Liszt - Opera Transcriptions

[donjuan]

Recently I bought a Dover publications book of Opera Transcriptions.  I LOVE IT!!!  

It includes:

"Sarabande and Chaconne from Almira, Concert Arrangement (Handel)"    "[Sarabande und Chaconne aus dem Singspiel ""Almira""]"

Reminiscences of Don Juan [Don Giovanni] (Mozart)    "[R‚miniscences de ""Don Juan""]"  

Reminiscences of Robert le Diable: Valse Infernale (Meyerbeer)    "[R‚miniscenes de ""Robert le diable"" /Valse Infernale]"

Overture to William Tell (Rossini)    [Ouverture de l'Op‚ra Guillaume Tell]

Reminiscences of Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)    [R‚miniscences de Lucia de Lammermoor/Fantaisie dramatique]

Concert Waltz on Two Themes from Lucia and Parisina (Donizetti)    [Valse de concert sure deux Motifs de Lucia et Parisina]  

Grand Concert Fantasy from Sonnambula (Bellini)    [Grosse Concert-Fantaisie aus der Oper Sonnambula]  

Reminiscences of Norma (Bellini)    [R‚miniscences de Norma/Grande Fantaisie]  

Concert Paraphrase of Rigoletto (Verdi)    [Rigoletto/Oper von Verdi/Concert-Paraphrase]  

"""Miserere"" from Trovatore (Verdi)"    "[Miserere aus ""Trovatore"" von Verdi/Concert-Paraphrase]"  

Concert Paraphrase of Ernani (Verdi)    [Ernani/Oper von Verdi/Concert-Paraphrase]  

"Waltz from Faust, Concert Paraphrase (Gounod)"    "[Valse de l'Op‚ra ""Faust"" de Gounod/Paraphrase de Concert]"

Polonaise from Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)    "[Polonaise aus Tschaikowskys Oper ""Jewgeny Onegin""]"



WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THESE PIECES?  I was thinking about starting Reminiscences of Norma, Reminiscences of Robert le Diable, or possibly the waltz from Faust.  

I would like to know some reasons to start or avoid these pieces.  Tell me about your experiences with Liszt's Opera Transcriptions.  

[ayahav]

Liszt is, as always, very technically challenging. Well - almost always... And the opera transcriptions were all meant to be pieces to he played while improvising on themes from the opera (which was then something that everyone knew - even servants used to go see the opera, and the tunes were sung and whistled by everyone on the street). So, the pieces are technically challenging. Liszt probably used these to woo ladies, because his appearance was horrid except for that... But if you think you can handle it, go ahead..

[comme_le_vent]

my favourites are robert le diable and norma.
i have the same score book, and you should be able to judge for yourself if they are within your range.

if you are anything but an advanced pianist, you should think carefully about learning these pieces because they will take alot of time to perfect. make sure the music is worth your efforts.

[donjuan]

Thank you very much for your replies.  There is one problem with the book- It doesn't contain Liszt's transcription "Reminiscences des Puritains"(bellini).  Does anyone know where to find this sheetmusic?
Thank you very much
donjuan  

[a romantic]

Does that edition have fingering in it?

[nicco]

Play the Ernani. It Rox 

[ronde_des_sylphes]

I have this book too, and am very fond of it. There is also a Dover book of Liszt Wagner transcriptions. Two fine additions to my music library.

[bennom]

Congratulations to an excellent purchase!!!!

I have it, it's so good (and cheap!). It's actually a reprint of an old russian edition, and I think it's excellent, and certainly reliable.

Now, I've played the Norma and the don juan. I recommend norma, because it not too common, the melodies are from heaven, and the piece has a dramatic "action", it's really rewarding to play in public.

It's a lot of work, but rewarding in the long run; technically, it's like a set of etudes: octaves, arpeggios, repetitions, scales, top voicing, etc; good things to practice anyway!

Some of the pieces in the book are just transcriptions, like the rossini overture and the tchaikowsky polonaise, and I don't think they are worth the effort.

The sonnambula fantasy is undisputedly an inferior piece, compared to norma, but it's kind of fun to hear.
The valse infernale (robert le diable) is brilliant, as is the rigoletto paraphrase.

Experts will argue that the don juan fantasy is the best piece of music, and it may be so. I think it's overplayed.

Anyway, the book you just bought will keep you busy for a while...

[donjuan]

wow what an old thread..

Does that edition have fingering in it?

in key places, but generally, no. 

I have this book too, and am very fond of it. There is also a Dover book of Liszt Wagner transcriptions. Two fine additions to my music library.

seriously though, what an old thread!

yeah, I bought that wagner transcriptions book soon after this one.

good for you bennom for tackling norma and don juan.  I was wanting to do something from this book originally, but now I am finding that Liszt wrote too many notes to handle.  I'd like to master his simpler pieces so I can control the big stuff later.

[bennom]

wow what an old thread..

  Haha, I didn't see how very old this thread was... Well, well, my enthusiasm was genuine however.

[ce nedra]

I recently also bought this book and am seriously considering playing something out of it.... does anyone have recordings of some or all of the above pieces? I already have Hamelins Don Juan so that is not necessary...

[jlh]

Of those, I think I've only heard the Concert Paraphrase of Rigoletto, because it is played so much, and I have the score in another book.

[jre58591]

i have howard's cds with these paraphrases on them. also, i just saw a performance of hamelin playing norma, ernani, and isoldens liebestod. i would have to say that isoldens liebestod is probably my favorite. my second favorite would probably be norma. third is valse infernale. these are all great compositions and make perfect concert pieces.

[ahinton]

There's also a useful CD of operatic transcriptions for piano released on the Altarus label (AIR-CD-9098) some years ago but which is still available; they're played by Carlo Grante and are by Busoni and Sorabji as well as the Norma and Don Giovanni fantasies.

Best,

Alistair

[ronde_des_sylphes]

My alltime favourite Liszt operatic transcriptions CD (I have rather more CDs of transcriptions than I care to admit!):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000421C/102-5515095-4053711?v=glance&n=5174

[liszt1022]

i howard's cds with these paraphrases on them. also, i just saw a performance of hamelin playing norma, ernani, and isoldens liebestod. i would have to say that isoldens liebestod is probably my favorite. my second favorite would probably be norma. third is valse infernale. these are all great compositions and make perfect concert pieces.

I saw hamelin play those last month!
it was amazing.
isolde's liebestod especially. if only I could play tremolos as evenly, quietly, and mystical as that... very sublime!