Transfigured Tchaikovsky

[thalbergmad]

This Facebook thingy comes in useful sometimes as the lovely Petronal Malan has advised her friends of the next in the "transfigured" series.

There is not much in life that gives me as much pleasure as a nice transcription, so I will purchase this.

Shame she did not tackle any of the Pabst warhorses, but perhaps Marshev is unsurpassable with these.

Thal

[Mark Thomas]

Oh yes, definitely a must buy. I can thoroughly recommend her "Transfigured Mozart" and "Transfigured Beethoven" recordings.

[Rob H]

Petronel is one of the sweetest ladies I have met. I saw her in recital in Leeds where she played some beautiful Mozart, transcriptions by Friedman (off the Mozart disc) and ended with a marvellous Liszt Sonata. Not absolutely accurate but who cares? It was played to the hilt and given such contrats of drama and intimacy that I was in tears at the end. She introduced all the pieces she was playing as if she was talking to a circle of friends. The encore was Hough's "My favourite things" transcription. Fabulous night.

Re Tschaikovski/Pabst there is a new disc out mid-Feb from Nikolai Tokarev called "Black swan" that includes the Sleeping beauty waltz paraphrase as well as Pletnyev's Nutcracker, Stravinsky's Petrushka, Rosenblatt's Swan Lake fantaisie and Solin's transcription of Khatchaturian's Sabre dance. Can't wait.
Again re. Pabst it seems he was at his best in transcription. I have played through some of his original pieces and find them harmonically dull and formulaic. Even the Piano Concerto doesn't fire me up like I thought it would after reading a description of its finale ...a Russian dance full of virtuoso gestures... (Can't remember Hinson's quote exactly but I read it at least 20 years before I got to hear the Concerto and was quite disappointed - I still listen and keep waiting for it to DO something).
I believe Anthony Goldstone is recording at least one of the Pabst transcriptions on his next discs of Tschaikovski transcriptions (see Divine-Art future releases though not many details given so far).
Rob

[Jonathan]

I agree with Mark, both the transfigured Mozart and Beethoven discs are lovely.

[Steve B]

The Pabst concerto is fab, IMHO; and what an opening tutti ; and meltingly beautiful tune I seem to remember at end of finale on the flute. Trochopoulos more excting tho I admit the orchestra is a bit dicey and the acoustics odd:P. I think re-envisionings of work/tanscriptions/paraphrases are usually interesting-Liszt, Busoni-Bach, Tausig(the wonderful Paraphrase on tunes from Moniusko's Halka), Moszkowski Tristan and Isolde Love duet; the list goes on. Steve