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Liszt: Russian Transcriptions, Vol. 35 / Alexandre Dossin
Naxos

Liszt: Russian Transcriptions, Vol. 35 / Alexandre Dossin

$19.99

Details

Composer
LISZT, FRANZ
Artist
Alexandre Dossin
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Jun 26, 2012
Catalog #
8572432
UPC
747313243273

About



LISZT Polonaise from Yevgeney Onegin. Le Rossignol. Chanson bohémienne. Abschied. Mazurka. March from Russlan and Ludmilla. Prelude to the Borodin Polka. Russian Galop. Tarantella by César Cui. Slavic Tarentella by Dargomyzhsky. 2 Anton Rubinstein songs. Autrefois • Alexandre Dossin (pn) • NAXOS 572432 (66: 25)


The Naxos traversal of Liszt’s complete piano music, which began in 1997, has now reached its 35th volume with Alexandre Dossin playing a fascinating program of transcriptions of Russian composers. Dossin’s bona fides as a Liszt player of distinction were established with his 2007 contribution to the series, a disc devoted to the Verdi transcriptions and paraphrases. This new release shows him in wide-ranging repertoire, from salon trifles such as the Chanson bohémienne of Bulakhov, through the resplendent setting of the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s Yevgeny Onegin , to the heartrending Abschied (Farewell), a simple song setting for Liszt’s beloved pupil Siloti.


The chief interest of this repertoire, however, is not its variety, but its chronology. Five of the transcriptions—those based on music of Alyabyev, Bulakhov, Glinka, and Vielgorsky—are souvenirs of Liszt’s Russian tours of the 1840s. The isolated Mazurka “composed by a St. Petersburg amateur,” possibly Vielgorsky, dates from 1856, during Liszt’s Weimar years. The remainder—including the Tchaikovsky Polonaise and the Borodin, Dargomyzhsky, and Cui transcriptions as well as the two Rubinstein songs—were all set by Liszt in 1880 or later. In other words, these final seven transcriptions are products of the last six years of Liszt’s life and thus contemporaneous with such late-style works as Czárdás macabre , the Hungarian Historical Portraits, Bagatelle without Tonality, Unstern!, and the several pieces memorializing Wagner.


The Polonaise from Onegin , easily the most familiar work on the disc, is given an extrovert reading that highlights its profusion of opulent pianistic detail without obscuring the overall structure and momentum of the dance. Dossin’s interpretation readily holds its own beside those older, famous ones of Cziffra and Ponti, and perhaps surpasses them in its unforced poise and characteristic voice. Dossin approaches Alyabyev’s The Nightingale , set by Liszt as a veritable mini-Russian rhapsody, with intelligence and finesse. Meanwhile, the quirky Circassian March from Glinka’s Russlan and Ludmilla, a virtuoso tour de force , fairly explodes with rhythmic acrobatics and kaleidoscopic colors.


The two tarantellas by Dargomyzhsky and Cui are particularly intriguing, reminding us that, during the 1860s, Liszt and Dargomyzhsky were among the first composers to experiment (independently) with use of the whole-tone scale—Dargomyzhsky in his opera The Stone Guest and Liszt in his melodrama Der traurige Mönch. Both tarantellas exemplify Liszt’s tendency in old age to transform the materials he transcribed, imbuing them with the radical harmonic and rhythmic characteristics of his own late style. In many cases, and certainly in these tarantellas, the originals are endowed with a “new formal and authorial weight,” as Jonathan Kregor has suggested in his pathbreaking study, Liszt as Transcriber (2010). Dargomyzhsky had been dead 10 years when his unprepossessing piano duet Slavic Tarantella was taken up by Liszt and expanded into a haunting and concert-worthy piano solo. The longest piece on the program is the Tarantella by César Cui , possibly Liszt’s very last transcription of another composer’s work. Kregor points out that Cui’s orchestral original had been in circulation for more than 25years when Liszt decided to transcribe it. Liszt expands, emends, and amplifies the material in a way that elevates this folk dance to a veritable metaphysical realm. If proof were needed that the acuity of Liszt’s perceptions and the richness of his imagination remained undiminished to the end, the Tarantella by César Cui provides ample testimony.


It is hard to imagine a more eloquent spokesman for this repertoire than Dossin. Though he is by birth and upbringing Brazilian, the nine years he spent studying in Moscow lend an unmistakable authenticity to his voice in Russian music. Moreover, Dossin’s refined and multifaceted pianism, combined with his formidable intellectual and musical grasp, make him one of the more remarkable Liszt interpreters before the public today.


FANFARE: Patrick Rucker

Tracklist 13 tracks

  1. 1 Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin: Polonaise, S429/R262 06:32
    Track
    1
    Title
    Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin: Polonaise, S429/R262
    Duration
    06:32
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  2. 2 No. 1. Le rossignol, air russe d'Alabieff 04:35
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 1. Le rossignol, air russe d'Alabieff
    Duration
    04:35
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  3. 3 No. 2. Chanson bohemienne de Bonlakhov 07:19
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 2. Chanson bohemienne de Bonlakhov
    Duration
    07:19
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  4. 4 Abschied, russisches Volkslied, S251/R104 03:48
    Track
    4
    Title
    Abschied, russisches Volkslied, S251/R104
    Duration
    03:48
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  5. 5 Mazurka pour piano composee par un amateur de St Petersbourg, S384/R115 03:07
    Track
    5
    Title
    Mazurka pour piano composee par un amateur de St Petersbourg, S384/R115
    Duration
    03:07
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  6. 6 Glinka - Tscherkessenmarsch aus Oper Russlan und Ludmilla, S406/R164 (2nd version) 05:39
    Track
    6
    Title
    Glinka - Tscherkessenmarsch aus Oper Russlan und Ludmilla, S406/R164 (2nd version)
    Duration
    05:39
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  7. 7 Prelude a la polka de Borodine, S207a/R297 00:44
    Track
    7
    Title
    Prelude a la polka de Borodine, S207a/R297
    Duration
    00:44
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  8. 8 Bulhakov - Russischer Galopp, S478/R143 02:59
    Track
    8
    Title
    Bulhakov - Russischer Galopp, S478/R143
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  9. 9 Cui - Tarantelle, S482/R147 09:26
    Track
    9
    Title
    Cui - Tarantelle, S482/R147
    Duration
    09:26
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  10. 10 Dargomizhsky - Tarentelle, S483/R148 05:59
    Track
    10
    Title
    Dargomizhsky - Tarentelle, S483/R148
    Duration
    05:59
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  11. 11 Rubinstein - O! Wenn es doch immer so bliebe, S554/1/R239/1 08:00
    Track
    11
    Title
    Rubinstein - O! Wenn es doch immer so bliebe, S554/1/R239/1
    Duration
    08:00
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  12. 12 Rubinstein - Der Asra, S554/2/R239/2 05:19
    Track
    12
    Title
    Rubinstein - Der Asra, S554/2/R239/2
    Duration
    05:19
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin
  13. 13 Wielhorski - Autrefois (Romanze), S577/R291 (2nd version) 02:22
    Track
    13
    Title
    Wielhorski - Autrefois (Romanze), S577/R291 (2nd version)
    Duration
    02:22
    Composer
    Franz Liszt
    Performer
    Alexandre Dossin