Information
Composer: Franz Liszt
Ulf Wallin, violin
Roland Pöntinen, piano
Date: 2015
Label: BIS Records
https://bis.se/composer/liszt-franz/liszt-works-for-violin-and-piano
- (01) Grand Duo concertant, S 128
- (08) Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, S 382bis
- (09) Epithalam, S 129
- (10) Rapsodie hongroise XII, S 379a
- (11) Zweite Elegie, S 131bis
- (12) Romance oubliée, S 132
- (13) La lugubre gondola, S 134bis
Ulf Wallin, violin
Roland Pöntinen, piano
Date: 2015
Label: BIS Records
https://bis.se/composer/liszt-franz/liszt-works-for-violin-and-piano
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CDs are sometimes like buses - you wait ages for one and then two come along almost simultaneously. Liszt’s music for violin and piano is pretty obscure and no doubt lovers of Liszt and chamber music were delighted by the release recently of a recital by Voytek Proniewicz (violin) and Wojciech Waleczek (piano) on Naxos. That disc was given by a favourable review by my colleague Philip R. Buttall.
Now, a few months later BIS release a recital, with some repetition of works, by the highly regarded duo of Wallin and Pöntinen. Their previous recordings, which have included Schoenberg, Schumann and Reger, have been very favourably reviewed on this site.
This excellently executed recital commences with the highly impressive and virtustic Grand duo concertant using a theme by violinist Charles-Philippe Lafont (1781-1839). Lafont once came second to Paganini in a competition but died prematurely in an accident in 1839 when a carriage transporting him overturned. This is a splendid opener and full of fun and Hungarian fire. I can imagine it would make an unusual if slightly lengthy encore to a violin sonata concert.
Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth is a lovely romantic, yet wistful piece about an island in the Rhine that Liszt nearly bought. It was the scene of his last holiday with Marie d’Agoult and their three children in 1843 before the couple split up. This work, written forty years after the event, recalls this happy time with a strain of regret. The piece is probably better known for cello and piano and has been reviewed in this form several times on this site. I will certainly be tracking down a recording although I must emphasize the empathy achieved here by Wallin and the echo by Pöntinen.
Epithalam, like the first piece common to the Naxos recital, was written for the wedding of violinist Eduard Reményi (1828-1898). I should think Mr and Mrs Reményi would have been delighted especially if it was played as it is here. The liner-notes, including a lengthy piece on Liszt by Ulf Wallin, are very informative but do not say if Reményi played the premiere or whether Liszt accompanied him. Reményi was to have been the first soloist of Liszt’s Violin Concerto but it was either not written or lost.
Rapsodie hongroise XII illustrates Liszt’s mastery of this medium. This is not a straight transcription of the piano version. The notes use the words “impassioned” and this is very apt with real emotion in evidence as well as delicacy. The playing is simply superb and the renowned top-rate BIS recording quality captures the sound perfectly. On a first-class disc this is one of the standouts.
Elegie No.2 is one of a pair and is dedicated to Liszt’s first biographer Lina Ramann. I did wonder why the first Elegie, present on the Naxos disc wasn’t included. There would have been plenty of room. The first part “dolcissimo amoroso” is gentle and reticent before becoming more exciting. It then reverts to the more peaceful nature of the start.
Romance oubliée has an interesting history. It was originally a song “O pourquois done” written in 1843 but this version owes influences from “Canto religioso” in the second movement of Berlioz’s Harold in Italy; the composers were great friends. Like the song, this is a mournful piece and is here played with great feeling.
La lugubre gondola was originally written for piano, later for violin or cello and piano. When Liszt met his son-in-law Richard Wagner he had a premonition of his death six weeks later. Wagner called Liszt’s works “budding madness” which is interesting considering his own oeuvre. Looking up “lugubre”, I found definitions of doleful, gloomy, mournful and macabre which all seem apt for this piece which has the air of a dream of a coming tragic event. The full emotion of the foretold occasion is played with great sympathy sadly bringing this wonderful disk to a close.
This has been a superb collection to review, one of the best ever and I welcome it very warmly. The music is top class and I write this as one who is familiar only with the well-known Liszt pieces. The playing, recording and notes are also excellent and is another fine achievement by these artists. The result is that I want to hear more of this repertoire and that must surely be the final accolade.
-- David R. Dunsmore, MusicWeb International
Now, a few months later BIS release a recital, with some repetition of works, by the highly regarded duo of Wallin and Pöntinen. Their previous recordings, which have included Schoenberg, Schumann and Reger, have been very favourably reviewed on this site.
This excellently executed recital commences with the highly impressive and virtustic Grand duo concertant using a theme by violinist Charles-Philippe Lafont (1781-1839). Lafont once came second to Paganini in a competition but died prematurely in an accident in 1839 when a carriage transporting him overturned. This is a splendid opener and full of fun and Hungarian fire. I can imagine it would make an unusual if slightly lengthy encore to a violin sonata concert.
Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth is a lovely romantic, yet wistful piece about an island in the Rhine that Liszt nearly bought. It was the scene of his last holiday with Marie d’Agoult and their three children in 1843 before the couple split up. This work, written forty years after the event, recalls this happy time with a strain of regret. The piece is probably better known for cello and piano and has been reviewed in this form several times on this site. I will certainly be tracking down a recording although I must emphasize the empathy achieved here by Wallin and the echo by Pöntinen.
Epithalam, like the first piece common to the Naxos recital, was written for the wedding of violinist Eduard Reményi (1828-1898). I should think Mr and Mrs Reményi would have been delighted especially if it was played as it is here. The liner-notes, including a lengthy piece on Liszt by Ulf Wallin, are very informative but do not say if Reményi played the premiere or whether Liszt accompanied him. Reményi was to have been the first soloist of Liszt’s Violin Concerto but it was either not written or lost.
Rapsodie hongroise XII illustrates Liszt’s mastery of this medium. This is not a straight transcription of the piano version. The notes use the words “impassioned” and this is very apt with real emotion in evidence as well as delicacy. The playing is simply superb and the renowned top-rate BIS recording quality captures the sound perfectly. On a first-class disc this is one of the standouts.
Elegie No.2 is one of a pair and is dedicated to Liszt’s first biographer Lina Ramann. I did wonder why the first Elegie, present on the Naxos disc wasn’t included. There would have been plenty of room. The first part “dolcissimo amoroso” is gentle and reticent before becoming more exciting. It then reverts to the more peaceful nature of the start.
Romance oubliée has an interesting history. It was originally a song “O pourquois done” written in 1843 but this version owes influences from “Canto religioso” in the second movement of Berlioz’s Harold in Italy; the composers were great friends. Like the song, this is a mournful piece and is here played with great feeling.
La lugubre gondola was originally written for piano, later for violin or cello and piano. When Liszt met his son-in-law Richard Wagner he had a premonition of his death six weeks later. Wagner called Liszt’s works “budding madness” which is interesting considering his own oeuvre. Looking up “lugubre”, I found definitions of doleful, gloomy, mournful and macabre which all seem apt for this piece which has the air of a dream of a coming tragic event. The full emotion of the foretold occasion is played with great sympathy sadly bringing this wonderful disk to a close.
This has been a superb collection to review, one of the best ever and I welcome it very warmly. The music is top class and I write this as one who is familiar only with the well-known Liszt pieces. The playing, recording and notes are also excellent and is another fine achievement by these artists. The result is that I want to hear more of this repertoire and that must surely be the final accolade.
-- David R. Dunsmore, MusicWeb International
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Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, and music teacher. Liszt gained renown in Europe for his virtuosic skill as a pianist and in the 1840s he was considered to be the greatest pianist of all time. As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent composers of the "New German School". Some of his most notable musical contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and making radical departures in harmony.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt
***
Ulf Wallin is a Swedish violinist who was born in Växjö and grew up in Linköping. He studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Wallin has particular interest in contemporary music and close collaboration with composers such as Alfred Schnittke and Rodion Shchedrin. He has made numerous recordings for radio and television, and recorded over 40 CD recordings for BIS, cpo, EMI and BMG. Wallin is professor of violin at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin since 1996, and a member of the Royal Music Academy since 2015.
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulf_Wallin
***
Roland Pöntinen (born 4 May 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish pianist and composer. He studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm with Gunnar Hallhagen, then with Menahem Pressler, György Sebok and Elisabeth Leonskaya at the Indiana University, United States. Pöntinen made his debut in 1981 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and has since then performed with orchestras in Europe, USA, Korea, South-America, Australia and New Zealand. His solo record debut was on BIS in 1984. He has since made over 50 records as soloist, accompanist and with orchestra.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_P%C3%B6ntinen
http://rolandpontinen.com/
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulf_Wallin
***
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_P%C3%B6ntinen
http://rolandpontinen.com/
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