Thalberg: L'Art du Chant Applique au Piano, Op.70, Vol. 1 / Commellato

$15.99
Label
Piano Classics
Release Date
January 7, 2022
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Sigismond Thalberg
    • PERFORMER
      Alessandro Commellato
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      January 07, 2022
    • UPC
      5029365102421
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      PCL10242
    • LABEL
      Piano Classics
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. No. 1. A te, o cara (quartet from Bellini's I Puritani)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    2. No. 2. Tre Giorni (Pergolesi)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    3. No. 3. Adelaïde (Beethoven)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    4. No. 4. Pietà, signore (attr. Stradella)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    5. No. 5a. Lacrimosa (from Mozart's Requiem)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    6. No. 5b. Sull'aria (from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    7. No. 6. Perchè mi guardi e piangi (from Rossini's Zelmira)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    8. No. 7. Bella adorate incognita (from Mercadante's Il Giuramento)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    9. No. 8. Nel silenzio fra l'orror (from Meyerbeer's Il Crociato)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    10. No. 9. Einsam bin ich nicht alleine (from Weber's Preciosa)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    11. No. 10. Der Müller und der Bach (from Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    12. No. 11. Schelm, halt fest! (from Weber's Der Freischütz)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato

    13. No. 12. Il mio tesoro (from Mozart's Don Giovanni)

      Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

      Performer: Alessandro Commellato


Thalberg has a reputation as the only pianist who made Liszt feel nervous, but he also won praise from Mendelssohn for the fidelity of his approach to the letter and the spirit of a score. He gathered four volumes of operatic and song transcriptions under the umbrella of L’art du chant appliqué au piano, with the first two volumes published in 1853 and followed a decade later by Volumes 3 and 4. While it opens with the Quartet from Bellini’s I Puritani, Thalberg’s selection of original material ranges far and wide beyond masterpieces of bel canto. There is a haunting transformation of a duet once attributed to the Neapolitan composer Stradella; a straightforward but affectionate transcription of Adelaide, the song by Beethoven that became his most popular piece of vocal music during the 19th century; as well as a much more elaborate fantasia on a number from the incidental music composed by Carl Maria von Weber for the Spanish drama Preciosa. There are some quintessentially Romantic-era walls of sound in the first two volumes of the collection, such as Thalberg’s version of the Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem, but the limpid textures and uncluttered singing lines of L’art du chant mark a salutary contrast with the cascades and thunderbolts of the hyper-virtuoso repertoire. In this regard, the lighter touch of the fortepiano is well suited to the ideals of vocal expression, transferred to the keyboard, enshrined in Thalberg’s collection. Roberto Commellato’s new version therefore brings something new to the work’s selective but distinguished discography.