Kullak Cavatine

[ronde_des_sylphes]

A complete rarity, recorded last month. Though it is not overtly virtuosic until the last minute, I found this to be a deceptively difficult piece: hard to get the double note passages quiet, expressive and accurate, and some of the passagework is awkward.

Hope you like it - comments welcome.

[emill]

Hello "ronde",
Without understanding what the piece is all about or its background,
I really like the way you play this piece .... beautiful and serene-like ...
gives a sense of peace, even if the end is sort of "controlled" acceleration. 
THANKS ...

[philolog]

Nicely played: stylistically it blends well with your interest in nineteenth century operatic transcriptions. Will it be included on your next CD? As it's somewhat of a rarity (at least on Piano Street!) I was wondering how you found it. Do you collect a lot of "obscure" music or did you come across it by accident?

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Thanks emill. While I'm pretty happy with it, I think there are a few spots I would like to fiddle around with in the editing room, and I can't make up my mind about the way I've handled the, admittedly intentional, accelerando in the agitato section.

Nicely played: stylistically it blends well with your interest in nineteenth century operatic transcriptions. Will it be included on your next CD? As it's somewhat of a rarity (at least on Piano Street!) I was wondering how you found it. Do you collect a lot of "obscure" music or did you come across it by accident?

It is a transcription from Meyerbeer; it's definitely going on the next CD! Liszt also transcribed the aria in question - as far as I'm aware, the Liszt transcription has only been recorded by Leslie Howard, and I don't know of any recordings of other composers' transcriptions of it. I came across it by a combination of accident and design I suppose - I've spend an inordinate amount of time going through IMSLP and any other sources I can get my hands on, looking for obscure but interesting transcriptions. In particular I spent a lot of time looking for slower, gentler ones - the flashy, virtuosic ones are easy to get hold of, but if your intent is to make a CD of them, or for that matter do themed recitals of transcriptions, it goes without saying that you need balance. It's decent slow transcriptions which are hardest to locate, particularly once you up the ante by also wanting them to be obscure/unrecorded.

[rachfan]

Hi ronde,

I enjoyed hearing the "Kullak Cavatine".  Despite the technical challenges, you handled them all with confidence, a studied technique, and great beauty throughout.  

I ran into the debate over agitato and accelerando in a piece where I encountered it. One of the music dictionaries included acclerando as a result of agitato.  I wouldn't worry about that one, as it can be justified.

You gave us a splendid performance here, and I commend you.  Excellent playing!

David

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Thanks, David. I have some concerns over the way I shaped the agitato/accelerando; these are amplified by knowing that this should end up on a CD a few months down the line and thus I want to remove imprecisions, of which I do spot a few. As I alluded to in my reply to emill, I will certainly have the option of applying a few studio tweaks to this performance.

[isaacmalitz]

An untapped resource for great transcriptions:

Busoni published a "cookbook" of about 100 pages on how to write your own organ transcriptions. It's detailed, fascinating. Since you are a composer, maybe you could use that as a guide to cooking up a few juicy new organ transcriptions of your own . A massive organ repertoire to draw from !!

I think Busoni's cookbook is on IMSLP. Or if you can't find it, let me know, and I will help you to obtain a copy.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

An untapped resource for great transcriptions:

Busoni published a "cookbook" of about 100 pages on how to write your own organ transcriptions. It's detailed, fascinating. Since you are a composer, maybe you could use that as a guide to cooking up a few juicy new organ transcriptions of your own . A massive organ repertoire to draw from !!

I think Busoni's cookbook is on IMSLP. Or if you can't find it, let me know, and I will help you to obtain a copy.

It is - I had to look around for it, but it's there, in the supplement/appendix to Busoni's edition of the Well-Temperered Clavier. Thanks; I'll give it a proper look in a bit. I've primarily worked with writing what are, more strictly speaking, paraphrases (in the Liszt/Thalberg vein, and usually with opera as the primary source material) - but it can't hurt to read through it and give it some thought.

[isaacmalitz]

Are you acquainted with Busoni's arrangement of Sigfried's Funeral March from Gotterdammerung?
https://imslp.org/wiki/G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung,_WWV_86D_%28Wagner,_Richard%29

 

[isaacmalitz]

I can't make much sense of this Kullak piece.

But I really like some of the other work that you have posted.

I just wrote a long comment on your Verdi Miserere Fantasy.
I think that your Miserere Fantasy is much stronger than the Kullak,
   and I think my reasons will be evident.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

I did actually consider the Wagner-Busoni as an option for 'slower transcription', before settling on this one. Not because this piece is better (it isn't, and the original source material [Meyerbeer] is nowhere near as good as the Wagner), but because it scored bonus points for a. not having been recorded previously b. I have some performance experience with it (albeit about five years ago, and my performance was sloppy) c. it fitted in well within the structure of the CD it is ultimately intended to appear on. My performance can be tidied (and hopefully will be!) in a few places, but I do retain slight reservations about the composition: imo it lies slightly uneasily between straight transcription and paraphrase. In this genre I believe paraphrase is usually more readily effective unless the transcription is done masterfully (e.g. Liszt Isolde's Liebestod, Thalberg Casta diva).