MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively Crotchet

Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Donizetti - Operatic Reminiscences and Transcriptions
Valse de concert sur deux motifs de Lucia et Parisina, S214/3/R155 (1852) [9:48]
Réminiscences de Lucrezia Borgia (2nd version), S400/R154 (1849) [23:39]
I. Trio from Act II [10:02]
II. Chanson à Boire (Orgie) – Duo – Finale [13:37]
Réminiscences de Lucia di Lammermoor, S397/R151 (1841/1844) [15:37]
I. Andante final, S397/R151 [5:04]
II. Marche funèbre et Cavatine, S398/R152 [10:33]
Spirto gentil de l’opéra La Favorite, S400a (c. 1840) [7:12]
Marche funèbre de Dom Sebastien, S402/R156 (1844) [9:41]
William Wolfram (piano)
rec. 13-15 January 2006, Glenn Gould Studio, CBC, Toronto, Canada
NAXOS 8.570137  [65:57]

 

Experience Classicsonline

Liszt’s piano music is surely his greatest achievement, so it’s gratifying that Naxos have pressed ahead with their survey, now at Volume 27. It’s not the only such collection – Leslie Howard blazed the trail with his 94-disc set for Hyperion – nor is it all essayed by a single pianist. That said, the Naxos discs are at budget price, which will always tempt collectors looking for quality music-making at a modest price.

There’s nothing modest about the pianistic talents of William Wolfram, whose earlier contribution to this series – Volume 20 – garnered much praise from my colleagues Colin Clarke and Michael Cookson (review). Here he tackles the Donizetti arrangements, just one spur of Liszt’s opera-inspired output that included Auber, Bellini, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Verdi and Wagner.

Wolfram certainly has a commanding keyboard presence. In Lucia et Parisina one marvels at the ease with which he dashes off this extravagant music, while in the earlier Réminiscences de Lucrezia Borgia he builds the tension at the beginning of the Act II trio very well indeed. But he also manages to sound poetic in the quieter, more lyrical moments – even if there aren’t many of those in this collection.

The piano sound is impressive, wide-ranging and clear without being over-bright in the runs and roulades of Chanson a Boire or unfocused in the magisterial chords that bring the Borgia trio to a close. The aural perspective is a touch shallow but then a more immediate sound probably suits this repertoire.

Which is a good time to issue a health warning. Extraordinary as Wolfram’s playing undoubtedly is, the high decibel count is apt to become tiring after a while. Indeed, the sustained avalanche of sound in the closing moments of the Borgia piece might have you reaching for the pause button or switching off altogether.

But not for long. The Andante final – taken from the Act II sextet of Lucia – has the usual brilliance plus eloquence and lyricism. This is simply spellbinding music and Wolfram certainly has the magician’s touch when it comes to conjuring up a theatrical atmosphere. That is especially true of the funeral march, which captures all the gloom and despair of Lucy’s death with its lowering chords and implacable rhythms. Wolfram’s wizardry extends to clarity and articulation, notably in Liszt’s juxtaposition of ‘Esci, fuggi’ from Act II and Edgar’s Act III heart-wrencher 'Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali'. In a concert hall an electric performance like this would surely have the audience leaping to their feet as one.

Liszt’s version of Ferdinand’s cavatina ‘Spirto gentil’ from La favorite, itself based on Wagner’s piano transcription of the opera, is full of Italianate drama and pathos. As always Wolfram has an unerring feel for the dramatic peaks and valleys of this music; more than that he spins some long, singing lines as well. There is a real emotional tug to this performance that is every bit as gripping as one  in the theatre.

Wolfram invests the funeral march from Donizetti’s last opera, Dom Sebastien, with a craggy grandeur – cue massive, rough-hewn chords that call for more power than subtlety. But then there’s nothing reticent about this music, and the recorded balance reinforces that point. Perhaps Naxos could have planned this survey rather differently – as Hyperion have done – and programmed a mix of composers on this disc, rather than concentrate on one.

That minor caveat aside I can only endorse the positive comments about Wolfram’s playing – it really is that good. Collectors who already have the Howard performances may feel those are unassailable, but if it’s value and good music-making you’re after this Naxos release is self recommending.

Dan Morgan

 



 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.