# Operatic paraphrases



## Herkku (Apr 18, 2010)

All you opera fans! Many of you seem not to be interested in opera exclusively. How about operatic paraphrases for piano? Surely an obsolete art form, if the opera itself is not. I listened to those by Liszt, Tausig, Kempff, Brahms (!), and Horowitz, played by a Finnish pianist, Matti Raekallio (a teacher in the Sibelius Academy) this morning.

I find them quite entertaining. I had once an opportunity to listen Liszt's rendition of Wagner's Die Liebestode in a farm house, lying on my bed in the next room, played by a pianist just about finishing his studies, and the effect was tremendous! I had an urge to creep under the grand piano like George Sand, but resisted. It was fine enough from the next room.

My personal favourite among the operatic paraphrases is still the one of Norma, also by Liszt.

How about you?


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

As a pianist (eee...) and opera freak in one person I have heard quite many of such piano arrangements, because often after listening to opera I desire to play some particular fragments that I did like on piano. But most of the times I'm disappointed. Liszt? Sinfonia from Norma lost it's temper completely, two famous dances from Onegin also are devoid of their charm, some Wagner pieces are quite decent (Tannhauser overture) but in general I don't like it. 

I'm not fond of earlier operas (classical, baroque) so I can't elaborate on popular variations on themes and arias which were very fashionable in early XIXth century, but I guess that for someone that likes entertaining and light stuff they would be quite appropriate.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

I like the paraphrases of Liszt very much and think that they are often misunderstood. As a pianist, I acknowledge that in this kind of composition, Liszt was the best at what he did, far better than other composers like Thalberg, who's _Grand Fantasy_ sounds tame compared to some of Liszt's (I do like Sigismond's works though, like the _Don Juan_, it's just Liszt brings the term "paraphrase" to a completely new level).

Not to say that there isn't a lot of musical genius hidden in these works. I do find some of his paraphrases, like the one on _Rigoletto_ (which I've played and now despise), quite banal. I do love, however, the _Faust Waltz_, and had the pleasure of hearing it played at the Iturbi Competition, by Kopachevsky, in 2006. Even if it is not the most serious of works, it certainly highlights everything I like about transcriptions - not to mention that Liszt uses the more technical aspects of the work to produce an absolutely stunning array of color.

Now to the Wagner transcriptions. Of course, I like the _Overture to Tannhauser_, and there is a fantastic recording by Bolet here. I'm also a huge fan of Horowitz's recording of the Tristan und Isolde _Liebestod_, and have owned the November 1989 rendition for years. The orchestral quality that Vlad brings to the work is jaw-dropping. And I never even thought that the work was good.

Unfortunately, I have not heard the paraphrase on _Norma_. I'll admit that I'm not too familiar with operatic paraphrases in general, except a few of Liszt's and Thalberg's, and mean to explore them in the future. I'm eager to hear Leslie Howard's entire Liszt series at some point, too, which includes the paraphrases aforementioned.

If we're going to talk about Liszt _transcriptions_ though, then I can give a definite nod to Liszt-Schubert, which is absolutely gorgeous. There's also a collaborative work by Liszt based on themes from one of the Bellini operas, titled _Hexameron_ - and "featuring" Chopin, Thalberg, Czerny, and Herz. It's really good fun, and something I wish classical musicians had done more in the past.

Busoni also wrote some good operatic paraphrases, though they're not exactly on the same level as Liszt's. I really like the one he wrote on Bizet's _Carmen_. Though I much prefer his other transcriptions, especially the Bach ones...


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