Add this copy of Schubert Song Transcriptions to cart. $32.47, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2015 by Naxos.
Avan Yu (b. 1987) is a Canadian pianist who has won a number of major piano competitions including, in 2012, the Sydney International Piano Competition. Yu makes his recording debut with this Naxos CD of Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs from "Winterreise" (Winter's Journey) and "Schwanengesang" (Swansong). The CD is an auspicious beginning.
In addition to his own compositions, Liszt transcribed and performed the larger works of many composers on the piano. Liszt was particularly attracted to Schubert songs. He set over 50 Schubert songs and described the composer as "the most poetic musician who ever lived". "Winterreise", a cycle of 24 songs on the theme of lost love, and "Schwanengesang", a compilation of thirteen songs with texts by three different poets were both composed shortly before Schubert's early death and both have been recorded innumerable times. Liszt transcribed for piano solo twelve songs of "Winterreise" and the entire 13 songs of "Schwanengesang". He changed the order of the songs to create a key pattern.
Yu is a pianist with a beautiful feel for Schubert. He captures throughout the singing, melodic line in each of Schubert songs. His playing is flowing and lyrical, with great control of phrasing, dramatic shifts, and dynamics. Yu has thought about the mood and text of each of these songs and realizes the sense of Schubert in these solo piano transcriptions. I have heard these songs many times for piano and voice, and fell in love with them again through Yu's pianism. Liszt's transcriptions generally follow Schubert's melodic line. They begin simply but gradually expand in scope for virtuoso solo performance with runs, arpeggios, embellishments, and changes in voice in the vocal line. The transcriptions are technically demanding and musically effective in their own right.
Yu performs eight of the "Winterreise" transcriptions. These songs, setting poems by Wilhelm Muller, have a feeling of sadness and loneliness as the young wanderer journeys through winter cold after a rejection. I particularly enjoyed Yu's performance of the final song of the cycle, "The Hurdy-Gurdy Man" which, in Liszt's version is followed without pause by a song of a much different mood from earlier in the cycle -- "Tauschuung" (illusion) with a lyrical, simple theme that captures the wanderer's fading dreams of love.
Yu performs ten songs from "Schwanengesang". Almost everyone who as studied a musical instrument for a year or so probably has played a simple transcription of Schubert's "Serenade", the most famous song from this set. Yu captures both Schubert and Liszt in his performance. Liszt's transcription follows the song, but moves the melody freely among different registers of the keyboard with varied and increasingly detailed embellishments. It reaches a large climactic moment before a short run up the keyboard and a quiet close. Other lovely performances from this set include, the simple setting of "The Fisher-Maiden" and a virtuoso performance of "The Warrior's Lament". Yu offers a melting rendition of Schubert's last song, "The Carrier Pigeon" with its long singing melody, rocking chords, and Lisztian embellishments.
Listeners with a passion of Schubert songs will enjoy hearing Yu's performance of Liszt's transcriptions. I look forward to hearing more of this young pianist. For example, he would do beautifully in the Schubert piano sonatas and in the Schubert songs, performing them in Schubert's own versions with a singer. Naxos kindly provided me with a copy of this CD to review.
Total Time:
Winterreise Transcriptions: 24:58
Schwanengesang Transcriptions: 44:06
