Paraphrases de Salon
19th Century Opera Transcriptions
Ruben Micieli (piano)
rec. 2024 Peter Mayr Saal, Lengmoos, Italy
Grand Piano GP943 [71]
In the salons of the early to mid-19th century the opera fantasy was ubiquitous and not only for the piano; flute, guitar, trumpet, everything with more melodic capability than a triangle would have its own take on the popular operatic melodies of the day. Of course the piano was most favoured in this regard and a regular tsunami of fantasies, paraphrases, caprices, variations, réminiscences and divertimenti echoed out from all of the most fashionable soirées. The titles would usually be amended with dramatic, brilliant or grand or indeed all of the above just so that no-one was in any doubt that they were listening to the very best of pianistic endeavour. Out of literally thousands that were written, and many never even made it to print, just a handful are now heard with any regularity and let’s face it they are usually by Liszt though Sigismund Thalberg very occasionally makes an appearance. Critics became dismissive of what was soon considered such shallow virtuosity – Mendelssohn even labelled his D minor Variations, variations serieuses to distance them the rest of the field – and they gradually faded from the repertoire and memory. They have also all been tarred with the same brush, even Liszt’s in some quarters still, but recordings by pianists like Earl Wild, Raymond Lewenthal, Marc-André Hamelin, Mark Viner, Francesco Nicolesi and others have shown that there is much to admire in the right hands. Thankfully Ruben Micieli has the right hands and has chosen to shine a light of some fine examples by pianists who have been, with the exception of Joachim Raff, consigned to dusty archives.
Let’s look at Raff first. A large part of his huge output for solo piano remains unrecorded and this includes many transcriptions and paraphrases that place Liszt, Wagner, Bach, Bellini, Meyerbeer, Halévy, Mozart, Kücken and others under the spotlight. His two paraphrases de salon op.70 feature excerpts from Verdi. The first takes just part of the act two finale of Il trovatore, from a dramatic introduction based on the count’s sudden entry and on through e deggio e posso crederlo? The writing is quite Lisztian, not surprising considering their close friendship and it is effectively a virtuoso rendering of this multi-voice scene. A second Act two finale is next, this time la Traviata. Precipitous octaves announce the arrival of Germont, di prezzo degno while the chorus entry starts to light the fireworks. Simplicity is the rule when it comes to Violetta’s entry, Alfredo, Alfredo, but Raff really lights the touchpaper as the whole company join in. I love that Micieli has returned to the original and adds the more complex bass line into the paraphrase that Raff chose not to write. Micieli had a huge hand in preparing another Traviata paraphrase, this time the divertimento by Bologna born pianist Stefano Golinelli. I cannot find a score but the booklet says that Micieli extensively revised it. After a scherzo like opening Golinelli concentrates on Violetta’s aria e fors’ è lui che l’anima before heading to the final act and her duet with Alfredo, first Violetta’s de corsi affani then Alfredo’s Parigi, o cara, all with glittering decoration. The final Traviata fantasy is by another Italian, Adolfo Fumagalli. He died young but had great success, touring widely and achieving a level of fame for his left hand playing, leaving a series of works to testify to his abilities in that regard. His paraphrase, for two hands, concentrates on Alfredo’s despairing Di Provenza il mar which receives an elegant assortment of keyboard figuration; it deserves to be heard more often. Staying with Verdi we hear Eugenia Appiani’s ballade on Rigoletto with the requisite sparkling variations on the jaunty Questa o quella. The booklet just says that Appiani was a pianist and guitarist; beyond the fact that Ricordi published her songs and piano works I have found nothing to add to that other than she must have been an accomplished pianist. Returning to Il Trovatore we hear Eduard Biehl’s fantasy on themes from the opera and for the remaining items these are what they say on the tin; fantaisies on various themes rather than concentrating on one section or aria. Thus Biehl introduces a little of Act one’s Tacea la notte placida, Azucena’s Stride la vampa and the rousing Anvil Chorus. Biehl is another shadowy figure who seems to have left little in the way of biographical material but the prolific Alsatian pianist composer Ignace Xavier Joseph Leybach is better known though little of his output has been recorded – there are a couple of 78s of his 5th Nocturne but he was mostly recorded on piano reproducing rolls. His catalogue lists fantasies based on operas by Friedrich Kücken, Louis Clapisson, Charles Lecocq and Emile Paladilhe but he explored more familiar repertoire too, Mozart, Verdi, Donizetti and Meyerbeer amongst these. Micieli treats us to two of his grand fantasies based on the Bellini, I Puritani and Norma. His I Puritani features the duet Il rival salvar ti dei and the tender A te, o cara before finishing in grand style with Elvira’s stirring polonaise Son vergin Vezzosa. He goes on to put Casta Diva at the heart of his Norma paraphrase and brings in Deh! Non volerli vittime towards the end but for all its strengths it is not the epic journey that Liszt takes us on in his réminiscences de Norma. Our final composer, Ferdinand Beyer, has remained a little better known if only for his Vorschule im Klavierspiel, the pedagogical work that is still occasionally used. His fantasies have fared badly though and so the third of his brilliant fantasies after Bellini, based on I Capuletti e I Montecchi is welcome. Romeo’s se Romeo t’uccisi un figlio is heard after the prerequisite dramatic introduction and the trio that follows in the opera, si, fuggire is played with several variations. Guilietta is represented by Oh! Quante volte and Beyer chooses the orchestral portion of the Capuletti’s Act one chorus Lieta notte to form the brilliant finale.
The only reservation I have is with some of the booklet notes; writer Emer Nestor describes Appiani’s Rigoletto fantasyas being based on La donna è mobile where it is in fact Questa o quella. Raff’s Il Trovatore paraphrase doesn’t take the opera’s most iconic themes, it concentrates on a specific moment in the opera and Fumagalli’s fantasy is based on Alfredo’s Di Provenza il mar not Violetta’s e fors’ è lui. I have no issue with the music or the playing however. There is quite a variety here though admittedly there are some similarities; the flamboyant introduction serving the double purpose of setting the scene for the audience and laying down the gauntlet to other pianists. The lyrical aria or aria given the variation treatment in various degrees of frothy, sparkling figuration and the let-it-rip finale but in the hands of a talent like Ruben Micieli these pieces shine brightly and would please any fan of Liszt or Thalberg; certainly they are not the ten-a-penny variations that some earlier pianists would churn out. Micieli enhances them with some of his own touches; the bass line I mentioned earlier but also some other voice parts in the Leybach paraphrases and I find him a wonderful exponent and champion of this music and I hope he introduces us to more rarities from the romantic repertoire. This is a thoroughly enjoyable disc.
Rob Challinor
Contents
Eduard Biehl (1824-1895)
Fantaisie Dramatique sur “Il Travatore” de Verdi Op.8 (publ.1854)
Ignace Xavier Joseph Leybach (1817-1891)
Fantaisie Brilliante sur “I Puritani” de Bellini Op.48 (publ.1862)
Fantaisie Brilliante sur des motifs de l’Opéra “Norma” de Bellini Op.65 (publ.1864)
Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
Deux Paraphrases de Salon, d’après Verdi Op.70 (1857)
Stefano Golinelli (1818-1891) arr. Ruben Micieli
“La Traviata” di Verdi, Divertimento Brillinate Op.93 (1853)
Ferdinand Beyer (1803-1863)
Trois Fantaisies Brilliantes sur des thèmes des opéras de Bellini Op.50 (publ.1842)
No.3 I Capuleti e I Montecchi
Adolfo Fumagalli (1828-1856)
Melodia variata su “La Traviata” di Verdi Op.98 (publ.1854)
Eugenia Appiani (1820-1870)
Ballata nell’opera “Rigoletto” di Verdi (publ.1850)
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