Hyperion Records

The Fantasia Dramática for piano and orchestra was dedicated to the Countess of Edla as an inspired form of thanks for all the support and attention given to Vianna da Motta during his musical development. It was composed in 1893 and first performed the same year in Lisbon at the Salão da Trindade with the composer as soloist and the Orchestra of the 24 of June conducted by Victor Hussla. As far as is known this was the work’s only performance until the same concert that saw the premiere of the A major Piano Concerto, just prior to this recording, where it was likewise performed by the same musicians as on this recording. This is a work of greater maturity and lyricism, where the composer is more comfortable with the physical requirements of the orchestra and the piano although the virtuosic demands of both are still deceptively high. There is also a better integration of the musical discourse, with an adaptation of the fluid structural forms of Liszt’s concertos. The three sections of this one-movement work are clearly definable and their interrelationships are equally transparent. This work already gives a hint of things to come, such as Vianna da Motta’s Symphony, his Invocação do poema de Luis de Camões Os Lusiadas (‘Invocation of the Lusiads’), his later works for solo piano, and his memorable collection of Lieder.

from notes by Artur Pizarro © 2000