Strauss Transkriptionen &

L. Godowsky

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Cat No: CDA67626

Release Date: 01 August 2008

Label: Hyperion Records Ltd

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 034571176260

Genres: Classical Solo Instrumental

Description
Marc-Andre Hamelinâ€™s programme is mostly devoted to Godowskyâ€™s works based on themes byâ€”or directly inspired byâ€”Johann Strauss II. It is not intended to be a comprehensive survey but is, nevertheless, fully representative of Godowskyâ€™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-Andre Hamelin is, of course, no ordinary pianistâ€”in fact his playing on a recent disc was compared to that of Alkan and Liszt. Triakontameron and Walzermasken are rarely performed examples of Godowskyâ€™s original work, and continue the composerâ€™s love-affair with the waltzâ€”they are written entirely in 3/4 time. The last work on this dazzling disc is an oddityâ€”indeed, a rarity. Sometime prior to 1925, Godowsky made a piano roll of his arrangement of The Last Waltz by Oscar Straus (1870â€“1954), the Vienna-born composer. The eponymous Waltz is heard throughout the 1920 operetta. The music of Godowskyâ€™s transcription was never published for some unknown reasonâ€”it is a uniquely appealing arrangement. In the early 1970s, Gilles Hamelin, the pianophile father of Marc-Andre, notated, arranged and edited The Last Waltz from Godowskyâ€™s piano roll, which was then published in 1975. Shortly afterwards, a copy of the negative of Godowskyâ€™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.
Tracklisting