The Virtuoso Johann Strauss (CD, Mar-1995, Dorian) NEW & SEALED

Description: THIS IS A CD This is the CD edition of Thomas Labé's "The Virtuoso Johann Strauss" CD CONTENTS 1. Carnaval de Vienne/Moriz Rosenthal2. Wahlstimmen/Karl Tausig3. Symphonic Metamorphosis of Wein, Weib und Gesang (Wine, Woman and Song)/LeopoldGodowsky4. Man lebt nur einmal (One Lives but Once)/Karl Tausig5. Symphonic Metamorphosis of Die Fledermaus/Leopold Godowsky6. Valse-Caprice in A Major (Op. Posth.)/Karl Tausig7. Nachtfalter (The Moth)/Karl Tausig8. Arabesques on By the Beautiful Blue Danube/Adolf Schulz-Evler LINER NOTES At the end of Johann Strauss’ 1875 operetta Die Fledermaus, all of the characters drink atoast to the real culprit of the story—“Champagner hat's verschuldet”—a fitting conclusion to themost renowned and potent evocation of the carefree life of post-revolution imperial Vienna.Strauss' sparkling score (never mind that the libretto is an amalgam of German and Frenchsources), infused with that most famous of Viennese dances, the waltz, lent eloquent expressionto the transitory atmosphere of confidence and prosperity induced by the Hapsburg monarchs.“The Emporer Franz Joseph I,” it would later be said, "only reigned until the death of JohannStrauss." And what could have provided more perfect source material than the music of Strauss, forthe pastiche creations of the illustrious composer-pianists who roamed the world in the latter 19thand early 20th centuries, forever seeking vehicles with which to exploit the possibilities of theirinstrument and display their pianistic prowess? This disc presents a succession of such indulgententerprises, all fashioned from Strauss’ music, for four notable composer-pianists: MorizRosenthal, Karl Tausig, Leopold Godowsky, and Adolf Schulz-Evler. In a number of instances,Strauss himself gave implicit approval to arrangements of his work, and whose great enthusiasmfor the Johann Strauss paraphrases of Moriz Rosenthal. Having established the raison d'’être for the compositions performed on this disc, it shouldcome as no surprise that the waltz—that seemingly inexhaustible socio-musical phenomenon ofthe 19th century—runs its course through all of these works. I am speaking not of the provincialdance of close embrace from the late 18th century that caused alarm to Goethe's young Wertherand provoked satire from Lord Byron, but rather a waltz elevated in social position by theopening of Vienna's cavernous dances halls (including the Sperl in 1807 and the Apollo in 1808).The waltz had risen in purely musical statue as well, through the efforts of Franz Schubert (whoalso demonstrated the value of affixing a descriptive title with the Trauerwaltzer, D 365), CarlMaria von Weber (who prepared the waltz for the concert stage by adding an introduction andcoda to his Aufforderung zum Tanz), and through the myriad contributions of Joseph Lanner, theelder Johann Strauss, and their lesser colleagues. However, it remained for Johann Strauss, Jr. to bring the waltz to its apotheosis as a dance form of unparalleled elegance and sophistication.Strauss achieved this remarkable transformation through the series of renowned waltz sets hecomposed during the 1860s and early 1870s while serving in the position created for his father: -k.k. Hofballmusikdirektor. In its new splendor, the waltz was capable of garnering the admirationof musicians as ideologically disparate as Brahms and Wagner.Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946) studied with Liszt from 1876-78, after which time he pasuedfrom concertizing to study philosophy at the University of Vienna. He returned to concert life in1884, eventually settling in the United States in 1938. The Carnaval de Vienne, as the titlesuggests, offers a pastiche of melodies drawn from waltz and operetta compositions alike.Imaginative figuration (including a brief fugal episode) and daring exploration of the highest andlowest reaches of the piano encircle the themes). Karl Tausig (1841-71), the most brilliant and famous among the first generation of Liszt'spupils, died of typhoid fever at the early age of twenty-nine. Tausig greatly admired Liszt'sSoirées de Vienne (arrangements of some of Schubert's waltzes) and his own Nouvelles soiréesde Vienne, after Strauss waltzes, were dedicated to Liszt. Tausig strays far from the originalcompositions, preferring a rhapsodic approach. Amy Fay, a young American pianist, who went toBerlin in 1869 to study at Tausig’s Akademie, aptly described the discursive nature of the piece:“Calling the waltz itself the warp of the composition, then through its simple threads we finddarting backwards and forwards a subtle, complicated and tragic mind, an exquisitely refined anddelicate sentiment, and a piquante, aerial fancy, until finally is wrought a brilliant and bewilderingtranscription—transfiguration rather—of endless fascination and tantalizing beauty, which no onebut a virtuoso can play and no one but a connoisseur can comprehend.” Born in Russian Poland, Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) embarked on an internationalperforming career firmly established following a successful Berlin recital in 1900. At the outbreakof World War I he settled permanently in the United States, suffering a stroke in 1930 that endedhis performing career. The Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes from Wein, Weib und Gesangretains the sequence of themes found in the waltz set, but Godowsky contributes his own lengthyintroduction which bears little relation to the Strauss original. The rather formidable title alludesto the extravagant contrapuntalism infused into the music; indeed, Godowsky takes pleasure insimultaneously presenting two or more melodies. This technique is exploited further in theSymphonic Metamorphosis of Themes from Die Fledermaus where in several passages Godowskyingeniously combines three melodies—an event as challenging to the listener as the performer.Unrestricted by a fixed sequence of waltzes, Godowsky draws liberally on the most attractivemelodies in the operetta, intentionally beginning with a devilish presentation of the trio from ActI. Here (as the music tells us) Rosalinde, Eisenstein and Adele, though outwardly sad, clearly arelooking forward to their respective evening plans. The famed Blue Danube waltz presented here in the piano arrangement of Adolf SchulzEvler (1852-1905), receives the most straightforward account of any Strauss work on this disc.Polish-born Schulz-Evler studied at the Warsaw Conservatory, and later with Karl Tausig. From1884-1904 he taught at the Kharhov Music School. An der schönen blauen Donau exhibits thecharacteristic form of a Strauss waltz set—five numbered waltzed bound rogether with anintroduction (usually slow) and a coda (often reflective). Schulz-Evler adheres closely to theoriginal, applying decorative figuration (hence the term “arabesques”) intended to fashion thework for concert performance according to typical 19th century convention. Schulz-Evler's originalcompositions are all but forgotten. However, his treatment of the Blue Danube was once quitepopule, as evidenced by the critical misgivings expressed in the 1954 edition of Sir GeorgeGrove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, where it is described as a work “designed for displayand without musical quality, which is still remembered by some elderly recitalgoers as ameretricious encore piece.”~ Thomas Labé CD is still sealed in new condition. This is the original factory pressed CD. Photo is stock. Media Mail shipping includes Delivery Confirmation.

Price: 7.95 USD

Location: New York, New York

End Time: 2024-11-04T18:22:41.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.69 USD