The Australian Eloquence
series has rummaged into the Decca archives
to re-issue these four 1990 recordings.
I’m sure that many collectors of Romantic
repertoire will love to own this well
performed and recorded re-issue from
star French performer Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
Liszt arranged his
Hungarian Fantasia from the Hungarian
Rhapsody No.14 in F minor for solo piano,
composed several years earlier. Musicologist
David Ewen has written how the score,
"spills over with sensual Hungarian
melodies, fiery rhythms, and contrasting
moods."
The Orchestre-Symphonique
de Montréal under Charles Dutoit
make a tremendous impact in the sombre
opening, heavy with dark foreboding.
At 0:57-1:25 (track 1) the piano entry
from Thibaudet
feels strangely impressionistic.
The martial passage at 3:24-3:51 sounds
like an under-rehearsed amateur band
playing at a village carnival. In the
passages 6:53-7:25 and 7:59-8:51 I loved
the evocation of the nocturnal merriment
of a gypsy-style folk dance. At 12:36-14:04
the score ends with a rather overblown
display of dazzling fireworks.
In the opening section
Allegro maestoso of the E
flat major Concerto Thibaudet comes
across as rather hesitant with little
in the way of the searching emotional
quality that players such as Zimerman
and Yundi Li provide. That said, Thibaudet’s
playing in the Quasi adagio is
achingly beautiful and it would be hard
to imagine a better performance. Clearly
the influence of love and romance infuses
Liszt’s writing here. In the Allegretto
vivace from 2:25-4:06 (track 4)
Thibaudet confidently builds up the
passionately assertive character of
the score. The powerful orchestral playing
dominates the playing in the final section
at 0:58-2:59 (track 5) where the scurrying
music has a spirited, puckish quality.
From 3:30-4:06 Thibaudet brings the
score home to an impressive climax.
Liszt began composing
his A major Concerto in 1839
making revisions to the score in 1849
and 1861. The first performance was
given with Liszt conducting his pupil
Hans Bronsart (von Schellendorff) as
soloist at Weimar in 1857. To highlight
the symphonic nature of the score it
was named in the manuscript as a "concerto
symphonique". The A major
Concerto is designed in one single
continuous movement, divided into six
sections, connected by the use of ‘thematic
transformation’. The writer Jay Rosenblatt
in his article in ‘The Liszt Companion’
described the E flat major Concerto
as, "Dionysian"
and the character of the A major
Concerto as "Apollonian".
Biographer Humphrey Searle described
the score as, "remarkable"
and that "the themes are far
more interesting and capable of development"
than the E flat major Concerto.
Searle thought the transition into a
march in the Finale was, "the
one really weak passage" and
that it had "all the vulgarity
of second-rate military band music."
In the opening section
of this version one cannot fail to be
impressed with the dramatic and stormy
music. Thibaudet brings out the dark
character of the music. In the Allegro
moderato the significant and pensive
cello passage at 0:59-2:16 (track 7)
is expertly performed. The cadenza
at 2:15-3:13 is interpreted with
deft assurance. In the Allegro deciso
the drama and tension builds to
tremendous pitch. At 4:00 (track 8)
the music sharply shifts to a more relaxed
vein. The Allegro animato section
that closes the score is performed with
high excitement.
Evidently Liszt in
1838 was inspired by the magnificent
frescoes titled ‘The Triumph of Death’
on the wall of the basilica in the Campo
Santo at Pisa. In Liszt’s time the frescoes
were attributed to Andrea Orcagna. As
a result Liszt felt compelled to compose
a score for piano and orchestra comprising
a series of variations around the ‘Dies
Irae’ plainchant. The Totentanz
(Dance of death) described
by Humphrey Searle as, "a work
of astonishing dramatic power"
was completed by Liszt in 1849 and underwent
subsequent revision with the first performance
and publication in 1865.
In the Totentanz
one is struck by the martial quality
to the music (0:00-1:19, track 10).
There is a trudging quality at 2:00-2:38
and at 2:39-4:09 a noticeable increase
in dramatic intensity. The weary character
returns at 4:10-5:38 shifting at 5:39-6:55
to a more attractive and positive feel.
At 6:56-9:48 Thibaudet powerfully and
abruptly explodes into life. I loved
the agitated and rhythmic virtuoso passage
at 9:49-11:04. Especially impressive
is the highly attractive dance-like
section between soloist and orchestra
at 11:31-12:36. The drama of the playing
intensifies to a demonic conclusion
at 15:13.
Arguably the most celebrated
versions of the two Piano Concertos
and the Totentanz are the
exhilarating and confident performances
from Krystian Zimerman and the Boston
Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa.
They recorded the scores at the Symphony
Hall, Boston in 1987 and these are available
on Deutsche Grammophon 423 571-2. In
the A major Concerto and the
Totentanz Thibaudet cannot match
the sheer scale of the dramatic contrasts.
I would not wish to look elsewhere than
this gratifying DG recording from Krystian
Zimerman who provides an astonishing
degree of feverish excitement.
There are many advocates
for the excellent accounts of the two
Piano Concertos from Sviatoslav Richter
and the LSO under Kiril Kondrashin on
Philips 464 710-2 (c/w Beethoven Piano
Sonatas Nos. 10, 19, 20). The concertos,
recorded by Richter in London in 1961
form part of the Philips ‘50 Great Recordings’
series. However, when compared to the
modern digital sound from Yundi Li and
Krystian Zimerman the Philips sonics
are to my ears beginning to sound their
age.
My first choice recording
of the E flat major Concerto is the
recently released 2006 Watford Colosseum
recording from Chinese soloist Yundi
Li and the Philharmonia under Andrew
Davis. Yundi Li does a magnificent job
with Liszt’s contrasting demands, displaying
assured and exciting playing that blends
drama with poetry on Deutsche Grammophon
477 640-2 (c/w Chopin Piano Concerto
No.1).
I still treasure my
1982 vinyl recording of the E flat major
Concerto in the sparkling and stylish
performance from French soloist Cécile
Ousset with the CBSO under Simon Rattle
on EMI ASD 4307 (c/w Saint-Saëns
Piano Concerto No.2). I understand that
this Cécile Ousset recording,
with the same coupling, has been released
on compact disc on EMI CDC 7 47221 2
but as yet I have not been able to track
down a copy.
The booklet notes from
Raymond Tuttle are well written, interesting
and informative. Recorded in 1990 at
St. Eustache, Montreal the sonics are
pleasingly clear, cool and acceptably
bright.
Yves Thibaudet and
the Orchestre-Symphonique de Montréal
under Dutoit perform these Liszt scores
admirably with the benefit of excellent
sound quality. This Australian Decca
Eloquence release is certainly worth
considering and I’m sure that many will
be attracted to the well chosen all-Liszt
programme.
Michael Cookson
Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano) 
