Sigismond Thalberg - L'art du chant (Paul Wee)

Information

Composer: Sigismond Thalberg

• L’art du chant appliqué au piano, Op. 70
• Three Schubert Lieder transcribed for solo piano, Op. 79a
• Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (Mendelssohn)
• Mi manca la voce, Op. 36 No. 3 (from Rossini’s Mose in Egitto)

Paul Wee, piano

Date: 2020

Label: BIS
https://bis.se/performers/wee-paul/sigismond-thalberg-lart-du-chant

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Review

L’art du chant appliqué au piano consists of 26 numbers published in four volumes between 1853 and 1863, each containing either six or seven arrangements from the song, opera or choral repertoire. These arrangements are not of the same order as those with which Thalberg dazzled audiences and is most commonly associated – the Fantaisies on Rossini’s Moses and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, for example. Here, he seeks to charm rather than astound. His very different and specific aim is to use the music of other composers as a means of developing the expressive powers of the piano, to turn it from a percussive instrument into one ‘through skill and artifice’, as Thalberg wrote in his introduction, ‘[to] produce the illusion of sustained and prolonged sounds, [and] also that of swelling sounds’ (his italics).

Paul Wee, whose thrilling debut recording of Alkan’s Concerto for solo piano created such a stir (11/19), is only the second pianist to record the complete Op 70, and this is the only version currently available. That in itself makes this a most welcome addition to the catalogue, though it is not something to listen to from beginning to end in a single sitting. First, Thalberg never intended it to be heard in that way; second, after a while, a certain sameness of texture, tempo and character is apparent – far better to sample a few at a time; and third, Wee, while ever the keyboard poet, does not invest every number with the same level of engagement or imagination: there are instances (notably in a couple of numbers in series 1 and 2) where he goes little further than reading from the piano rack.

The vast majority of performances, however, are revelatory, and must be the envy of many a full-time professional. In those numbers that have been recorded by others, Wee’s playing equals or surpasses them, the most popular being a case in point – the clever arrangement of the ‘Lacrimosa’ from Mozart’s Requiem. Often it is those numbers that are deceptively difficult that bring out the best in him: ‘Adelaïde’ (Beethoven), for instance, ‘Il mio tesoro’ (from Don Giovanni) and ‘Fröhliche Klänge, Tänze, Gesänge’ (from Euryanthe).

Disc 2 is completed with transcriptions of three Schubert lieder, Mendelssohn’s ‘Auf Flügeln des Gesanges’ and the ingenious version of the quartet ‘Mi manca la voce’ from Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto. Whatever one’s niggles over L’art du chant, the playing here is so magically good that I would buy this set just for these final five items. BIS packages the two discs in a box to accommodate the lengthy and superb booklet in three languages by the pianist. Wee has shown in this beautifully recorded release (producer Andrew Keener and engineer David Hinitt) that Thalberg is a far more important composer for the piano than current opinion would have it.

-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Nov/Thalberg-chant-BIS2515.htm

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2021/Feb/Thalberg-chant-BIS2515.htm

https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/instrumental/thalberg-lart-du-chant-applique-au-piano-etc/

https://limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/thalberg-lart-du-chant-paul-wee/

https://www.allmusic.com/album/thalberg-lart-du-chant-mw0003431663

https://www.amazon.com/Lart-Du-Chant-Paul-Wee/dp/B08JVR56JB

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Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was a composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.  In the 1830s and the 1840s, his style was a major force in European piano-playing and was imitated by many others. Between the late 1830s and 1850s Thalberg toured the world over with artists such as Bernard Ullmann, Strakosch and Henri Vieuxtemps, traveling to the United States, Brazil, Belgium, Holland, Russia and Spain. Aside from his dozens of piano compositions, many with orchestral accompaniment, Thalberg wrote several Lieder and two chamber works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismond_Thalberg

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sigismund-thalberg-mn0001801365/biography

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Paul Wee is a barrister specialising in commercial law and appears regularly before courts and tribunals on behalf of clients including governments, corporations, financial institutions and individuals. Born in Australia, he began his piano studies at the age of four, continuing them in New York City at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Nina Svetlanova. Having decided not to pursue a primary career in the arts, he went on to study law at the University of Oxford, attempting to balance his love for the piano alongside the demands of a busy international career in law.

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