Arresting images and eloquent storytelling turn the concert hall into a musical art gallery.
In Venice, Liszt found gondoliers singing the epic poetry of Torquato Tasso, a Renaissance genius embraced in folklore. He said hearing their mournful song was like watching the reflections of the fading evening light on a mirror of water, and the music he was inspired to write transforms that simple beginning into glorious triumph.
Schumann offers abstract pictures in his fantasia-turned-piano concerto. Composed for his beloved Clara, the concerto is prized as much for its irresistible radiance and tender intimacy as for its bravura, which launches the soloist headlong into Schumann’s spirited poetry.
But it’s Mussorgsky and Ravel who turn the concert hall into an art gallery with music that promenades from one brilliant miniature to another. Exotic visions rub shoulders with earthy portraits and flights of fancy in this tribute to an artist’s imagination.
LISZT Tasso, Lament and Triumph
SCHUMANN Piano Concerto
MUSSORGSKY orch. Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition
Pinchas Steinberg conductor
Ingrid Fliter piano
Pre-concert talk by Felicity Glennie-Holmes in the Northern Foyer at 7.15pm.
Hear Ingrid Fliter in recital, performing Beethoven and Chopin (4 July).
AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 – LISZT Tasso, Lament and Triumph: 2nd motif
Orchestre de Paris conducted by George Solti
DECCA ELOQUENCE 478 0236 – Ultimate Liszt (5CD set)
Track 2 – MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade
Track 3 – MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition: The Old Castle
Track 4 – MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition: The Great Gate of Kiev
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0047
Audio kindly supplied by Universal Music.