The essence of Romanticism in music, which also represents a nucleous of a general Romantic outlook and attitude, the Romantic creative imagination, and the characteristically open style of the Romantic narrative and structural form, can be found in these concertos, in particular the more expansive and representational, reveal a certain 'restlessness of heart', a feeling of anxiety and an emotional dynamism inherent to the music of the times; as well as a dualistic manner in which the composers of the Romantic age perceived the music: on the one hand strongly self-sufficient in matters od form and expression, on the other deficient in a purist sense. Consequently 'on a par' with other art forms, the concerto repertory strives to be poetic, picturesque and theatrical; a if yearning to be a narrative discussion, dialogue or a dramatic, lyrical as well as humorous theatrical scene, while simultaneously retainin its character of 'display' virtuosity. Against a background of the numerous lesser works of the concerto genre which formed the staple 'musical diet' of 19th century audiences, a few Piano Concertos stand out as masterpieces, that for the last century and a half have regularly attracted successive generations of performers and have maintained their status, in the concertos by Chopin, the one by Schumann, the two by Liszt, the two by Brahms, the one by Tchaikovsky and to a certain extent the early 20th Century concertos of Rachmaninov. Moreover, Romanticism seen in the concerto repertory emerged from an already rich tradition, namely the concertos of Mozart, and found a suitably fertile soil for propagation in the 'brillante' style of early 19th Century popular music.

The principal characteristic of the Romantic concerto in the full bloom of its stylistic expression, is the creative interpretation of the performance. All Romantic concertos - from Chopin and Schumann to Liszt, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov - are written with a somewhat theatrical intention and the role of the performer in mind. They are composed for outstanding artists and towering personalities capable of breathing life into the music and realising every detail of the vast armony of expression typical of the genre though in keeping, wills the composers intentions, the soloist-pianist, conductor and orchestral musicians are each assigned a part to play that is revealed in the score and detailed in the notation, enabling each to fully enact the musical drama of a concert performance. As pointled observed by Harnoncourt, the notational format of the 19th Century is not only to provide a guide to the structure, scheme and form of a composition, but above all to serve the musician in his performance of the work. Like the script of theatrical play, the score of a Romantic concerto contains a list of characters and instructions. However, one of the paradoxes and dialectic questions of Romantic music is that, the more articulate and detailed the notation in the score of the cocnerto, the more inspired is the creative role of the performer. Perhaps this occurs because the Romantic music of 19th Century is to large extent underpinned by the spirit of improvisation (musical and poetic) which played such a significant role in the culture of the period; and in considering the general perception of music in the Romantic age, two equally prominent tendencies interact and vie with each other. On the one hand - a predilection for structural form and its diversity of stylistic expression, and on the other - a longing for freedom from formal restraint and a yearning for spontaneity. Piano and poetry, the force of music and the power of spoken verse - are two paramount features of Romantic improvisation. ...

Bohdan Pociej

Translated by Anna Kasprzyk

Some essential pianists and writers have considered the piece as a whole variation of one motif, as Claudio Arrau has. We share that opinion, calling it a "psychological transformation" of the motif during the piece. The introductory scale is part of that motif, although the relation might be not direct, but in a way of contrast; the contrast between the relief of the death and the satisfaction of life, both inevitably two parts of existence. The epitome of this relief is the final: a unexpected chord which amazingly is a tonic of B Major. Liszt had doubts about whether the "relief" should be forte or piano.

The sonata is divided in three sections but at the same time is a unique form. It has a splendorous exposition where the main theme is presented, followed by a development where the Scherzo appears, and finally a huge recapitulation and a coda, where an impressive fugue takes the relay. We neglect the subjective interpretations that has been formulated about the possible lyrics of the theme.

Notwithstanding, when trying to make a deeper analysis of the piece, even nowadays nobody agrees on a unique analysis. This gives us the best clue to conclude that this is an eclectic piece subject to many interpretations. This is the reason why we believe that the piece will endure alive, not only in the hoary shelves of musicologists but mainly in concert halls and recordings.

Liszt 

Sonata in B minor

Scriabin

Piano Sonata nr. 2

Ivo Pogorelich

Wagner's first encounter with Franz Liszt ocurred inParis in 1840. His impression of the flamboyant virtuoso was tinged with some envy, for Wagner was barely eking out a living by making piano arrangements of contemporary operas such Halévy's La reine de Chypre and Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. He registered "stupefaction" as Liszt's keyboard artistry, but wrote wrote that he was "the last person in the world able to appreciate adequately the achievements of such a person who at the time was sunning himself in the brightest light of day, whereas I had turned my back and faced the night." Although Wagner could easily have capitalized on the insatiable Parisian market for piano music, he wrote very little for the keyboard. Some would argue that his piano works are unidiomatic, sounding like preliminary drafts for budding orchestral texture; their well-spaced contrapuntal activity suggests the sound images that would become familiar in his opera. ...

In the 1840s, Wagner tried to ease his financial burden by turning his hand to song composition - a genre he had never before attempted - and composed several songs in the unfamiliar language of French. The songs were published in 1841, as supplements to Lewald's journal Europa. ...

The symbiotic creative relationship between Liszt and Wagner became even more intense in the years 1882-83. At this time, Liszt wrote no fewer than four original works, all either premonitions of Wagner's death (La lugrube gondole I and II) or inspired by his memory (R. W. - Venezia; Am Grabe Richard Wagners). In some cases Liszt, ever the musical visionary, drew on motives from Wagner's Parsifal and transformed them into musical manifestos that foreshadowed the most forward-looking music of the next century.

Liszt's last visiti with Wagner (Venice, 26 November 1882 - 13 January 1883) proved particularly unhappy. He found Wagner in diminished health and spirits, and exhausted from the strain of mounting the previous summer's Bayreuth Festival, which was devoted to the premiere of Pasifal. Liszt's daughter, Cosima, recorded in her diary how Wagner denigrated Liszt's "new works, declaring them to be completely meaningless... accusing them of being the products of 'incipient madness.'" ...

Despite the gloomy memory of this last visit with Wagner, as always Liszt's magnanimity won out. He inscribed the manuscript of Am Grabe Richard Wagners: "Wagner once reminded me of the similarity between his Parsifal motives and my earlier composition Excelsior (Introduction to the Bells of Strasbourg). May these rememberances live on here. He achieved the great and the sublime in the art of the present." Liszt signed and dated the autograph 22 May 1883. This would have been Wagner's 70th birthday had he not died three months earlier. ...

Rena Charnin Mueller

REFLECTIONS & COMMENTS
by MURRAY PERAHIA

Robert Schumann once wrote of himself: "In my case, man and musician always tried to express themselves simultaneously; even now, this is probably so, although I have, to be sure, learnt to control myself and also my art more. How much joy and pain are buried inthis small handful of notes will be discovered by your sympathetic heart."

Though not spoken by him, one can't help feeling that these sentiments would have been exactly Vladimir Horowitz's, for he was a man who gave himself completely through is music and who confided his deepest emotions through his playing. His tone, especially if heard live, had such a dramatic presence - a speaking quality - that you felt you were listening directly to his most private thoughts. At their most inspired, these thoughts just seemed to come forth spontaneously and naturally - unpracticed and unself-conscious. In fact, he practiced very little; most of his prodigious work must have been done in his mind. But he achieved a rare mastery at the piano, a mastery which he said "implies control, in music as well as in life." By this he didn't mean a constricting restraint - quite the contrary - rather "a setting of standards... in regard to taste, style and what is appropriate..." How closely were his life and art intertwined and how closely did his playing reflect the interests and concerns of his life.

Thus it was natural that his playing was always changing, always evolving: the high-powered, demonic virtuoso who walked the tightrope of the possible in his youth became the searching, reflective, mature musician of late years. His was a long and fascinating artistic journey through many different bypaths and side roads, which constantly found an enthusiastic response and, indeed, adoration from his public. In the 30s Horowitz almost singlehandedly generated interest in Scarlatti - the sonatas were hardly known at that time. Later on, Clementi, recognized only for his pedagogical value, was rediscovered as a substantial composer. Horowitz intoxicated us with the startling and daring colors of Scriabin, the visceral excitement of Prokofiev, the daredevil virtuosity of Liszt, the refined elegance of Chopin. Rachmaninoff himself was so impressed by Horowitz's performance of his Third Concerto that he never played it again. Horowitz's passions became the passions of many generations, and we discovered with him new and unimagined possibilities.

This final recording, which documents his last steps on this journey, becomes, in hindsight, a kind of summation. In his last few years the had developed a strong attachment to the simplicity and directness of the classical composers, most notably Mozart and Haydn. When he immersed himself in a composer, he went through the entire output - he would read through all the sonatas, concertos, chamber music, operas etc. He felt that what made these composers classical, in the truest sense, was not a prudish detachment or "objectivity" but rather an intensity and purity of expression where every note matters, every not has meaning.

The same holds true for Chopin, a composer whose works Horowitz played throughout his life. Here his love of singing and opera enabled him to reveal the true shape and character of these beautiful melodies. Perhaps through listening to great singers, perhaps just instinctively, he was able to master the very elusive art of bel canto - the laws of which, according to the great Viennese theorist Heinrich Schenker, "can neither be taught nor transcribed." They come from an inner understanding of the embellishments and diminutions that give the music lfe.

With Liszt, we really reach the heart of the recording. Like Chopin, Liszt was also a lifelong passion of Horowitz's, but here, we don't hear the fire-breathing virtuoso, the dazzling pyrotechnics of earlier years. Instead we get something very personal, as if he were distilling the essence of Liszt. In Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (wich was the last piece Horowitz ever played), the harmonic audacity, the imagination and sheer beauty of the variations is very movingly rendered. The Liebestod, where constant striving for beauty and fulfillment ever higher and higher culminates in a transfiguration, can't help but have extra-musical implications given the circumstances of the recording.

This is indeed an eloquent summation of a life devoted to the beauty of music - a life which we as listeners will always be grateful for and those of us who where lucky enough to know him will always cherish.

Horowitz - The Last Recording


Haydn

Piano Sonata in E flat major, Hob. XVI:49

Chopin

Mazurka Op. 56 nr. 3
Nocturnes Op. 55 nr. 2 & Op. 62 nr. 1
Fantaisie-Impromptu Op. 66
Etudes Op. 25 nrs. 1 & 5

Lizst

Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen

Wagner-Liszt

Isolde's Liebestod



Vladimir Horowitz, piano

Thomas Hampson and 

Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold

Quality: mp3, varied kbps

Size: 113 MB

Liszt

Liebestraum
Favourite Piano Works
Beliebte Klavierwerke

Jorge Bolet, piano

DL Liszt Piano Works
Disc 1
Disc 2

Quality: mp3, 192 kbps
Size: 99 MB + 95 MB

DL Liszt Rhapsodies

Quality: mp3, 192 kbps
Size: 70 MB