10. Parlor Orchestra
from The Concert - Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Hosted by Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Chopin: Scherzo for piano No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20 (February 16, 2003) Chopin: Nocturne for piano No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 (February 16, 2003) Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 for piano, S. 514 (arr. Busoni) (February 16, 2003) Chopin and Liszt were two of the greatest pianist/composers of the Romantic era, and both got their start at intimate salons and private soirees, where a pianist would play for the small group gathered. A dazzling technique was particularly prized at these recitals. As the piano itself evolved to be capable of making a bigger sound, pieces written for the instrument increasingly called on the pianist to sound like an entire orchestra, with a range of dynamics, emotions and articulations. As master performers, Chopin and Liszt knew exactly what the piano could do. Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz” is a particularly good example of the orchestral sounds of Romantic piano music. The waltz depicts a story from “Faust,” in which Mephisto takes up a violin at a countryside inn. We hear his fiddling in the music, complete with tuning and death-defying leaps of virtuosity. As the dance ends, nighttime falls, and a nightingale sings in the far-off woods.
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