“
The character of instrumental music... lets the emotions radiate
and shine in their own character without presuming to display
them as real or imaginary representations.” Liszt
Now standing at volume 30 this continuing Naxos series maintains
an impressive level of consistency with this disc featuring arrangements
of Italian opera composers. Across the series Naxos have utilised
the talents of several soloists the majority of whom were new
names to me. On this volume the soloist is also unfamiliar but
the label’s scouts are clearly expert at talent spotting
as Italian-born pianist Gianluca Luisi performs with assurance
and considerable brio.
Earlier this year I was dazzled by the playing of the Kanazawa-Admony
Piano Duo in volume 29 in the series comprising two-piano transcriptions
of four of Liszt’s symphonic poems on
Naxos
8.570736.
In 2008 I especially enjoyed volume 28 in the series which was
Liszt’s two piano transcription of
Beethoven’s Symphony
No. 9. Previously, I had selected
two discs from this series as my ‘
2007
Records of the Year’: volume 24 played by Giuseppe
Andaloro on
8.557814 and
volume 25 played by Alexandre Dossin on
8.557904.
Before it was possible to reproduce performances electronically
the majority of music-lovers only had access to the popular orchestral
and operatic scores of the day in pared-down arrangements for
performance in the drawing room or salon. Liszt was the undisputed
master of the ‘art of the transcription’, making
numerous piano arrangements of the music of mainly popular contemporary
composers. These he played in his own recitals.
Completed in 1838 the
Soirées italiennes, S411
are free piano arrangements known as six amusements based on
motifs from a collection of songs by Saverio Mercadante, an admired
Neapolitan composer, principally of operas. It seems that Liszt
dedicated the score to the Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria.
The set of six
Soirées italiennes are genuinely
elegant, attractive and undemanding piano pieces that in the
hands of Gianluca Luisi amuse and delight. They vary splendidly
from the relaxed elegance of
La primavera (track 1) to
the action-packed entertainment of the dance-infused
Galop (track
2) to the brash arrogance of the drinking song
Il brindisi (track
5). It’s a shame that Mercadante the composer of the original
themes is not acknowledged in the titles to this release.
Liszt first heard Paganini perform in 1832 at a Paris recital.
This event was to inspire the young Liszt to embark on a career
as a touring virtuoso. It was in 1838 that Liszt prepared the
Études
d’exécution transcendante d’après Paganini,
S140 a set of six challenging studies based on themes from Paganini’s
24
Caprices for solo violin and other works. In 1840 the
set was published and later revised and republished in 1851.
Of the three
Études on this disc the best known
by far is the sixth based on Paganini’s famous and oft-transcribed
Caprice
No. 24 in A minor. I like the way Luisi traverses the complex
and virtuosic demands of the moody
Étude No.1.
A study in
arpeggios the
Étude No.4 is akin
to a
perpetuum mobile and the celebrated
Étude
No.6 is a delightful yet serious display piece with that
killer melody.
From 1824 the
Impromptu brillant sur des thèmes de
Rossini et Spontini, S150 is an early work from the year
of Liszt’s Paris debut and bears a dedication to Countess
Eugénie de Noirberne. The score includes themes from Rossini’s
operas
La donna del lago and
Armida, and Gaspare
Spontini’s opera
Olimpie and
Fernand Cortez.
A marvellous piece, the
Impromptu is high on melody and
broad in entertainment value. Possibly the themes are a touch
lacking in variety which is probably the reason the score is
not played more often in piano recitals.
Liszt knew the Parisian-based Gioachino Rossini and prepared
several fantasias on themes from his operas. Dating from around
1824 Liszt’s
Sept variations sur un thème de
Rossini, S149 uses themes from Rossini’s opera
Ermione.
Liszt’s score is dedicated to Madame Panckoucke who was
well connected and from an eminent publishing family.
Luisi
is fresh and exhilarating in the agreeable and dazzling virtuosic
Sept
variations.
Splendidly performed and recorded in Vienna this volume in the
continuing series shows no sign of flagging. Luisi is an excellent
choice in these undemanding early Romantic piano arrangements
so radiant with Italian sunshine.
Michael Cookson
Gianluca Luisi
(piano) 
