095
6500 095.2 Y
MADE IN HOLLAND
Franz Liszt
Totentanz
fOr Klavier und Orchester
Ungarische Fantasie
fOr Klavier und Orchester
MICHELE CAMPANELLA
ORCHESTER DER OPER MONTE CARLO
Leitung: ALDO CECCATO
of IRIS RECORD PmiBirio
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿