Liszt and Europe - chamber music festival
The evening dedicated to Liszt’s French relationships commences with the Liszt-admirer Saint-Saëns’ chamber music adaption of the symphonic poem Orpheus, which was inspired by an Etruscan vase displayed in the Louvre. The piano piece The Fountains of the Villa d’Este (1877), which foreshadows the sounds of Impressionism and which later became a model for musical waterfalls, is followed by two Debussy opuses: the Sonata for Cello and Piano from 1915 and the Sonata for Violin and Piano finished at the end of 1917. After the break, the audience can listen to the French language pieces of Liszt’s less known songs. “One can be a musician like Saint-Saëns, but can never be more than him”, said Liszt in admiration of his composer colleague, whose sonata for cello and piano from 1872 is followed by the most famous symphonic poem the Les Préludes, played on two pianos.
Lúcia Megyesi Schwartz
Programme:
Liszt – Saint-Saëns: Orpheus
Liszt: Jeux d'Eau a la Villa d’Este
Debussy: Sonata for viola and piano
Debussy: Sonata for violin and piano
Liszt: songs in French
Saint-Saëns: Sonata in C minor for viola and piano, op. 32
Liszt: Les Préludes (for two pianos)
