THALBERG Apothéose & fantasies on French operas Mark Viner SIGISMOND THALBERG 1812-1871 Sigismond Thalberg was born on the 8th January 1812 in Pâquis, a town just outside Geneva, Switzerland. While he was generally accepted to have been the illegitimate child of Prince Franz Joseph von Dietrichstein (1767- 1854) and Baroness Maria Julia Wetzlar von Plankenstern, his birth certificate APOTHÉOSE & FANTASIES ON FRENCH OPERAS gives a certain Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein as his parents, both 1 Fantaisie sur des motifs de l’opéra from Frankfurt-am-Main. We can safely regard these names as a fabrication Les Huguenots de Meyerbeer, Op.20 14’49 made on behalf of his aristocratic forbears in an attempt to avert scandal. Furthermore, the title of von Thalberg is among numerous titles held by the 2 Grand Caprice sur des motifs de l’opéra Prince von Dietrichstein. Charles VI de F. Halévy, Op.48* 10’29 While little is known about Thalberg’s early musical training, it’s likely that his mother, an accomplished amateur pianist herself, provided her son with L’Art du chant appliqué au piano, Op.70 his first musical instruction. In the spring of 1826, he arrived in London to 3 VII. Bella adorata incognita, romance de l’opéra study with Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870). A year later his Op.1, Fantaisie et Il Giuramento de Mercadante 7’20 Variations sur des différens motifs de l’opéra Euyranthe de C. M. de Weber, 4 XIX. Casta diva, cavatine de l’opéra was published, and in 1830 he made the acquaintance of Frédéric Chopin Norma de Bellini 6’52 (1810-1849), Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1849) and the ten year old Clara Wieck (1819-1896) in Leipzig. 5 Grande Fantaisie sur des motifs de l’opéra He arrived in Paris in 1835, playing at a private concert of the Hungarian- La Muette de Portici de D. F. E. Auber, Op.52* 13’34 born Austrian diplomat, Count Rudolf Apponyi (1812-1876), later participating in a concert of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris and giving 6 Grand Caprice sur la Marche de l’Apothéose his first solo concert in the French capital on the 16th April 1836. It caused a de Berlioz, Op.58* 11’00 sensation. It was during this period that Liszt, having eloped to Switzerland with the Countess d’Agoult (1805-1876), heard of Thalberg’s triumphs, later comparing himself to the exiled Napoleon. Upon Liszt’s return to Paris, a rivalry *first recordings developed between the two virtuosi which culminated in their famous ‘ivory duel’ on the 31st March 1837 at the salon of the Princess Cristina di Belgiojoso Mark Viner piano Recording: 12/13 June 2018, Westvest Church, Schiedam, The Netherlands Producer: Pieter van Winkel Engineer, editing: Peter Arts Piano: Steinway D, tuned by Charles Rademaker Cover: Jean-Victor Schnetz (1787-1870), Le Combat devant l’Hôtel de Ville le 28 juillet 1830 Photo of the title page of the first edition of Thalberg’s Grand Caprice sur la Marche de l’Apothéose de Berlioz, Op.58: © British Library Board (g.610.c.11) ℗ & © 2019 Piano Classics Piano Classics is a trade name of Brilliant Classics B.V. (1808-1871). The Princess, best remembered for masterminding the creation Fantaisie sur des motifs de l’opéra Les Huguenots de Meyerbeer, Op.20 of the Hexaméron variations, later diplomatically stated “Thalberg is the first For all its twenty-odd pages of music, Thalberg’s Fantaisie sur des motifs de pianist in the world; Liszt is unique.” l’opéra Les Huguenots de Meyerbeer, Op.20, must have been composed in It was during this period of his career that Thalberg developed the so- great haste as it appeared a mere six weeks after the première of Giacomo called ‘three-hand effect’ where a melody is passed between the hands which Meyerbeer’s (1791-1864) opera at the Salle Le Peletier on the 29th February simultaneously busy themselves with rapid, usually arpeggic, figurations in the 1836. The work opens with a sort of preamble on the Lutheran chorale which treble and accompanying chords in the bass, thus creating the aural illusion of so dominates the opera, Ein feste Burg ist Unser Gott – (A Mighty Fortress is three hands at the keyboard. The impact this new device had on piano writing our Lord), which becomes increasingly contrapuntal before giving way to a thereafter is immeasurable and, together with his rivalry with Liszt, is what series of flourishes establishing the dominant harmony. A gentle setting of the Thalberg is best remembered for today. Following its first appearance in the Chœur des Baigneuses – (Bathers’ Chorus) from Act II, Jeunes beautés, sous Fantaisie sur des thèmes de Moïse de Rossini, Op.33 (1839), it appears in some ce feuillage, a particularly daring scene in its day where the Queen Marguerite form or other in most of his piano music. de Valois and her court are seated by the shores of the Cher river, her ladies- By this point his fame had grown considerably and, over the next few years, in-waiting bathing leisurely in the waters while the Queen contemplates the he made several short tours of Europe. In 1843 he married Francesca Lablache scene smilingly. Thalberg treats this melody much as Meyerbeer does in his (1816-1895), eldest daughter of the celebrated bass, Luigi Lablache (1794- score; the lapping waters and eddying currents depicted with undulating 1858). The ensuing years included further, more extensive tours across Europe. scales, before a brief interlude, hinting at the theme of the glorious duet After the failure of his two operas, Florinda (1851) and Cristina di Svezia from Act IV, Tu m’aimes, ensues. The Bathers’ Chorus then returns, its (1855), staged respectively in London and Vienna, he realised his ambition to sensuous contours underpinned by fragments of the duet from Act IV and tour the Americas and set sail to South America in 1855. An extended tour embellished with flickering repeated octaves which fan out into tenths, of North America followed in 1856 before his return to Europe in 1858. These affording expressive counterpoint. All at once, a declaratory gesture signals transatlantic tours were immensely successful. Further concerts in London action before fragments of the Feste Burg chorale abound hither and tither, and Paris in 1862 were followed by a final tour of Brazil in 1863 before he underpinned by scintillating cascades of demisemiquavers. Growing restless retired to Posilippo, Naples, in order to cultivate his vineyard. He died on through its iterations and gradually petering out, the theme of the Feste Burg the 27th April 1871 at the age of 59, his name enshrined in the pantheon of chorale is stated in its entirety in a hushed pianissimo in the virginal climes of pianist-composers and having amassed a vast fortune from one of the most C major. It is then reinstated in a blazing fortissimo before powerful volleys illustrious careers the world of music had ever seen. of unison demisemiquavers carry the chorale aloft. Further declamations of the outline of the chorale then ensue amidst filigree trappings taking on a before the Commissioner of Police to explain himself. The seditious item had darker tone through their increasingly restless iterations. All at once enters been included at the insistence of their mutual publisher, Maurice Schlesinger the music from Act III of the opera; the Rataplan Chorus. Hereafter follows (1798-1871) to salve Halévy’s wounded pride at having been left out of a music loosely based on the latter which, comprising fleeting snatches of programme which included items of nearly every other important French the aforementioned duet from Act IV, catapults inexorably to a blazing composer.1 While Berlioz was let off the hook, so to speak, such instances only reinstatement of the Feste Burg chorale, underpinned by the same fervent testify what a hit Charles VI was and, naturally, it elicited a shoal of fantasies, rhythmic impetus used to drive the Rataplan Chorus which now returns to join paraphrases and transcriptions from pianist-composers all keen to cash in on forces with the chorale and draw the fantasy to an exhilarating close. All in its success. Thalberg’s fantasy appeared in 1843 and stands among the very all, the work is a remarkable achievement and is a fine example of Thalberg’s best of such pieces. The following review in the Revue et Gazette Musicale by earlier compositional style which testifies that, by the age of twenty-four, he Henri Blanchard (1778-1858) not only gives an enthusiastic and comprehensive had already fostered a keen sense of dramatic narrative. analysis, but provides some background to these sorts of pieces, the times in which they were written and Thalberg himself to the modern-day reader: Grand Caprice sur des motifs de l’opéra Charles VI de F. Halévy, Op.48 Fromental Halévy’s (1799-1862) opera, Charles VI, received its première ‘The form of pieces of instrumental music is variable like poetical form, like all at the Salle Le Peletier on the 15th March 1843 and enjoyed a brief vogue which is of human invention, like the fashion of our clothes. Ever since Molière thereafter. The plot concerns the attempted English invasion of France while had one of his characters say that the ballad is a bland thing, this genre of King Charles VI of France drifts between episodes of madness. The Chorus, poetry has once again found favour these days, which gives us hope that we Guerre aux tyrans!, achieved separate fame as a song of political protest. might see come about a revival of the lay, virelai, the heriode, or, even better, The inclusion of this particular chorus, albeit reluctantly, in a concert of a the epigram, too neglected these days.