This album is the fifth and final installment in a liszt series from the conductor and orchestra. The faust symphony of choice remains leonard bernsteins in 1976 with the boston symphony, reissued on cd as a dgg original. Leon botsteins kinder, gentler dante symphony lacks the vital element of passion it needs for a successful performance. Yes, this is one of liszts most vulgar scores, and if youre going to do it, you might as well play it for all its worth. Then in 1847, liszt surprised his new companion, the princess carolyne saynwittgenstein, by playing at the piano some freshly drawn sketches for a dante symphony. It was therefore with great excitement that i listened to this discovery only to find out rather quickly why it is the most neglected liszt work. Liszts dante symphony is a sizzling tale of murder and covert spy rings set amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, which leads to hitlers infernal third reich. Written in the high romantic style, it is based on dante alighieris journey through hell and purgatory, as depicted in the divine comedy.
Based on dante s divine comedy, liszts dante symphony was completed in 1856 and dedicated to his friend and mentor, richard wagner. Imagine writing a symphony called the old testament and having it focus exclusively on the sex life of david and bathsheba. As a passionate admirer of the faust symphony, ive always felt that passages of the inferno movement of the dante symphony need a fair amount of help, especially when liszt gets stuck in diminished seventh mode. Liszts dante symphony is an enigmatic tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, eventually leading to hitlers infernal third reich.
Program music was one of the most flexible and contentious novelties of the long nineteenth century, covering a diverse range that included the overtures of beethoven and mendelssohn, the literary music of berlioz and schumann, liszts symphonic poems, the tone poems of strauss and sibelius, and compositions by groups of composers in russia, bohemia, the united states, and france. Eine symphonie zu dantes divina commedia, s109r426, dante symphony. In that the dante symphony remains, for some, a bit of a mixed bag and the legends have less to recommend them than do most of liszts other symphonic music, this fifth cd could be seen as a bit of an anticlimax. Lamento e trionfo, his symphony to dante s divina commedia and a worldpremiere recording. Study of two biblical choral symphonies with an original composition.
The piece is actually very well crafted and has lots of beautiful and intelligent techniques. Les preludes and all other other symphonic poems liszt wrote dante symphony, faust symphony, etc. His evocation of the inferno, the shade of francesca da rimini and her sad remembered love is marked by strokes of genius which, with bewildering frequency, preempt the mature wagner who was, incidentally, the dedicatee of the work. Daniel barenboim conducted the berliner philharmoniker in february 1992 giving us this live recording of franz liszts dante symphony splendidly recorded by the teldec team on this cd. In his dante symphonie, liszt evokes all three parts of the divine comedy. By 1837, liszt had completed apres une lecture du dante, fantasia quasi sonata better known as the dante sonata and had already begun to plan a large orchestral work on the same subject. The symphony was premiered in weimar on september 5, 1857, for the inauguration of the goetheschiller monument there. Both liszts dante symphony and rosenbergs revelation of st. Hoplit, hanslick and liszts dante symphony nicole grimes. The symphonic poems of the hungarian composer franz liszt are a series of orchestral works, numbered s. It was premiered in dresden in november 1857, with liszt himself conducting, and was unofficially dedicated to the composers friend and. Liszt, at times a devout catholic, portrayed dante s scenes with great imagination and passion, cleverly suiting his melodysometimes simple and tranquil, sometimes chromatic and writhing.
The disc also contains a 1985 recording of barenboim playing the dante sonata. It was quite advanced for its era, employing many new orchestral colors and daring harmonic schemes. Liszts other symphonic work, the symphony to dante s divina commedia 1856, depicts the three major sections of the divine comedyinferno, purgatory, and paradise. Liszts dante symphony is a work of astonishing imagination. Liszts dante symphony is, at its heart, a tale of a father and son, and the sacrifices we make for our ideals and our families. Composed in 185556, liszts symphony to dante s divina commedia is programmatic work depicting dante s journey through hell and purgatory. Eine symphonie zu dantes divina commedia, s109r426, dante symphony, 47. Dante symphony eine symphonie zu dantes divina commedia, for orchestra, s. This exciting, precise and spirited account of the dante symphony is actually one of the cycles high points.
This disc celebrates liszts dante symphonie and marks the bicentenary of his birth. Liszts two legends rounds out the programme and complements dante symphony. A faust symphony in three character pictures german. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 though some use material conceived earlier.
Franz liszt biography, albums, streaming links allmusic. Is liszts dante symphony really this bad a piece of music. Customers and visitors can download classical music in high quality flac or mp3 and find out more about classical music. Id say it was the perfect example of liszts orchestral work.
Liszts dante symphony is a strikingly original and enigmatic tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, which leads to hitlers infernal third reich. Public domain compositions, and 1 music rights societies. The story is cleverly ensconced in the world of classical music, particularly that of 19th century composer franz liszt. Deep emotions and sombre laments, the torments of hell and the radiance of paradise, and the sounds of celebration. Hoplit, hanslick and liszts dante symphony jsmi, 7 201112, p. These works helped establish the genre of orchestral program musiccompositions written to. Franz liszt, daniel barenboim, berlin philharmonic liszt. Michael gandolfo has 3 books on goodreads, and recently added liszts dante symphony by rich disilvio, the winds of time. This substantial single movement score was begun in 1837 and revised over a decade later in 1849. The origins, the criticism, a selective musical analysis, and commentary. Previously available at full price, and discontinued by decca in 1997, this splendid performance of a faust symphony with tenor siegfried jerusalem is welcomed back at half the original price also included on this generous 2 for 1 is the cd debut of jesus lopezcobos reading of liszts dante symphony. Whether noseda agrees or not, he takes the movement at a generally brisk pace, with incisive articulation when required. The engineering team which is here the highly experienced polyhymnia.
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