LEOPOLD GODOWSKY (1870–1938)

Strauss transcriptions and other waltzes

 

1 Symphonic Metamorphosis on Künstlerleben after JOHANN STRAUSS II [14'55]

from Walzermasken 24 tone poems in triple time [13'50]

2 No 2 Pastell [2'05]

3 No 14 Französisch [2'42]

4 No 22 Wienerisch [2'56]

5 No 24 Portrait—Joh. Str. [6'02]

6 Symphonic Metamorphosis on Die Fledermaus after JOHANN STRAUSS II [11'04]

from Triakontameron 30 moods and scenes in triple measure [14'33]

7 No 4 Rendezvous [2'46]

8 No 11 Alt Wien [2'39]

9 No 13 Terpsichorean Vindobona [2'09]

10 No 21 The Salon [3'02]

11 No 25 Memories [3'48]

12 Symphonic Metamorphosis on Wein, Weib und Gesang after JOHANN STRAUSS II [12'02]

13 The Last Waltz OSCAR STRAUS; idealized version by LEOPOLD GODOWSKY [2'33]

 

Marc-André Hamelin - piano

 

Marc-André Hamelin’s programme is mostly devoted to Godowsky’s works based on themes by—or directly inspired y—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—in fact his playing on a recent disc (see below) was compared to that of Alkan and Liszt.

 

Triakontameron and Walzermasken are rarely performed examples of Godowsky’s original work, and continue the composer’s love-affair with the waltz—they are written entirely in 3/4 time.

 

The last work on this dazzling disc is an oddity—indeed, a rarity. Sometime prior to 1925, Godowsky made a piano roll of his arrangement of The Last Waltz by Oscar Straus (1870–1954), the Vienna-born composer. The eponymous Waltz is heard throughout the 1920 operetta. The music of Godowsky’s transcription was never published for some unknown reason—it is a uniquely appealing arrangement. In the early 1970s, Gilles Hamelin, the pianophile father of Marc-André, notated, arranged and edited The Last Waltz from Godowsky’s piano roll, which was then published in 1975. Shortly afterwards, a copy of the negative of Godowsky’s manuscript was sent to Gilles Hamelin. It was all but illegible, so Hamelin Snr. made a fair copy in his own hand: in almost every respect it tallied with the version he had transcribed from the piano roll.

 

Praise for ALKAN Concerto for solo piano / Troisième recueil de chants Compact Disc CDA67569

‘A performance of the Concerto of such brilliance and lucidity that one can only listen in awe and amazement. Scaling even the most ferocious hurdles with yards to spare, he is blessedly free to explore the very heart of Alkan’s bewildering interplay of austerity and monstrous elaboration … You can only marvel at such a unique mix of blazing if nonchalantly deployed virtuosity and poetic conviction … All of this is superly recorded and presented, prompting some not unreasonable conjecture: if Liszt feared Alkan’s mastery as a pianist he may well have feared Hamelin’s’ (Gramophone) ‘The sheer keyboard brilliance of Hamelin’s playing is exceptional. The breathtaking clarity with which he articulates even the most ferocious passages, while unerringly projecting melodic shapes that are often obscured under welters of notes, never fails to dazzle, and the way in which he sustains the huge first movement of the Concerto so that each discursive paragraph seems a natural consequence of what precedes it is a triumph of pure musical will’ (The Guardian *****) ‘Hamelin’s playing here is as breathtaking as ever—it is hard to believe that a lot of it is humanly possible—but, more than simply a dazzling panoply of notes, it conveys a deep musical and expressive range’ (The Daily Telegraph)

 

Hyperion CDA67626