PIANO MUSIC - Abeille Musique

first version ‘nouvelle édition, revue et corrigée par
l’auteur’.) The structures of the three versions are very
similar, apart from the new coda to the third version: all
begin with Liszt’s elaborate musings upon the chorus
from the finale to Act 1 ‘Osservate’, and continue with the
lyrical duet ‘Vedi, o madre’ which Liszt develops into a
marvellous imitation of three hands, with the melody and
the accompanimental chords taken by the left hand, and
rapid decorative figuration by the right; after a brief
reprise of the opening and a cadenza comes Amina’s ‘Ah!
non giunge’ (the most striking difference in the second
version—there are many minor alterations—is the first
appearance of this melody, which is presented here as if it
were scored for a quartet of horns), the similarity of which
theme to Elvino’s ‘Ah! perche non posso odiarti’ is underlined
by the arrival of the second tune over the top of the
first one; the only further theme is the concerted number
from the Act 1 finale ‘Voglia il Cielo’. As with all of Liszt’s
Bellini fantasies, there is a real attempt to convey the
whole spirit of the drama in the comparatively microcosmic
world of a single piano piece.
It seems scarcely imaginable that there could ever
have been a time when anyone was unfamiliar with the
overture to William Tell, and countless abuses of its
themes in cartoons, movies and television shows have not
dimmed its attractions. Nonetheless, at the time when
Liszt made his transcription, the piece was still in need of
dissemination. Of course, it also provided a stunning warhorse
for Liszt’s own concerts—and it was no doubt
much easier to bring off the wicked repeated notes on the
light French instruments of the 1830s than it is on the
mighty Steinways of the 1990s. Naturally, this is a case of
faithful transcription rather than paraphrase of any kind.
But the piece must have posed some problems even for
Liszt the executant, because there are many passages
where alternative solutions are offered. (In this performance
all of the ossia passages are adopted.)
Liszt made his first fantasy on themes from Lucrezia
Borgia very shortly after the opera’s Paris premiere in
1840. The piece was later revised as the second of two
pieces which constitute the Réminiscences de Lucrezia
Borgia, which appeared in 1848. The work is based on
several themes from the opera, which in the later version
are rather loosely described in the subtitle as Chanson
à boire (Orgie) and Duo-Finale. (The 1 ère partie is
described as the Trio du second Acte, but the number in
question is in Act 1.) The material which opens the
fantasy is really pure Liszt, but at the first tempo change
we hear Orsini’s ‘Maffio Orsini, son io’ from the Prologue,
and then immediately the piece moves into his drinking
song ‘Il segreto’, which Liszt extends with another theme
from the Stretta of the Prologue. The duet of Lucrezia and
Gennaro ‘Ama tua madre’ provides the central respite
from the general boisterousness, and a second quieter
section (eliminated in the second version) is a gentle
transformation of the drinking song. Orsini’s theme
returns, and the Stretta of the Prologue furnishes the
conclusion.
LESLIE HOWARD © 1998
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