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Track(s) taken from CDA67424

Les adieux – Rêverie sur un motif de l'opéra "Roméo et Juliette" de Gounod, S409

composer
1867
composer
1867; Roméo et Juliette

Stephen Hough (piano)
Recording details: May 2003
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Release date: August 2005
Total duration: 8 minutes 30 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Leslie Howard (piano)

Reviews

‘It's clear that Stephen Hough has technically and spiritually digested the first book of Années de pèlerinage to the extent that he can risk personalising certain pieces without sounding the least bit mannered’ (Gramophone)

‘Stephen Hough handles this more intimate side of Liszt admirably, with playing of great expressive warmth … as a bonus, Hough throws in Liszt's three operatic paraphrases from Gounod, playing the fine reverie after Romeo and Juliet quite beautifully, and tossing off the virtuoso transcription of the waltz from Faust with appropriate panache’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Always a fastidious pianist, Stephen Hough conjures subtle sonorities in these tender aquarelles … Hough's elegance minimises the music's vulgarity, while he is in his element in the dreamy fantasies on themes from Roméo et Juliette and the rare La Reine de Saba’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Even were Hough's technique less secure and Hyperion's engineering less realistic, this would be a major addition to the catalogue. As it stands, this recording of the first book of Années is the top choice’ (International Record Review)

‘Pianist Stephen Hough beautifully captures the requisite sense of Liszt's absorption in his self-created Romantic universe, as well as the heart-tugging emotions of his music … it's an exceptionally fine disc’ (The Guardian)

‘To play Liszt easily, you need at least three hands, but Hough, so brilliant in his recent Rachmaninov set, gets by magnificently with two … a valuable and highly enjoyable disc’ (The Times)

‘To be without the Hough version of the complete opera paraphrases after Gounod would be like missing the sweet afterthought, one that only a pianist like Stephen Hough can lure us into and then indulge us’ (Pianist)

‘Stephen Hough has once again excelled himself … the impression conveyed throughout the main work is one of immense musicianship and subtlety, in which the pianist shapes every phrase to make its point, allowing distillations of shade and nuance, a performance in which the composer is allowed to speak on his own terms without any intervening eccentricities or rhetorical extravagances’ (International Piano)
Liszt’s tribute to Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette is one of his most endearing fantasies. He really uses several motifs from the opera, all concerned with the partings of the lovers: the end of the balcony scene, the morning after the marriage, and the scene at Juliet’s tomb, taking quite small phrases to create what almost amounts to an original composition.

from notes by Leslie Howard © 1994

Le tribut de Liszt à Roméo et Juliette de Gounod est l’une de ses plus belles fantaisies. Il utilisa vraiment plusieurs motifs de cet opéra, tirés des scènes de la séparation des amants: la fin de la scène du balcon, la matin suivant le mariage, reflétant la scène à la tombe de Juliette, ne prenant que de courtes phrases pour créer ce qui devient quasiment une nouvelle composition.

extrait des notes rédigées par Leslie Howard © 1994
Français: Isabelle Dubois

Liszts Würdigung von Gounods Roméo et Juliette ist eine seiner entzückendsten Fantasien. Er gebraucht tatsächlich mehrere Motive aus der Oper, die alle mit dem Abschied des Liebespaares verbunden sind: das Ende der Balkonszene, der Morgen nach der Hochzeit, und die Szene am Grabe der Julia. In allen diesen Motiven gebraucht er ganz kurze Phrasen, mit denen er etwas schafft, was fast eine originale Komposition ist.

aus dem Begleittext von Leslie Howard © 1994
Deutsch: Angelika Malbert

Other albums featuring this work

Liszt: Complete Piano Music
CDS44501/9899CDs Boxed set + book (at a special price) — Download only
Liszt: The complete music for solo piano, Vol. 30 - Liszt at the Opera III
CDA66861/22CDs Last few CD copies remaining
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