Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, S382 (Liszt) - from CDA67948 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘This blissfully unhackneyed and brilliantly executed recital … the performance's sheer panache is as persuasive as the tonal refinement preceding it, and the recording throughout gives the players all the space and atmosphere they need to characterise the varied moods and textures of an unusually rewarding programme’ (Gramophone)

‘Something very special. Their choice of repertory here—devised as an extended upbeat to Adès's Lieux retrouvés at the end of the programme—is unusual, memorable, and wonderfully performed from start to finish’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Lieux retrouvés is some of the most enjoyable and readily accessible contemporary music you're likely to encounter … this music, like everything else on this recording, is brilliantly played by Isserlis and Adès. Unreservedly recommended’ (International Record Review)

‘Isserlis's brilliant recital disc with Adès makes an admirably integrated whole. The Proustianly titled Lieux retrouvés, which Adès wrote for the cellist and himself, is, in effect, a four-movement sonata whose figuration and part-writing knock at the door of the complex to seek the visionary. Isserlis is furiously lyrical and concentrated here, but no less so in the other works, which offer aptly Romantic-modern context for Adès's inspiration. Fauré's beautiful Second Sonata is dispatched not merely with superb elan, but with almost desperate intensity from both players’ (The Sunday Times)

‘Isserlis plays with almost tangible intensity and soul, while Adès finds charm and natural expression at every turn—a true musical dialogue’ (Financial Times)

‘There is an engaging emotional path running through, from the nostalgic resignation of late Liszt—three stark but lyrical transcriptions—to Adès' stirring title piece … the two men secure what Adès describes as the inner illumination and rapture of Fauré's 1921 Second Sonata, investing its Finale with the sinew and thrust of a younger Ravel’ (The New Zealand Herald)

Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth first saw life as a mournful lament in which the singer, shutting himself off from the world in the cloister at Nonnenwerth, bewails his abandonment. The song evidently held strong personal resonances for Liszt—not only because he was tempted by the monastic life, but also because the island of Nonnenwerth was a favourite holiday destination where he spent some summers with his young children before the family split up for ever. The fact that over a period of some forty years he made several vocal adaptations of this piece, as well as four versions for solo piano, one for piano duet, and this arrangement for violin or cello and piano, attests to his fondness for the work.

Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth fut d'abord une lamentation dolente dans laquelle le chanteur, retiré du monde dans le cloître de Nonnenwerth, pleure son abandon. Une mélodie qui, à l’évidence, éveilla en Liszt de fortes résonnances—non seulement la vie monastique le tentait, mais l’île de Nonnenwerth comptait parmi ses lieux de villégiature favoris (il y passa plusieurs étés avec ses jeunes enfants, avant que la famille ne se séparât à jamais). Qu’il ait, en quarante ans, multiplié les adaptations vocales de cette pièce, dont il réalisa aussi quatre versions pour piano solo, une pour duo pianistique plus le présent arrangement pour violon ou violoncelle et piano, dit combien il l’affectionnait.

Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth war zunächst ein melancholisches Lamento, in dem der Sänger, der sich von dem Klosterleben in Nonnenwerth abkapselt, seine Verlassenheit beklagt. Dieses Lied rief bei Liszt offenbar starke persönliche Resonanzen hervor—nicht nur weil das Mönchsleben einen gewissen Reiz auf ihn ausübte, sondern auch weil er auf der Rheininsel Nonnenwerth mehrere Familienurlaube verbracht hatte, als seine Kinder noch klein waren und bevor die Familie sich für immer trennte. Die Tatsache, dass er über einen Zeitraum von rund 40 Jahren das Stück immer wieder bearbeitete—mehrfach für Singstimme, vier Versionen für Klavier solo, eine für Klavierduo sowie dieses Arrangement für Geige oder Cello und Klavier—zeigt den Stellenwert an, den es für ihn einnahm.

Recording details: December 2011
Concert Hall, Wyastone Estate, Monmouth, United Kingdom
Produced by John Fraser
Engineered by Ben Connellan
Release date: October 2012
Total duration: 5 minutes 35 seconds

Cover artwork: Le Palais da Mula (1908). Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Private Collection / Photo © Christie's Images / Bridgeman Images

Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth, S382

Steven Isserlis (cello), Thomas Adès (piano)

Reviews

Introduction