Liszt, Vallee d'Obermann

[rachfan]

This piece is from Annees de Pelerinage (Suisse).

Update: I deleted the CD cut (downloaded 68 times) and replaced it with the original tape recording for better fidelity.

[rachfan]

Vallee d'Obermann is a very dark, brooding and introspective piece but ends in great flashes of ecstacy.  It exhibits many innovative harmonies, as you will hear.  Liszt considered his skill with harmony to be his single greatest contribution to composition, for which he would be most remembered.  That self-assessment was probably correct.  Comments welcome.

P.S.  You might want to turn the volume up a bit.  It was either recorded a little too softly or the volume setting for the transfer from tape to electronic file might have been too soft, not sure which.  Turning it up solves the problem.

[prongated]

This is my favourite work from Annees de Pelerinage, along with Dante. You seem to have put a lot of effort in this, and prepared it thoroughly. Thanks for sharing!

...the E major closing section feels too choppy to me...I like more flow in this, essentially. You spread out the notes too much, and the line suffers from it. But this could be due to the recording quality and the fact that I have access to a Brendel performance I rather like. It's my only complaint upon first hearing, in any case.

I'd really like to hear this recorded with proper recording equipments - I can sense many wonderful ideas that the recording does not do justice to. And are you using an upright piano?

btw I don't think his skill with harmony is his sole great contribution to composition...there are many insane transcriptions and technically virtuosic works that he is much more famous for.

[rachfan]

Hi prongated,

Thanks for all your comments! In the Swiss years, Vallee d'Obermann is my favorite as well.  It's not an easy piece to play.  

To answer your questions, my piano is a 1984 Baldwin Model L Artist Grand (6'3").  Two months ago it was partially rebuilt (Ronsen-Wurzen hammers to replace the Baldwin-specified Renners (too shrill), Arledge Bass Strings to replace the Baldwin SynchaTone strings (too dull), and the treble steel strings are now Mapes International Gold, also the best (not sure what was there originally, but they were not as crystaline in tone as the Mapes IG wire now in place).  So with the new custom components, the piano sounds more vibrant and alive than it did previously.  

The recording process was analog--two condenser mics close to the piano, a third condenser mic farther back in the room for ambiance, all feeding a mixer box on the way to a cassette tape deck.  The tapes were eventually transferred to CDs, those were put into PC files in wav format, then converted to mp3 to meet the requirements of the this forum.  I sense that mp3 does rob some of the fidelity in its compressed format.   I hope to make some new recordings, but in digital mode to erasable CDs (for retakes, ha-ha!) to create the files, but I'm going to have to read up on the process to really understand it well.

I no longer have Vallee d'Obermann in my fingers, but if you could have heard it live, I believe it would have made a better impression.  The E major cadence you mention was a decision I made.  I don't take many liberties in playing a score, but I just preferred that momentary anguished delay before the resolution.  Thanks for not mentioning the wrong notes near the end of the coda!  The second half of the piece gets more athletic, and I think my energy by then was waning.

Re professional recordings, I have the Brendel for the Italian set.  He does a great job.  For the Swiss, I have Joseph Villa on the Second Hearing label, who is less known but does a superb job with these pieces.