Franz Liszt (1811-1886), he was a famous Hungarian composer, pianist, artist and great music master of the 19th century, under the influence of the atmosphere of the times, Liszt used his unique way of performance, unique way of playing, rich knowledge connotation, the perfect combination of music with culture and religion, showing the rich diversity of piano music.
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt,
1811.10.22—1886.7.31
Speaking of Liszt, everyone knows that he is the king of the piano, and the piano is the king of musical instruments, without Liszt, the piano may not become the king of musical instruments, and today's pianists will not have such a beautiful status.
Liszt was very fortunate to have the best of times. Prior to this, musicians served mainly in the court and church, and it was difficult to reach the public. The Enlightenment brought unprecedented ideological emancipation, the French Revolution liberated the middle class, the rise of capitalism and socialism, and the decline of power and influence of the court and the church, such a social background made musicians leave the court, the church and patrons, become independent musicians, go to public concert halls, go to socialization, compose and play for the public. Showbiz stars followed. Immediately after the musical style changed, in order to attract more listeners into the concert hall, the musicians after independence competed to bloom and show their magic, creating sensational stage effects. Liszt was one of the lucky ones of his time.
At this time, Liszt came to Paris. There was no high-fidelity stereo, no rock band, where people had heard such a wild song, it is said that every time Liszt finished playing, either a noblewoman fainted offstage, or he himself fainted in the arms of a friend.
Of course, this fainting is also a gimmick and hype. What maintained Liszt's popularity at that time, in addition to his legendary performances, was mainly his scandals. The countless women who admired him.
When Liszt was 16 years old, his father suffered from gastritis and died suddenly. On his deathbed, he said to Liszt, I only worry about you and the woman. At that time, Liszt did not understand what a woman was doing. But the father's words became a slur.
There were no movies, no television, no entertainment, and people either went to the salons at night or went to the opera or Liszt. At that time, the music superstars were much more beautiful than today's Lang Lang Li Yundi. In his youth, Liszt was very charming, with long shoulder-length hair, a pale face, a pair of blue eyes, straight and sexy, uninhibited and elegant. In the best 9 years of his youth, he spent days and nights drinking, catching dinners night and night, going to invitations, and shuttling through various literary and artistic salons. Between the shadows of the clothes and the sideburns, all kinds of love arrows and autumn waves, all kinds of clever words and provocations. A countess once joked to Chopin — "If I were young and beautiful, my little Chopin, I would choose you as my husband, Ferdinand Shearer as my boyfriend, and Liszt as my lover." It is said that "suitable for lover" at that time not only referred to him as rich and handsome and considerate of women, but also implied that he was as hot and fierce in bed as on stage.
The number of Liszt's lovers far exceeds the incomplete statistics of scholars. There are open long-term lovers, love episodes, piano girls who adore him, one-night stands, and platonic spiritual love. Among these lovers is said to be Margaret Gautier, the "Traviata" of Dumas. He is good at dealing with women, and he can easily deal with several women at the same time, and even those who have mistresses with guns to die with him are coaxed by him to obediently tear up and surrender their weapons.
Liszt never married in his lifetime, and became the lover of several noble ladies, which made him laughed at ever since. Liszt once said that I had never seduced a young woman. He is honest and excels. His open lovers were almost all noblewomen, intellectual women with lofty spiritual convictions, and all strong women who could calm him down. But as time went on, the tossing and turning of these fierce women made him unable to bear it, and finally scored. Liszt had so many lovers that his women called "Don Juan" and "lustful", but he was never a debauched and ruthless playboy. Like Mozart and Beethoven, he longed for love, for passionate love, for women to be their endless desire for life, and for their genius to be ignited by lust.
Liszt was first completely conquered because of Countess Marie de Agou. Their story is long, and it is a love affair across time and space, and the two have worked together for 11 years to travel half of Europe. She was the child of the daughter of a French count and a German banker, a beautiful and talented woman who could play the piano and was also accomplished in literature and art, and married in her youth to Count de Agou, who was much older than her. Marriages are not happy. Liszt walked into the salon she held, the prodigal son evoked Mary's motherhood, and Mary's aristocratic temperament and dignified beauty also made Liszt fall in love at first sight, and this woman was serious, making him more aggressive.
Countess Marie de Agu marie D'Agoult
Liszt wanted to leave Paris for a while, hoping that their relationship could be stopped in time, but he did not expect that this walk intensified love. Countess de Agu was not an impulsive woman, but she had knowledge and ideals, and she realized the value of the "high passion" of that era.
This love story, from de Agu's memoirs, now seems so much like a line:
"What are you trying to say to me?" Would you like to go? ”
"Let's go together."
Franz replied in a rare tone.
I was silent. I couldn't and didn't dare to understand him.
"Let's go together." He repeated again.
Here omitted fanaticism, fear, the sea, the heavens, my God... Eight days later, Mary abandoned her husband and children and left France with Liszt.
Mary later wrote in her memoirs that "the song has an incomparably mournful harmony, a wave-like imitation of sighs, and an organ-like ornamentation, and I cry every time I hear it." It's an exaggeration to say that, but It's really rare for Liszt to write a piece of music in such a quiet style.
Of course, it is more of a song that pins on his ideals, such as "The Tempest". Taken from Byron's depiction of a storm in Switzerland in Child Harold'S Pilgrimage. Inside, Liszt's best technique is used: octave continuous berserk. "Travel Years", also translated as "The Year of the Parade", is a long poem of the last century" "On the Road", written about the self-discovery of young people in walking, which set off a romantic literary trend at that time. "Parade" in English means pilgrimage, which belongs to the religious word, referring to people leaving their hometown to go to a place related to faith and experiencing the spiritual growth brought about by this journey. For Liszt, his year of touring was the beginning of love, it was love that opened his vision, allowing him to suddenly see another world of life.
During a massive tour of Europe between 1838 and 1846, Liszt's reputation reached its peak, with aristocrats taking off their hats in tribute to him, shops plastering his heads, fans collecting his cigar cigarette butts and tearing strips of cloth from him as a souvenir, gloves sold in Berlin embroidered with Liszt's heads, as well as Liszt snuff bottles, Liszt candy, and Liszt bookmarks. After the concert, the crowd surrounded him with torches and carried him down the hotel stairs to parade through the streets.
It was also during those years that Liszt and Countess Marie de Agou broke up completely. Mary was already tired, and Liszt had gained everything he had pursued and had achieved himself. Brilliant success left him no time to care about the brokenness of this relationship, he did not have time to be sad and reflective, and successfully diluted everything, including feelings. Mary's role in his life was gradually revealed through the experiences of the second half of his life. He was not satisfied with being a peacock on the stage, he became a composer, conductor, scholar, and a generation of piano masters, climbing step by step towards her former expectations. In fact, he had cherished this woman's painstaking love.
The piano master finally came to a glorious end. At this point he had no opponent.
(This article was originally published in Sanlian Life Weekly)
Liszt played the piano at his residence
Liszt House, Budapest
Listiza plays Liszt's Bell
Liszt created an original orchestral piece of piano music, creating new forms of piano music, and he also received the title of "King of the Piano" for his great contributions to piano and above. And in music creation, he constantly draws on the emotional tone of the music itself, further forms his own unique style of music, he is the leader of the pianist, is a genius in the history of music.
01
Sonata in B minor
Liszt's Sonata in B minor is his greatest work. The first theme has two distinct motivations, the first half of which is the same as the theme of Liszt's Faust Symphony, and the second half of which uses the same thematic motif as Mephistopheles No. 2, understanding these two themes as Faust and Mephistopheles.
The feminine melody at the end of the second theme can be seen as the phantom of Faust's heroine Glisien, whose sound pattern is deformed from the Mephistopheles theme, which corresponds to the plot of the original Grenfell's control of Mephistopheles' magic.
The recording of this song is recommended for the Russian pianist Licht's version. He harnessed the whole song with a groundbreaking performance, and the half-hour playing time seemed to stage an acoustic epic, and you will know what kind of story is hidden in it.
02
Symphonic poem "Prelude"
Among Liszt's symphonic poems, the most famous and widely circulated is the "Prelude". Its title is taken from a section of Lamartine's Meditation on Poetry, which means that our whole life is a prelude to that unknown song.
The whole song is rich in emotional changes, with ups and downs in development, with C major as the main key. The motivation throughout the song is only three tones, it is soft and luscious, sonorous and powerful, but also nervous, magnificent as a song, fully demonstrating the composer's imagination and creativity. The compositional structure of this single movement work is a free sonata, which can at the same time be regarded as a symphony condensing four movements.
The recording recommends an interpretation by the Hungarian conductor Fričay. This talented conductor was DG's brightest star in the 1950s and 1960s, and his interpretation has a strong poetic and bookish atmosphere, which makes people wander and reminisce for a long time.
03
Piano Concerto No. 1
Although Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major consists of four movements, each movement must be played uninterruptedly, and the themes of each movement must be closely related to each other. But the composition of each movement is very free. These characteristics may be the reason why Liszt is regarded by the world as a standard "symphonic poetry composer".
Especially when a certain instrument is soloized, it is also especially necessary to make this instrument show its "chamber music characteristics". In addition, the third movement uses a triangle iron rarely found in the concerto. For this reason, this piano concerto is also nicknamed the "Triangle Iron Concerto".
This recording recommends any live recording of piano master Agridge, such as the 2004 Lugano Agridge Festival, pictured above. Agridge played the song with ease, bringing the exaggerated beauty of it to life.
04
Piano Concerto No. 2
Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major should be counted as a "real work of art". As in Chopin's case, the work was written late and was therefore compiled as the Second Piano Concerto. The Piano Concerto No. 2 embodies two very important themes in the composer's spiritual world: love and salvation.
This concerto is also played non-stop, it unifies the whole piece with a dreamy melody full of beauty, then various deformations, showmanship, talking, and finally dazzling, lightning-like ending.
The famous Hungarian pianist Andor Foz is famous for playing the piano music of composers such as Liszt and Bartók, and his interpretation of Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 is full of delicacy and skill, even if it is a mono recording, it is not inferior to any version of the brilliance.
05
Super-etude "Mateppa"
Liszt's Twelve Super-Elypses is a formidable repertoire of piano history. In the 20th century, when piano masters such as the carp across the river, few performers dared to challenge the complete collection. In fact, Liszt originally intended to write this super etude collection into twenty-four works of different tones, but unfortunately failed to achieve it.
Like The Hungarian Rhapsody, Super Etude is Liszt's best and most flaunting piano music. Unlike Chopin's etudes, Liszt's etudes, like this "Mateppa", have always been more intense, as if there is infinite passion to be consumed.
The Hungarian-French pianist Zifra is Liszt's authority, and the Liszt works he recorded are classics in the classics, and under the superb playing skills, they reflect the competing national character in Liszt's blood.
06
The frolicking of the water at Este Manor
Liszt's late works gradually moved away from the techniques of the heyday and added more and more dissonant notes, and their diversity is evident in the third volume of the Travel years, "Travels in Rome", such as "The Frolic in the Waters of Este's Manor", which can be regarded as the origin of the music of the Impressionist composers Debussy and Ravel.
The work depicts the lovely Roman fountains with shimmering patterns and bright harmonies, clear tones in the treble zone – in the sunlight, the water jets reflect dazzling brilliance, and they are like countless elves playing happily. Next to the title of the work, Liszt also quotes a quote from the Gospel of John: "The water I give him will become a spring that will flow from his heart, and it will enter eternal life." ”
This recording is recommended for the Cuban-American pianist Bolett, who is known for his gorgeous and smooth performance, and the Liszt record record recorded for Decca fully emphasizes the composer's gentlemanly side, which is very suitable for the work "Playing in the Waters of Esther Manor".
07
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Hungarian Rhapsody is inseparable from Liszt's name. Liszt composed nineteen "Hungarian Rhapsody" occupies a special place in his piano works. These works not only give full play to the musical expressiveness of the piano, but also set an outstanding musical model for the creation of the rhapsody genre.
Liszt student Doppler also adapted six of them into orchestral pieces, often played in concerts. One of the piano adaptations of Rhapsody No. 2 is the most familiar because it was used in the cartoon Tom and Jerry.
It is based on the Hungarian folk dance song "Czardasz", the former part is called "Rasu", which means "slow", is solo dance music. The latter part is called "Felica", which means "fresh", fast and enthusiastic, and is a double dance music.
The piano version of the song recommends recordings by the Jewish-American pianist Disit, and the band version recommends the Hungarian conductor Dorati's version. Dissit's playing style is low-key and restrained, playing Liszt's rhapsody with charm; Dorati's conduct of the London Symphony Orchestra highlights the boldness of this work.
08
No. 3 comfort song
Liszt's "Six Comfort Pieces" composed from 1849 to 1850 is his most exquisite piano sketch, completely free from the element of showmanship, towards the inner introspection, simple and moving, like a hymn.
The recording recommends any version played by the piano master Horowitz in his later years, and as the last romantic master of the 19th century, Horowitz's performance was carefully wrapped in a sugar paper for such a work, which sounded sweet and warm, and the heart was melted.
09
Dream of Love Number Three
"Three Nocturnes "Love Dreams" is three piano nocturnes adapted by Liszt with his own song of the same name. The third of these is a household name. After Liszt adapted the song into a piano piece, he inscribed another poem by the poet Freili Grott, "Love, How Long Can I Love?"
This kind of lyrical sketch shows the gentle and amorous side of Liszt's personality, which is one of the reasons why he has fascinated countless women.
The recording recommends the version of the piano master Kissing's first solo concert at Carnegie on September 30, 1990, when Helsing was about to turn 19, and his playing was quiet, youthful, and full of fantasy and impulse, which was very special in all versions.
10
Mephistopheles
Liszt pursued nobility and yearned for the realm of innocence on the one hand, and on the other hand, he had a kind of debauchery and arrogance, and in his later years he was described as "Mephistopheles in holy robes" ("Mephistopheles" is another term for "devil").
Liszt wrote a total of four Mephistopheles, but usually what we call is actually the first one. It depicts Mephistopheles playing the violin and the dancers indulging in demonic music, drowning in turbulent feelings like the sea.
The piano version of the song recommends recordings from Peracia, and the band version recommends Karajan's version. Pelasia was not a master of the art and did not often play Liszt's works, but his calm temperament controlled the fanaticism and magic in Liszt's music very well. Karajan was the epitome of romanticism, full of expression.
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