Thalberg: Piano Concerto In F Minor / Souvenirs De Beethoven

Description

Sigismond Thalberg (1812-1871) Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 5Souvenirs de Beethoven: Grande fantaisiepour le piano sur la 7' Symphonie de Beethoven, Op. 39Nocturne, Op. 28 Canzonette italienne,Op. 36, No.5Un Soupir, Melodie variee pour pianoSome mystery surrounds the birth andparentage of the virtuoso pianist Sigismond Thalberg, popularly supposed tohave been the illegitimate son of Count Moritz Dietrichstein and the Baronessvon Wetzlar, born at P?óquis near Geneva in 1812. His birth certificate,however, provides him with less distinguished but relatively legitimateparentage as the alleged son of a citizen of Frankfurt, Joseph Thalberg and acertain and possibly pseudonymous Fortune Stein. There seems, therefore, noparticular reason to suppose the name Thalberg an invention. Legend, however,provides the story of the Baroness proclaiming him a valley (Thai) that wouldone day rise to the heights of a mountain (Berg). Thalberg's schooling took himto Vienna, where his fellow-pupil the Duke of Reichstadt, Napoleon's son,almost persuaded him to take up a military career. Musical interests finallytriumphed and he was able to study with Simon Sechter and with Mozart's pupilHummel. In Vienna he performed at private parties, making a particular impressionwhen, as a fourteen-year-old, he played at the house of Prince Metternich. By1828 he had started the series of compositions that were to prove an importantand necessary concoruitant of his career as a virtuoso. In 1830 he undertookhis first concert tour abroad, to England, where he had lessons from Moscheles.In 1834 he was appointed Kammervirtuos to the Emperor in Vienna and thefollowing year appeared in Paris, where he had lessons from Kalkbrenner andPixis.Paris in the 1830s was a city of pianists.The Conservatoire was full of them, while salons and the show-rooms of thechief piano-manufacturers Erard and Pleyel resounded with the virtuosity ofKalkbrenner, Pixis, Herz and, of course, Liszt. The rivalry between Thalbergand Liszt was largely fermented by the press. Berlioz became the champion ofthe latter, while Fetis trumpeted the achievements of Thalberg. Liszt, at thetime of Thalberg' s arrival in Patis, was in Switzerland, where he had retiredwith his mistress, the Comtesse Marie d' Agoult. It was she who wrote, underLiszt's name, a disparaging attack on Thalberg, to which Fetis replied inequally offensive terms. The so-called revolutionary princess, PrincessBelgiojoso, achieved a remarkable social coup when she persuaded the two virtuosito play at her Patis salon in a concert in aid of Italian refugees. As in othersuch contests, victory was tactfully shared between the two. Thalberg playedhis Moses Fantasy and Liszt answered with his new paraphrase fromPacini's opera Niobe. The Princess declared Thalberg the first pianistin the world, while Liszt, she said, was unique. She went on to commission aseries of variations on a patriotic theme from Bellini's I puritani fromthe six leading pianists in Patis,