Moszkowski- barcarolle from Tales of Hoffman

[joeplaysthepiano]

This is a hidden gem, so I thought everyone might like it.  Let me know what you think!

[rachfan]

Hi Joe,

That barcarolle was very pleasant to hear.  You did a very fine job playing it too!  It's very lyrical and evocative.  I had never before heard a piano version of it.  Thanks for posting a piece "off the beaten path".  It's always a joy to hear lesser known repertoire here.  Horowitz used to play "Etincelles" and a couple of other Moszkowski pieces, but generally it seems that Moszkowski's music is not performed as much as it ought to be.  I know that Tales of Hoffmann was originally composed for orchestra by Offenbach, so I looked up Moszkowski's piano transcription in Hinson's guide to transcriptions and paraphrases.  There I also discovered that Busoni wrote a transcription of the Barcarolle too, but only as a 2-page encore meant as a parting joke to close a recital. 

[pianistimo]

seconded.  that was enjoyable to listen to.  i'd like to hear more forceful storytelling at the beginning - but when you get to the 'theme' it's really a great tempo you start with.  i'd make it get much faster instead of slower.  i don't know why.  i know bacarolle's are supposed to be kinda slow - but i like the effect of the main beats being slow and everything in between kinda fast.  like you are basically doing - but just with slight speeding here and there.  like you are doing at the end.