Godowsky - Strauss transcriptions and other waltzes
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JOHANN STRAUSS / LEOPOLD GODOWSKY
Godowsky - Strauss transcriptions and other waltzes
Marc-Andre Hamelin (piano)
[ Hyperion / CD ]
Release Date: Sunday 20 May 2012
Marc-André Hamelin's programme is mostly devoted to Godowsky's works based on themes by - or directly inspired by - Johann Strauss II. It is not intended to be a comprehensive survey but is, nevertheless, fully representative of Godowsky's finest reflections on the Waltz King.
In the three great Strauss transcriptions, Godowsky elevated the art of the piano paraphrase to a higher musical and pianistic plane; however, their extreme technical difficulty remains a striking feature and places them out of the reach of ordinary pianists. And Marc-André Hamelin is, of course, no ordinary pianist!
"There's no need for analogies about a surfeit of Viennese cream-cakes with this excellent CD: the musical inventions is so brilliant and varied, and the performance so coruscating, that one's attention is firmly held." (BBC Music)
"Countless inner voices and contrapuntal rejoinders abound in these works, and Hamelin makes them audible and clear… All told, a stellar achievement…" (Gramophone Editor's Choice - September 2008)
Tracks:
Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Johann Strauss: No. 1, Künstlerleben
Walzermasken No. 2 'Pastell'
Walzermasken No. 14 'Französisch'
Walzermasken No. 22 'Wienerisch'
Walzermasken No. 24 'Portrait Joh. Str.'
Triakontameron No. 4 'Rendezvous'
Triakontameron No. 11 'Alt Wien'
Triakontameron No. 13 'Terpsichorean Vindobona'
Triakontameron No. 21 'The Salon'
Triakontameron No. 25 'Memories'
The Last Waltz. Oscar Straus. Idealized version by Leopold Godowsky
Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Johann Strauss: No. 2, Die Fledermaus
Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Johann Strauss: No. 3, Wein, Weib und Gesang
