F. LISZT (1811-1886)

Années de pèlerinage, deuxième année : Italie

1.    Sonetto 47 del Petrarca

2.    Sonetto 104 del Petrarca

3.    Sonetto 123 del Petrarca

F. CHOPIN (1810-1849)

F. LISZT (1811-1886)

4.    Six Chants polonais (dall’op 74)

Mädchens Wunsch

Frühling

Das Ringlein

Bacchanal

Meine Freuden

Die Heimkehr

J. BRAHMS (1833-1897)

Sonata in fa minore, op. 5

5.    Allegro maestoso

6.    Andante espressivo

7.    Scherzo: Allegro energico

8.    Intermezzo “Rückblick”: Andante molto

9.    Finale: Allegro moderato ma rubato

Registrato il 21 maggio 1986 al Teatro Grande, Brescia; configurazione bi-microfonica ad effetto di campo (Studio Fonè).

Recording engineer: Giulio Cesare Ricci.

Direttore di produzione: Giulio Cesare Ricci.

NIKITA MAGALOFF

Born in Petersburg in 1912, Nikita Magaloff began his studies in Finland (where his family had taken shelter after the 1917 revolution) guided by Alessandro Siloti, Liszt’s pupil and Rachmaninoff’s cousin and teacher. Afterwards he studied in Paris, under the guidance of Isidor Philipp. When he was 17, he obtained his diploma and was awarded the first prize. On this occasion, Maurice Ravel said about him «A great musician is born, a really extraordinary one». He achieved his first international success playing with Joseph Szigeti, the famous violinist. After the war he was one of the first musicians who played in Paris and, after 1947, in USA. Among the countless outstanding events of his career may be mentioned the first performance of Prokofiev’s «VII Sonata», that of Strawinsky’s «Capriccio» under the direction of the composer, «tournées» in Europe, USA, Japan and Israel. He has been often and regularly present among the judges of the most important international competitions (Leeds, Warsaw, Bruxelles, Lucerne) always alert to the eventual discovery of talented persons among the young generations. He recorded pieces of music from Liszt, Tchaikowsky, Weber, Strawinsky, Brahms, Granados and recently, Chopin’s «opera omnia». Nikita Magaloff is an unexcelled interpreter of Chopin’s works which he presented in the most important European cities.

Frédéric Chopin (1810.1849) / Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Six Chants Polonais (dall'op. 74) 

The second year of the Année de pèlerinagededicated to Italy, is judged overall to be the most important of the three. The whole series of the second year was published in 1858 and was preceded by two compilations which date from 1837 and 1849 respectively. On this recording the three Petrarca Sonnets are presented. The appearance of these Sonnets in Liszt's works dated back to around 1838 as lieder for voice and piano, which were later excellently transcribed for piano solo. In this instance, Liszt again demonstrates exceptional skill in the art of transcription, intended as a creation in its own right, original in style and musical language fitting to the new means of expression. His adherence to the poetic text is exemplary. The pieces tell of the first meeting with the loved woman (Sonnet 47), unhappy love and the discord within the poet's soul (Sonnet 104), and the apparition of the "angel woman", symbol of ideal beauty (Sonnet 123). The Six chants polonais (Six Polish Songs) from Chopin's Opus 74 (S. 480) were written by Liszt in 1847 and revised andpublished in 1860. They are dedicated to Princess Maria zu Holienlohe, daughter of Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein. They are six of the seventeen songs that comprise Chopin's original work composed between 1829 and 1847 and published ten years later. As in Schubert's lieder, Liszt's choice of text falls upon those where in lie the most emotional grip and maximum melodic beauty the two of which, as always, Liszt is able to combine with discreet tonal links and subtle transitions of atmosphere. In Liszt's choice of order, the Songs are: 1. Desire of the young maiden with which Chopin's collection also opens; 2. Spring (Op. 74 No 2); 3. The little ring (Op. 74 No 14); 4. Bacchanal (Op. 74 No 4); 5. My joy (Op. 74 No 12); 6. The Be-trothed (Op. 74 No 15). Once again Liszt demonstrates his skill as a transcriber, respecting the intimacy of Chopin's music and maintaining a subtlety in his pianistic writing.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Sonate in fa minore, op. 5 

From the pages of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik in October 1863, Schumann enthusiastically hailed the rising young star, Brahms, who at that time was twenty years old. Precisely in that period, the composer from Hamburg was completing the first, third and fifth movements of his Sonata in F minor (the second and fourth movements of which had already been finished prior to his fated arrival in Schumann's home). The Sonata in F minor, the most important of his three Sonatasfor piano solo, was destined to remain the last. The signature Kreisler junior(Kreisler the Younger) at the foot of the manuscript tells us much of Brahm's moral commitment to the continuation of the furrow laid out by the author of Kreisleriana. The Sonata is dedicated to the countess von Hohenthal. The unusual five movements seem to be linked to the old tradition of the divertimento. The sequence of movements alternates between fast and slow tempos, the latter being connected to each other by the identity of the thematic material. Even within a movement itself, particulary within the first which is entirely based on the continual sonorous flowing, passionate and vibrante, of the principal theme, we discover a Brahms already on the way to casting the fundamentals of that peculiar compositional technique, known as continual development, that was to become characteristic of his Symphonies. The search for an almost orchestral density of sound is evident here as in the rest of the Sonata. The nocturnal, contemplative and romantic atmosphere of the famous Andanteis connected with the equally suggestive Adagios of the Sonate op. 1 and 2, and redeems, with its intense yet pure and restrained pathos, the sentimental tone of Sternau's verses quoted at the opening of the movement: Evening is falling, the moonlight is shining, here are two hearts united in love: They remain embraced in happiness. These are lines which reflect the lonely existential period that Brahms was undergoing at that time. The rhythmically accented Scherzo is a typical Brahmsian creation, while in the Trio, a nostalgic cantabile prevails. Diversifying from the classical tradition, Brahms, at this point, inserts, as a fourth movement, an Intermezzo entitled Rückblick(Retrospection), which reechoes the theme of the Andante in the more sombre key of B flat minor. TheFinale, structured as a Rondo, has a rhythmically patterned principal theme wherein two lyrically cantabile secondary motifs are placed side by side with an unusual result. The second of these motifs (in E flat) gives rise to an extensive polyphonic and contrapuntal elaboration (here, already, these devices are seen to be in keeping with Brahm's severe nature). Finally, a brilliant coda, where the principal theme also reappears, concludes this monumental work in a climax of triumphant euphoria. 

Anna Bergonzelli 

English translation: Nicola Swallow