Wagner-Liszt Isolde's Liebestod and my own composition

[ronde_des_sylphes]

From a piano school concert earlier this year. Recently I've had to make do with just camcorder sound quality for recording performances, so it was nice to have this recorded with proper equipment.

I've been playing these two pieces together in programmes recently as I feel they are an effective contrast.
 
I'd be grateful for opinions and feedback.

[olga_janina]

 

I love this piece and you play it beautifully.  Thank you.

[rachfan]

Hi ronde,

I really enjoyed your Isolde's Liebestod.  You played it very well--expressively and with command over its technical challenges.  Piano transcriptions can be difficult if the orchestral writing is too literally "translated" into a solo piano piece, making it less than pianistic.  Liszt, fortunately, being a virtuoso pianist, had a special talent for capturing the essence of orchestral writing, sound and coloration, while also making it playable on the piano.  Even at that, this is still a difficult work to play.  Your rendition is fine indeed.
Bravo!

Your own composition was also a pleasure to hear.  I braced myself for no melody, atonality or polytonality, disjunctive dissonance, cacophonous percussive sound, minimalism, or whatever else passes for "music" these days.  Was I ever surprised and delighted to hear that you had actually composed music rather than noise!  Your piece has charm, and even follows formal structure--A-B-A.  Hearing it just once, it sounds rather waltz-like.  There are some very interesting harmonic modulations, and some beautiful short cadenzas too.  The style is quite Neo-Romantic and this piece was like a breath of fresh air.  Obviously your audience greatly appreciated it as well.  Bravo! 

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to listen and comment.

I think the Liebestod is one of the very best transcriptions made - I also think that a lot of recordings by famous pianists do not do the piece justice; in my opinion common sins are being overly literal in approach and paying insufficient attention to voicing. I certainly wouldn't claim my recording is perfect, but I would like to think that for the most part it is a success in those areas. I hope to make a studio recording of it at some point.

My composition is written as an affectionate pastiche of the 19th paraphrase genre - I composed it somewhat under the influence of Earl Wild's remarkable 60s recording of Thalberg's Fantasia on Don Pasquale. Hence the prevalence of three-handed effects.
I've found that audiences have been most appreciative of it over the years that I've been performing it - it makes a gratifying way to finish a programme.

[olga_janina]

Thank you for posting it.  Although, I'd much rather hear it live!!  Maybe I should PM the rest.... lol