The etude in F minor, known as "La Leggierezza" is the middle part of Trois Etudes de Concert written in I848. Its extraordinary technical difficulties are not an end in themselves — it is in fact one Liszt's most poetic compositions, very close in character to Chopin's art. Paganini's art had a most profound affect on Liszt during his youth. Under its influence, he reformed his own piano technique. The first version of the 6 Paganini Etudes was completed in I838 and was reworked in 1851. Today the latter version is generally played as it can still regarded as easier than the original études. in the first version, the six etudes — including "La Chasse", which can be found on this record — are almost impossible to play, thus their performances is a rarity. The musical portrayal of Mephistopheles can be found throughout Liszt's career as a composer, but his chief source of inspiration was a poem by Nikolaus Lenau and not by Goethe. Thus, in the Mephislopheles Waltz n° 1 (1860) we find daring, "modern" harmonies, modulations, sharp chords and asymmetrical rhythms foreshadowing Bartók. In addition to blazing the trail for Bartók, Liszt also set the path for other trends in European music, including Impressionism. With its soft colours. and brilliant flood of sound, the "Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este", an almost Ravel like composition, is one of the finest pieces of Liszt's pre-Impressionist style. It was written in 1877, and is included in the third volume of Années de pélerinage. "Réminiscences de Don Juan" is the most exquisite of Liszt's opera fantasies. lt was written in 1841. at a time when the composer was touring Europe as a virtuoso pianist. "Réminiscences de Don Juan" is an exceedingly diflicult bravura composition, tailored to Liszt's own unique piano technique. Complying with the fashion of the times, Liszt allowed his imagination to play freely with the motifs of the opera which emerge in the form of reminiscences and the effect is that of improvisation. lt has a very definite framework. however, beginning with a weighty grave, conjuring up the most dramatic moments of Mozart's opera including the scene in the cemetery when the statue of the Commandatore starts to speak ("Di rider finirai pria dell'aurora") and the one where the statue appears in answer to the dinner invitation. The lyrical middle section is an elaboration of Don Giovanni and Zerlina's duett in A major ("La ci darem la mano"). A Quasi presto section amalgamating the Commandatore melody and Don Giovanni's B-Flat major aria ("Finch'han dal vino") leads up to the aria itself which in Liszt's arrangement acquires a dazzling virtuosity and accelerates into a dizzying prestissimo. it is worth noting that for any apparent reason, Liszt used the augmented second Hungarian or gypsy scale in his variations of Mozart's melodies. Liszt's other opera phantasy based on two themes of the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. is one of the work he never finished. Although he performed it in 1843, during one ofhis highly successful concerts in Berlin, he did not write it down completely. It was finished and published in 1912 by Ferruccio Busoni. The Figaro Phantasy also consists of three sections based on two well-known arias of the opera. The weighty and romantically majestic introduction is a paraphrase of Figaro's famous aria in the first Act — "Non più andrai". The slow middle section conjurs up the melodies of Cherubino's aria in the second Act — "Voi ché sapete". The concluding third part is a march-like arrangement of the aria "Non più andrai".
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István Antal is a professor at the Budapest Academy of Music. He has been awarded the order of Artistic Merit and is internationally known. His brilliant technique, superior musicianship, profound intelligence, colourful personality and his ability to generate an artistic atmosphere make him perfect for the interpretation of Liszt's compositions. Besides Liszt's popular works, István Antal gained also recognition because of his reading of the composer's lesser known works such as the Réminiscences de Don Juan and Figaro Fantasy. He is also a brilliant interpreter of Beethoven's works.
Klara Hamburger (Original Liner Notes)
Antal István
Plays
Franz Liszt
(1811-1888)
Tracks
1 La Leggierreza (Etude de concert in F minor, S. 144, n° 2) 4:58
2 La Chasse (Grandes Etudes de Paganini, S. 141, n° 5, in E major) 3:44
3 Mephisto Waltz n° 1 'Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke', S. 514 11:19
4 Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este (from Années de pèlerinage III, S. 163) 8:06
5 Fantasy-Réminiscences de 'Don Juan' (after Mozart's Don Juan), S. 418 15:40
6 Fantasie über zwei Motive aus Mozarts 'Die Hochzeit Des Figaro', KV 492, S. 697 15:24
(completed by Busoni)
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Antal István - p
Recorded ca 1968