Reviews

“The essence of the transcriptions is for the likes of Liszt to show off their technique and there’s oodles of that on display here, but without neglecting the music’s emotional content. The only exception that I thought at first I was going to make concerns the Liebestod – initially it seemed a trifle understated, but that makes the emotional fireworks all the more effective when they explode. Though I’m not a great fan of Maria Callas, I missed her voice in Casta Diva, but this is as good as it gets in piano transcription.

One listener at Amazon has already given this a rave 5-star review and I see no reason to demur. If you’re happy to pay in dollars, however, CD Baby offers the better deal – their price of $8.49 is slightly less than amazon.co.uk’s £7.49 and though they don’t offer the pdf booklet which I received for review, they do include all the sleeve-notes on their web-page and they offer 320kb/s mp3, as received by me for review, rather than Amazon’s usual 256kb/s, and even lossless flac. The recording sounds fine, if a trifle close and Andrew Wright’s notes cast light on an area of the repertoire with which I was all too unfamiliar.

There’s an increasing tendency for artists to publish their own recordings without benefit of a label. If they were all as good as this, we wouldn’t need the record companies.

For another experience of the same kind, try the first volume of the projected Toccata Classics planned series of Wagner arranged for the piano by August Stradal and performed by Juan Guillermo Vizcarra (TOCC0151 – download in mp3 or flac from toccataclassics.com: see review by Nick Barnard).”

I found his Concert Fantasy on La Forza del Destino very convincing, especially as this is an early work by this composer. It provides plenty of opportunities for virtuosic display by the performer. Andrew Wright plays with a really glittering tone in the brilliant right hand accompanying passage-work and he also shows a good grasp of the music’s episodic structure. I particularly enjoyed the first of the two Thalberg transcriptions, A te, o cara from I Puritani. This piece contains much expressive and decorative music, attractively played here by Andrew Wright who always allows the melody to sing through the texture however complex.

Liszt’s transcriptions of Wagner are of course very well-known, and Wright is particularly successful with a through-composed work such as Isolde’s Liebestod. There is more drama here than in those pieces which consist basically of a succession of largely unconnected themes, often associated with Italian opera of this period. However he adopts a rather slow tempo for the main theme of the Liebestod which is fine for a singer who has a better possibility to sustain the tone, something rather more difficult to achieve on a piano. However there is a real sense of drama here. Wagner, Liszt and Wright together achieve a massive climax at the music’s climactic point, and Isolde’s Liebestod is the highlight of the disc for me. Probably this is because the work is created from one of the greatest pieces of music of the late nineteenth century!

I felt that Wright was really at his best when performing his own arrangements. I really enjoyed his fabulous and rich sounding piano in Thalbergiana, with its judicious mix of romantic melody and pianistic acrobatics. We hear beautifully expressive playing, excitement and drama in his version of Bellini’s La Sonnambula, and Wright concludes his performance with a fine flourish of powerful virtuosity. Similarly virtuosic and entertaining is Wright’s Concert Fantasy on Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable, and this makes for a superb climax to a fine and interesting disc.

The entire programme is superbly and thrillingly played and the music is full of interest, including some unusual repertoire. The excellent recording copes magnificently with the vast range of tone colour and dynamics demanded by the pianist. This is a disc well worth hearing. Highly recommended.”

His goal has been to bring together those virtuoso ‘duellists’ Liszt and Sigismund Thalberg, with a special brief for the latter in his bicentenary year (2012). Thalberg’s Concert Fantasy on La Traviata makes a gripping centerpiece – not least because of an immensely sustained high trill – alongside Liszt’s glorious version of Isolde’s Liebestod. And his rendering of Bellini’s aria Casta diva sounds like a Chopin nocturne, fascinatingly reversing the direction of influence.”

“Even so, this is a disc that seems warmly familiar the first time one hears it: The operatic melodies are part of the cultural vocabulary, as is the ornate, virtuosic garb in which they are presented. There’s no point in recording a program like this one without panache, and this Scottish pianist sells the repertory in question to listeners without cheapening it. He’s a very capable pianist too, although some of the playing on this disc hardly can be called effortless. The peroration of his La sonnambula fantasy, for example, suggests a heroine not in slippers but in sensible shoes as she gingerly picks her way down the staircase leading from the old village mill. On the other hand, the transcription of the “Evening Star” aria from Tannhäuser really sings, and this is doubly difficult because Wright does not seem particularly enamored of the sustaining pedal. In other words, throughout this recital he doesn’t cheat nearly as much as he might!

Wright is a pianist-scholar, and he penned the booklet notes that accompany this release. He writes that his “introduction to this corner of the repertory came through Earl Wild’s 1964 recording of Thalberg’s Don Pasquale Fantasy – a delightful performance which elevated lightweight music through charm and panache.” Wright doesn’t have Wild’s agility, nor his wit, but these sincere, well-prepared performances have much in their favor, and collectors who enjoy this sort of thing should find Wright’s contributions to this genre, both as a pianist and as a performer, enjoyable, as long as their expectations are not unreasonably high.”

“He has a particular interest in semi-forgotten composers of the Romantic era and has made a detailed study of 19th century piano transcriptions, an interest that is shown by this new disc. The arrangements and transcriptions included here are by Martucci, Thalberg, Liszt and Andrew Wright himself.

The Italian composer conductor, Giuseppe Martucci (1856-1909), has received a higher profile in recent years following many recordings of his works. The fact that he did not write operas tended to add to his relative neglect over the years. Here, however, we have his take on Italy’s greatest operatic composer, Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). His Concert Fantasy on Verdi’s La Forza del destino receives its first commercial recording here. Full of decorations and rippling scales that weave around Verdi’s themes, it is finely played by Andrew Wright, who reveals it to be a very attractive piece in its own right, full of unexpected variations.

Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871) is a name that many will know but few will have heard, except perhaps his Piano Concerto in F minor, op.5. Here we have his transcription of Vincenzo Bellini’s (1801-1835) A te, o cara from I Puritani which receives a lovely, gently flowing performance, subtly rising and falling throughout its duration with some fine decoration.

Wright then gives us his own arrangement of Bellini in his Fantasy on Bellini’s La Sonnambula, a piece that has a flamboyant, Lisztian opening before moving to a calmer, flowing presentation of the theme. Again there are fine decorations in this attractive fantasy. Part way through there is a rollicking theme that is given a terrific performance with some terrific right hand scales and decorations. Quite a formidable piece, formidable playing.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886), perhaps the finest arranger of other composer’s works is represented by two pieces, firstly his transcription of Richard Wagner’s (1813-1883) Recitative and Romance: O, du mein holder Abendstern from Tannhäuser. It opens full of mystery before the main theme appears in this remarkably restrained arrangement. Where the music does open out, Wright displays great sensitivity in this lovely performance.

Perhaps the most well-known of Liszt’s Wagner arrangements is his transcription of Isolde’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. This is not an easy work to pull off, with Liszt’s difficult approximations of orchestral sounds. Wright deftly takes the music from its quiet, tentative opening through the slowly increasing drama and passion to its calm conclusion. Beautifully done.

For his own tribute to Thalberg, Thalbergiana, Andrew Wright takes the closing theme from Thalberg’s Don Pasquale Fantasy. It moves from a gently rocking theme, through some pretty virtuosic passages with Wright not sparing himself in this terrific piece.

Wright brings more Thalberg with his Concert Fantasy on Verdi’s La Traviata where he brilliantly follows all the little details of the various themes. Thalberg dovetails Verdi’s themes together so well, some of which are subjected to attractive right hand decorations. Again there is writing of some virtuosity to which Wright responds magnificently – particularly towards the end.

Calm is restored with another Thalberg transcription, this time of Bellini’s Casta diva from Norma where Bellini’s famous melody is simply, yet beautifully presented. Wright shapes the melody and all its subtle harmonies so well.

This fine recital concludes with Wright’s own Concert Fantasy on Giacomo Meyerbeer’s (1791-1864) Robert le Diable. There is a spectacular opening before continuing with a lively, robust manner in this piece which contains many attractive themes nicely juxtaposed. There are more extremely taxing passages for the pianist, which Wright throws off with panache and abandon.

This is a disc to sit back and enjoy whilst marvelling at the many moments of virtuosity. It is nicely recorded at Reid Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland and has excellent booklet notes by Andrew Wright.”

“Given his espoused repertoire and his contribution to it, one feels as if he is situating himself in the continuum of that tradition; thus hyphenated Wright takes its place alongside hyphenated Liszt and Thalberg, and that represents something of a Himalayan challenge to Wright’s credentials. It’s a measure of his aplomb that his own transcriptions fail to wilt even in the glare of such declamatory historic precedent.

He finds the drama and pathos in Martucci’s concert paraphrase on Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, complete with a fine admixture of filigree and Lisztian panache. This is, apparently, its first commercial recording. Thalberg’s transcriptions of the two Bellini pieces are interesting, revealing different sides to his musical personality. A te, o cara from I Puritani is the first in Thalberg’s instructive set of vocal melodies rearranged for piano, called L’art du chant appliqué au piano , Op.70 The Casta diva paraphrase is a lovely, warmly hued work and receives a commensurately fine performance. It too derives from the Op.70 set but is more intricately deployed with the melody lines skittering from hand to hand. The La Traviata concert fantasy is a later work, cross-pollinated by Lisztian influence but containing gravity and refinement as well as virtuosic power.

Wright plays the Wagner-Liszt O, du mein holder Abendstern from Tannhäuser with dynamism, respecting Liszt’s unusually non-interventionist approach but for all the bravura there is also an awareness of the sheer musical refinement involved, qualities amplified in the Liebestod . Andrew Wright’s own fantasies sit co-operatively in the genre. The Fantasy on Bellini’s La Sonnambula bows to both Liszt and Thalberg as inspirations and fuses them into a conception that relishes the powerhouse drama as well as the refined moments of elegance enshrined in it. The bass detonations are certainly vivid. Stand by! Thalbergiana is a tribute to the great man which was partly inspired by Earl Wild’s recording of Thalberg’s Don Pasquale fantasy. And lastly there is the verve and panache to be relished in Wright’s unbridled Concert Fantasy on Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable .

These spirited readings receive good recorded sound and Wright’s own notes cap his recital with insightful commentary.”

The first item, a fantasy by Giuseppe Martucci (1856–1909) on Verdi’s La forza, certainly sets forth what is to come. There is little trace of the studio about the later stages of this performance. Martucci sits in the line of Thalberg (his teacher was a pupil of Thalberg). This is the first commercial recording, and most welcome it is. Relabeling the moods of some of the themes is a notable device here.

Thalberg was a great pianist, and his warm, affectionate transcription of “A te, o cara” from Puritani is a joy; ditto the impressively restrained transcription of “Casta diva,” which gently but inevitably swells, like a wave. Wright throws himself into this heady list of transcribers with his own Fantasy on “La sonnambula,” and it is clear from the start that he is not holding back. This is a lovely performance of a lovely piece. As Wright points out in the booklet, both Liszt and Thalberg wrote pieces on themes from this opera, and Wright has openly taken techniques from both to produce his own effort. There is not a hint of schmalz anywhere.

The two Liszt items are rightly well known amongst pianists. From Tannhäuser, the tissue-delicate arpeggiations early on are pure joy; the melody, when it comes in the tenor register, is beautifully projected by Wright, the accompaniment around it wonderfully tender. The crash that opens the Liebestod transcription jolts us to another world. There is plenty of recorded competition here, but Wright can keep his head high in a performance as powerful as this. (Plus, of course, most of that competition is not coupled with eight other transcriptions.)

Andrew Wright’s own Thalbergiana is a tribute to Earl Wild’s 1964 recording of Thalberg’s Fantasy on Don Pasquale, and to celebrate this Wright takes the closing theme from Thalberg’s Fantasy and allows it to blossom in another direction—a great idea, totally in keeping with the spirit of the paraphrase itself. If Thalberg’s take on La traviata is more weighty and, in the final analysis, more expert, part at least of that impression must be due to the devotion of Wright’s account, which includes some simply delicious filigree. Thalberg’s imagination relating to texture is particularly interesting, plus he captures that specific aspect of melancholy that permeates Verdi’s score.

The production of Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable at Covent Garden in late 2012 was one of the highlights of the operatic scene in London in recent years, and there is a splendid DVD to go with it. My only regret about Wright’s Fantasy is that it is a mere five minutes. Wright begins with what he describes as a “musical joke,” a sequence of interlocking tritones (the “diabolus in musica”). This performance can only be described as fierce, a fitting end to a disc with leonine aspirations.”

“Back in the nineteenth century, not everyone could afford the time and expense of visiting the cultural centres of Europe. At the same time, there were few provincial orchestras. But what did exist was the grand piano. As the century progressed, this instrument was found in a greater number of houses and institutions. It was possible to hold recitals in the remotest parts of the country and for music-lovers to turn up to hear the famous virtuosos play original pieces and reworkings of the classics.

Take Liszt for example. He made transcriptions of, for example, Beethoven’s Symphonies, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Hummel’s Septet. These arrangements could be played at any venue and would enable provincial audiences to hear works denied to them by time, money and social standing.

If it was prohibitively expensive to promote an orchestral concert, how much more so was it to stage an opera. One cannot imagine many performances of Wagner’s Rienzi or Verdi’s Il Trovatore in Rochdale, Lyme Regis or Ryde, Isle of Wight in those days. Yet Liszt visited these three places and many more on his tours of the United Kingdom.

It was an opportunity to hear the ‘famous’ tunes re-presented. So, I changed my mind, and now enjoy and appreciate this genre.

It is not the place to define a concert paraphrase and its cognates (transcription, arrangement, fantasia, réminiscences etc); they all tend to shade into each other. However, as a rule of thumb it can be regarded as a composer taking an opera (or similar) and using extracts, often the ‘best bits’, to build a new composition.

Frequently, it is a string of pearls with emphasis placed on the tunes rather than subjecting a theme to development. Free forms are often used, although it is possible to utilise a rondo or modified sonata or cyclic forms. If the composer is a piano virtuoso (and most that contributed to this genre were) they will include horrendously difficult technical passages, ‘update’ the harmonies and generally make the work spectacular and jolly difficult.

The catalogues of piano music contain many composers who produced ‘Operatic Transcriptions’: these include Franz Liszt, Moritz Moszkowski, Carl Tausig, Percy Grainger, Sigismond Thalberg, Louis Brassin and Paul Pabst.

The CD opens with Alfred Jaëll’s romantically conceived ‘Réminiscences de Norma’, op.20 based on Vincenzo Bellini’s famous opera. It has been compared to the better-known work by Liszt, but Jaëll also includes the beautiful aria ‘Casta diva’ which was omitted by the Hungarian.

The first piece that the present soloist Andrew Wright has transcribed for this disc is ‘Col sorriso d’innocenza’ from Bellini’s Il Pirata. 

This opera was composed in 1826. Wright has produced more of an arrangement here, keeping to a literal interpretation of the score which is restrained and quite beautiful.

Theodor Leschetizky’s Andante Finale de Lucia di Lammermoor after Gaetano Donizetti, op.13 is written for left-hand alone. It is one of the calmer (but most certainly not easier) pieces on this CD.

Sigismond Thalberg is one of the ‘big names’ in the world of operatic transcriptions. His catalogue is full of Fantasies and Grande Fantasies on a wide range of operas and other musical works. The present piece, Fantasie sur Mosè in Egitto, after Gioachino Rossini is massive in its construction and effect. There are horrendously complex pianistic configurations including fiendish octave passages, ‘sweeping arpeggios’ and extremely fast chromatic melodic patterns. I followed this piece with the score: it is utterly amazing!

Liszt is represented by two works in this disc. First up, is Lohengrin’s Admonition (‘Athmest du nicht’) after Richard Wagner. The opera itself was premiered in Weimar during 1850 with Liszt conducting, due to the composer being in political exile. It is a beautiful, ‘shimmering’ version of the tune: more a ‘literal transcription’ than a paraphrase. The other Liszt work is the Fantasy on Themes from Rienzi: it is the final number on this CD. Liszt wrote this work in 1859, eighteen years after the opera was premiered in 1841. The Fantasy makes use of three themes from the opera, including the ‘prayer theme’ from Act 5. It ends in a ‘tumultuous flurry of octaves and chordal hammer-blows.’

The second of Andrew Wright’s contributions to the genre is his paraphrase on Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Miserere’ from Il Trovatore (1853).

Wright has enumerated the technical devices used: “subsequent thematic material is liberally embellished with tremolandi, arpeggios, trills, passages in thirds, and interlocking alternate hand chords and octaves”: he has used all the appurtenances of Liszt and Thalberg, such as heavy bass chords to imitate the tolling of bells and a hugely difficult ‘moto perpetuo’ in conclusion. It is a stunning addition to the ‘paraphrase’ genre. 

Theodor Kullak’s Cavatine de Robert le Diable, is one of a collection of a dozen operatic transcriptions, op.6. The liner notes remind the listener that “Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable was one of the huge Parisian operatic successes of the1830s…” and that it is hardly surprising that more than one piano virtuoso decided to use its material in transcriptions and arrangements. These virtuosos included Franz Liszt, Adolf von Henselt, Johann Peter Pixis and Sigismond Thalberg. Kullak is best recalled for his pedagogical works such as The School of Octave Playing. Recent years have seen Hyperion release his Piano Concerto in C minor, op.55. The present Cavatina is a worthy transcription that does great service to the original music.

The Concert Paraphrase on La Mort de Thaïs after Jules Massenet by Camille Saint-Saëns is a definite pot boiler. This work is in two-halves. The first presents rapid music leading towards Thaïs’ death. This followed by a quieter section that explores the well-known (hackneyed) ‘Meditation.’

The pianist on this disc, Adrian Wright has repristinated the genre of the Operatic Paraphrase. In his biographical note, it is pointed out that he “acquired the conviction that much of the conventional repertoire is overexposed, and that there are many hidden gems to be found in the works of lesser-known composers”. Based on this opinion, Wright has made a considerable study of music composed by ‘minor’ figures from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Wright’s playing is superb. The sound quality of the recording is ideally balanced: every detail from the most intimate arabesque to the hammered octaves is clear and undistorted. 

The liner notes are written by the pianist and are detailed, interesting and informative: I have relied heavily on them in this review, especially as some of these pieces are virtually unknown. 

Interestingly, more than half of these ‘paraphrases’ are receiving their “first commercial recording”.

I would recommend not listening to this CD from end to end. The style of these pieces can be overwhelming. I suggest savouring one or two at a time.

Finally, I have never been a huge enthusiast of opera. I reach my limit of enjoyment with Franz Lehar and Gilbert and Sullivan. However, I love many of the famous tunes from the works by the operatic masters. Andrew Wright’s The Operatic Pianist is the way I like to hear my opera ‘dished up’.”

“One need go no further than their on-line catalogue (www.divineartrecords.com) and perusing its hundreds of titles, many showing composers one might or might not recall from one’s dreaded days in Music 101 in college.

Cases in point: Alfred Jaëll…Theodore Leschitizky…Even the name of Sigismund Thalberg sent us running to our Grove’s Dictionary of Music in order to jug one’s fading memory bank. Ah, yes! The big rival of Liszt’s!

Were it not for the larger than life musical labor of love of Scottish pianist Andrew Wright this album would have not been made. But love is not only what is at play in this CD (dda25153) but, rather, the pianistic prowess and large scale musicianship of Mr. Wright, who (begging the reader’s forgiveness for the pun) is simply the right artist for this job.

Through 67 minutes plus and nine tracks of 19th century piano music, Andrew Wright dazzles with his command and conquest of the pianistic mine fields of Liszt’s Fantasy on Themes from Wagner’s Rienzi or the endurance test Thalberg creates for the pianist in the fifteen-minute fantasy on Rossini’s Dal tuo stellato soglio, from Moses in Egypt.

The demands this repertory places on technical wizardry, including interlocking and alternating and cross-voicing from hand to hand, extended passages using massive octaves, unending arpeggios, and its call for the stamina of a sportsman are beyond the reach of any but the most valiant of pianists. Mr. Wright is one such keyboard artist.

In Wright’s own transcriptions of Bellini’s Col sorriso d’innocenza from Il Pirata, and in his Miserere, after Verdi’s from Il Trovatore, the piano not merely imitates the technical accomplishments of the great singers of these composers’ times, but inventively evokes the legendary agility, the legato singing and the bravura abandon of Patti and Malibran and Grisi and Viardot.

I asked myself: if I was not familiar with some of the music that inspires these works, would I respond in the same way to more familiar stuff?

I ventured an answer as I listened to Meyerbeer’s riff on his own Robert, toi que j’aime from Robert, le Diable. The lyricism is there and, yes, the piano version absolutely satisfied me and then re-directed me to enjoy once more a familiar piece of music. Altogether a musical win-win proposition, I dare say.

Is this Salon or Concert music? Or can it not have the same function and fulfill expectations in both musical milieus? Can we listen past the technical challenges or are they the only thing by which we measure these compositions? 

These fantasies and paraphrases and reminiscences were conceived by Chopin and Liszt and Meyerbeer in the 19th Century – an era during which the salon played as important a part in musical life as the recital or concert hall. Any good music was good music back then and this music is good enough for me wherever it may be played.

Oh, how I wish to God it would get more play in the stultified concert venues of today, where the repertory encompasses just about everything from A to B and little else. 

In an age in which the “intellectualization” of concert programs (in Mr. Wright’s choice of words) has subjected the concertgoer to many hours of numbing sameness, these musical tours of strength provide entertainment and solace. Our artist’s website (www.andrewwrightpianist.com), his insightfully researched liner notes, and his sound cloud evidence that this extraordinary artist has made it a lifetime mission to unearth and cultivate this repertory. Heartfelt thanks are due him. 

Since the good people at Divine Art sent this CD on to us for reviewing I have played it over several times. And neither one of my two cats has left the room.”

“I vividly recall an intermission feature of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts in which the late Jorge Bolet delivered a lecture-recital—compressed into fifteen minutes—on Liszt operatic transcriptions, paraphrases and reminiscences, given Liszt’s great contribution to 19th Century pianism and his desire to extend the operatic repertory to those towns and villages throughout Europe that may have lacked an opera house. Nor was Liszt the only advocate for operatic “transmission” via the keyboard, since Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871) contributed his own share of virtuoso transcriptions despite posterity’s having granted the garland to Liszt.

Contemporary pianist and composer Andrew Wright (rec. 11-12 April 2016) provides us a set of nine opera arrangements for solo keyboard, beginning with Reminiscences of Norma by Alfred Jaell (1832-1882). The fluttering virtuosity of the piece does not attempt to rival Liszt’s own mighty transcription, but it does include Casta diva, here set as an arioso, dramatic jewel. The use of repeated notes in the treble has the earmarks of both Gottschalk and the pianola sound from silent film accompaniment. The music of Bellini receives direct treatment from Andrew Wright (b. 1967) himself, setting the bel canto aria “Cor sorriso d’innocenza” from Il Pirata, first with a con flauto introduction and then a literal application that tests the last two fingers of the right hand. Rare enough, the Andante Finale de Lucia di Lammermoor by Theodore Leschetizky (1830-1915) for the left hand testifies to the prodigious fluency of the great pedagogue’s digital dexterity, but to an adept version of the famous sextet from the opera.

Wright continues with the largest of the offerings, Thalberg’s Fantasie sur Mose in Egito, after Rossini, a transcription noted for its sheer breadth and seriousness of purpose. Besides potent declamatory passages, the piece proffers lyric, lulling sequences of scalar ariosi, built upon Rossini’s patented crescendos. The succeeding, swaggering melody and its treatment smack of Chopin’s bravura treatment of Mozart for his own Op. 2. The last section intones the same sauntering melody Paganini exploited—here, over rounded, glittering arpeggios—for his own purposes upon the G string. Typically, the dynamic increases, as do the spectacular pyrotechnics.

The music of Richard Wagner naturally adapts itself to keyboard representation, and Liszt arranges the Act III aria “Athmest du nicht mit mir die suessen Duffe?” or Lohengrin’s admonition, as a pellucid moment of joyous light. Liszt himself conducted the 1850 premiere of the opera in Weimar while Wagner hid in Switzerland, a fugitive from political unrest in Dresden. From his own improvisatons at the keyboard, Wright developed his own paraphrase on the Miserere from Verdi’s Il Trovatore, utilizing extremely thick chords and bass harmonies to invoke bells and even bird calls. The texture lightens as tremolos, trills, glissandos, dominate; then, the pesante affect reigns in huge spans interlock the hands in pounding octaves. The progression assumes its own ineluctable momentum that precedes the triumphant coda.

Theodor Kullak (1818-1882) set theCavatine from Meyerbeer’s Robert de Diable as one of12 Transcriptions, Op. 6. Here, Kullak receives his first commercial recording. The Meyerbeer opera had proved enormously popular to the Paris audience of the 1830s. The Act IV Cavatina receives the usual hyper-romantic effects, rife with huge chords and tolling bass ostinatos. Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921), like Liszt, had a great reputation as a virtuoso pianist, and Saint-Saens makes a fervent, horse-back approach to his introductory material for the Concert-paraphraseon Massenet’s Thais and its denouement death-scene. For half the piece, the music resembles a Liszt transcendental etude. Then a series of bell-tones in diatonic harmony announce the “Meditation” motif from earlier in the opera, a variant on Wagner’s love-death conceit.

Liszt has the last word, via his son-in-law Wagner, to conclude with most flamboyant means. Wright applies his formidable prowess to an 1859 Fantasy on Themes from Rienzi that includes the famous “prayer” motif—set in glorious Technicolor—and the martial passages taken from the overture. Liszt adds one more motif from the tribune’s sense of honor.

Stunning piano sound courtesy of Recording engineer and editor Graeme Watt makes the entire engaging and educational, at once.”

“An aspect that one looks for in performances of operatic transcriptions and paraphrases is lyricism, which is supplied in abundance by Wright. His warm tone and his ability to spin a legato phrase on what is essentially a percussion instrument are very impressive. Whether it is Rienzi’s Prayer in Liszt’s transcription or “Casta diva” in Alfred Jaëll’s Réminiscences de Norma, it is clear that Wright understands that singing is the heart and soul of the music. There is something truly vocal about his playing.

The other aspect that one expects in this kind of collection is élan, a sense of abandon and pure fun. These ever-popular arrangements are meant, after all, to be showpieces. It is in that area that I feel (as did Tuttle) that Wright comes up short. I don’t think this is a problem of technical limitations, although there are moments when he seems to be at the edge of his digital facility. It feels more like a matter of temperament, an approach to the music that is all too scholarly. There are elements of wit and bravura to these pieces, moments where the pianist should give the impression of “Look what I can do!” I don’t get that impression here. I have a recording of Raymond Lewenthal playing the Thalberg Mosé Fantasy in concert, and comparing the two versions shows the difference between all-stops-pulled-out showmanship, and a lovely but reserved traversal. It may well be a matter of temperament. Wright may just naturally be more attracted to, and in sympathy with, the lyrical element of the music.

Despite my reservation, however, I can recommend this disc. There are a number of first recordings on it (the transcriptions by Jaëll, Saint-Saëns, and Wright himself), and some others that are not often encountered. The beauty and warmth of the playing is likely to be sufficient reward for most listeners. Very natural recorded sound and superb notes round out the production.”

“So, when given the opportunity to review volume II, I thought it would be a good idea. Some of the works here are obviously well known (particularly the Liszt paraphrases) whereas others are receiving their first recordings (tracks 1, 2, 3 and 8). Andrew Wright is also a transcriber as witness tracks 2 and 6, thus explaining how they are first recordings.

The disc begins with Jaëll’s ‘Rèminiscences de Norma’ after Bellini, with the title stolen from Liszt’s work of the same name. I should also point out that the work is entirely different to Liszt’s masterpiece in that it utilises many of the themes which the older composer did not use – including the famous ‘Casta diva’. The piece is not as well constructed as Liszt’s work but it does go into some interesting and different corners of the opera via some interesting (and difficult) key changes and figurations. This is by no means an easy work and Mr. Wright copes admirably with its myriad difficulties. He possesses a fine ‘singing’ tone in his playing which suits this repertoire perfectly and shows up very well here, especially in the ‘Casta diva’ section of the work.

Next follows Mr. Wright’s own transcription of ‘Col sorriso d’innocenza’ from Bellini’s opera Il Pirata, a work I am completely unfamiliar with. This is another melodious and rather lovely aria transcribed very well and beautifully played with the same singing tone I mentioned earlier. Bellini obviously knew how to write appealing melodies of this sort as this work sounds almost like a second cousin to ‘Casta diva’, a fact which is noted in the booklet. Track 3 is the pianist and pedagogue Theodor Leschitizky’s take on the finale of Lucia di Lammermoor – also arranged by Liszt in his ‘Rèminiscences de Lucia di Lammermoor”. The basic shape of the work is similar to Liszt’s but has several major differences, chief among them that it is for left hand only. Again, despite the difficulties and that it is written for only for one hand, Mr. Wright plays wonderfully. As a little game, it would be good to play this track to someone and ask them how many hands are playing – they would probably say two!

Next follows the largest work on the disc, Thalberg’s ‘Fantasy on Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto’ which has been recorded several times by various pianists – if any work of Thalberg’s could be described as often recorded, this would be it. Here, various themes are woven together and turned into a showpiece of considerable difficulty. The playing throughout is exemplary, no difficulty is missed or fudged and the whole piece holds together very well. The sections in which Thalberg uses his favourite trick of arpeggios with the tune played with the thumb (the famous 3 handed effect) are especially well played and very clear. There are moments of calm here and these are handled extremely well too. I have the score of this work but have yet to try and play it and I have to say it looks really difficult on the page! The ending, with lots of octaves and big leaps is a ferociously difficult section but all is dispatched perfectly. Wonderful playing here! Next follows Liszt’s transcription of ‘Lohengrin’s Admonition’ from Lohengrin. This isn’t often recorded and when it is, it’s usually on CDs which include all of Liszt’s Wagner transcriptions. This is a quiet and meditative short work and only rarely becomes loud. It’s especially difficult to bring out the tune when playing this piece, but that is not a problem which occurs here.

There then follows Mr. Wright’s own paraphrase on Verdi’s ‘Miserere’ – this is obviously based on the same material as Liszt’s famous example but this makes the Liszt version sound easy! There is far more complexity here but it all works very well and it is is a real showpiece, with added bass rumblings and filigree ornamentation all over the keyboard. Next follows a real rarity – a transcription by Kullak of Meyerbeer’s ‘Cavatine’ from Robert le Diable. This is another work also known in an arrangement by Liszt. I’d say that, if anything, this transcription is more difficult than Liszt’s due to the number of notes. Liszt has simpler solutions he used to transcribe the work so that it could be used as an introduction to the infamous ‘Rèminiscences De Robert le Diable’ (famously recorded by Earl Wild). But I digress. While the atmosphere in Liszt’s version is peaceful and rather beautiful, the work here is spikier and more of a stand-alone piece which presumably explains why it is more difficult. There are some lovely moments especially around 1:00, but they are more harmonically filled out and seem odd if you are familiar with the Liszt version. Nonetheless, it is marvellously played and perceptively phrased and pedalled. Unsurprisingly, the ending is different to Liszt’s as obviously this does not lead into another work.

The following track is a complete surprise – an operatic paraphrase by Saint-Saëns! This is the first recording of the ‘Concert Paraphrase on La mort de Thaïs’, since unfortunately the excellent Geoffrey Burleson on the Grand Piano label has yet to get around to this. The short section following the opening of the work requires a lot of leaping about and much detail for a lesser pianist to struggle with. The bouncy section at 0:41 is very clearly projected and comes across very well. The piece is a medley type of paraphrase in which Saint-Saëns stitches various themes together to make a potted version of the opera. The opening of the work and what follows it is mostly loud and virtuosic up until it transmogrifies into a statement of the very famous ‘Meditation’. Here the piece suddenly changes tack – this is fantastically well done and a thoroughly wonderful performance of a beautiful theme sensitively transcribed by Saint-Saëns and played by Mr. Wright. After the ‘Meditation’ the more virtuosic tone returns before returning to more peaceful territory to provide a meditative and quiet ending to the piece.

The final track on the disc is Liszt’s only real concert fantasy on Wagner’s works – all of the other transcriptions are selections of one part of the parent work, be it an aria or an overture. This work seems to be gaining in popularity as it has been recorded more often recently. I really like this work and have played it many times; however; I’m unable to play it like this as it is taken blisteringly fast! Interestingly, the chords on the first page are stuck very hard and very short which is certainly different to anyone else’s playing of the work that I’ve heard, a technique which works well and is in keeping. Despite the speed, this performance is perfectly judged and the really hard bit at 5:44 (marked ‘un poco piu mosso’, which includes the right hand jumping about and the left hand playing chords interlaced with the right hand) is phenomenal. There is a little extra flourish following the cadenza but this does not affect the work in any way and actually works rather well. The work ends suitably virtuosically with some very clearly projected playing by the left hand and detail in the chords which is easily lost in the sheer exuberance at the end of the piece.

Overall, this is a marvellous disc, perhaps best heard in bits rather than in one sitting. The cover notes are interesting and informative and the recording quality is superb – well up to the usual standards of the Divine Art label. I should also say that Andrew Wright is clearly an extremely talented and versatile performer with a lovely tone and bagsful of virtuosity. I look forward to volume 3. Can we have some Tausig or Stradal transcriptions please?”

“Thus, Scottish pianist Andrew Wright presents the second volume of transcriptions for piano in the operatic field, including, in addition to performing those composed by Liszt, works from his bitter ‘opponent’ Sigismund Thalberg, from Alfred Jaëll, Theodore Leschetizky, Theodor Kullak and Camille Saint-Saëns and pieces by Wright himself. It is obvious that such a repertoire can be approached only by those who are able to be a great virtuoso, a refined psychologist of notes and musical nuances and a skilful storyteller.

All qualities that Andrew Wright proves to possess adequately. Therefore, not only opera lovers, but also those of great piano literature can only be impressed by these readings which includes the first recording of Saint-Saëns’ Concert Paraphrase on Massenet’s La mort de Thaïs.

The recording enhances the piano sound – dynamic, granitic, velvety at the same time, in all registers, the soundstage quite close with fine tonal balance even in the most convulsive passages and capable of expressing in detail the finest tonal nuances.

Artistic judgement: EXCEPTIONAL
Technical judgement: EXCEPTIONAL”