Piano performance
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was one of the very first musical superstars of the 19th century. While Liszt was a famous composer, conductor, critic and teacher, he was best known as a virtuoso pianist. When Liszt walked onto the stage, he took over the hall, amazing the audience with his incredible technique and his awesome presence. He was a true showman and the man who is credited with inventing the solo recital. Liszt wrote many virtuosic pieces for piano, including transcriptions (i.e. works originally written for other mediums such as symphonies or operas, but changed to be played on the piano). The opera transcriptions take a prominent place among his complete works. This very brilliant concert piece is based on a popular opera of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) called Rigoletto. Liszt took various sections of the opera, presented them in highly pianistic terms whilst maintaining the general lines of the original opera. The famous scene “Beautiful daughter of love” features a quartet of singers presenting different melodies together with extreme contrasts, expressing different emotions (cries of pain, sighing, passion, and cantabile melody) in this masterful aria. Liszt’s paraphrase is no less masterful. This piece is a great example of Liszt’s virtuosic techniques such as extreme ranges of the piano, rapid coloristic changes, dense chords and octaves, and rich harmonies to paraphrase music of different genres.
Project Link
https://youtu.be/ePh53mKvYnQ
Advisers/Committee