This epic symphony traverses through dantes vision of hell to arrive at a heavenly finale. It is good to have another version of liszt s dante symphony competing for attention in this his centenary year, not least since the new version is of such quality. Liszts dante symp hony is an enigmatic tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, eventually leading to hitlers infernal third reich. Liszt had originally conceived the work in three movements, inferno, purgatory, and paradise. Liszt was inspired by dantes famous epic poem the divine comedy. Liszts orchestral arrangement of schuberts wanderer. Eduard hanslick, concerte, neue freie presse, 15 april 1881. The words are from the beginning of canto 3 of dante s inferno. Inferno purgatorio magnificat yeardate of composition yd of comp. I used the daniel barenboim recording with the berlin philharmonic.
Meet my famous friends and danny and the dreamweaver, written under the pseudonym mark poe. It is considered to be one of the most formidably difficult pieces in the standard. Liszts dante symphony is an enigmatic tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, which leads to hitlers infernal third reich. The coupling of the symphony with the dante sonata is an obvious but adroit choice and it allows barenboims to show off his versatility. He had given up the concert stage to focus his life on composing and innovating. You also appreciate why the symphony had such a hard time making headway. Liszts dante symphony by rich disilvio 2011, paperback for. Attachment 48664 just now im listening to sciarrinos sui poemi concentrici and wondering what other music out there is based on dante s divine comedy. Liszts dante symphony is a sizzling tale of murder and covert spy rings set amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, which leads to hitlers infernal third reich.
Siegfried jerusalem, london philharmonia and suisse romande orchestra, georg solti and jesus lopezcobos. Dante symphonysonata by liszt, franz, barenboim, daniel, berlin radio womens chorus, berlin philharmonic orchestra from amazons classical music store. I think that this forces listeners to think about the idea of heaven rather than have it be presented to them. In june 1855 liszt resumed work on the symphony and had completed most of it before the end of the following year. Liszt started working properly on the dante symphony in about 1855, when he was settled comfortably in weimar. Thus, work on the dante symphony roughly coincided with work on liszts other. As a passionate admirer of the faust symphony, ive always felt that passages of the inferno movement of the dante symphony need a fair amount of help, especially when liszt gets stuck in diminished seventh mode. After reading an excellent biography about franz liszt by alan walker a 3volume effort well worth reading, i naturally became even more interested in liszts music. I know of liszt s dante symphony and tchaikovskys francesca da rimini. Inferno italian for hell is the first part of dante alighieris 14thcentury epic poem divine comedy.
Liszts dante symp hony is an historical mysterythriller. The inferno has never sounded more demoniac nor the purgatorio more impressive. The first movement of liszts dante symphony, inferno, opens with unheard. Fantasia quasi sonata is taken from victor hugos poem summarising the inferno section of the poem. Relating to forms, heaven is impossible for humans to accurately portray in any medium, be it speech, painting, music, etc. The symphony was premiered in weimar on september 5, 1857, for the inauguration of the goetheschiller. Written for the concert dantes inferno, performed on jan 25, 2002 at avery fisher hall at lincoln center.
Liszts dante symphony by rich disilvio 2011, paperback. It also includes barenboim playing the dante sonata for piano. Tonight, deep within the earth, the istanbul state symphony orchestra was performing one of franz liszts most famous worksthe dante symphonyan entire composition inspired by dantes descent into and return from hell. Order from your preferred classical music cd store arkivmusic. It completed the book, inferno i got finished before hand. Franz liszt, leipzig gewandhaus orchestra, kurt masur. Hoplit, hanslick and liszts dante symphony jsmi, 7 201112, p. I have long been carrying a dante symphony around in my head, liszt told wagner. The dante sonata is the 7 th piece in liszt s piano works collection. Purgatorio hrsinfonieorchester frankfurt radio symphony sl. Rick disilvio paints rich characters who are totally believable and he keeps you guessing as the plot thickens throughout this fictionalhistorical novel. Cd 1 recorded 1621 april 1992, schauspielhaus berlin.
Dante, liszt, and the alienated agony of hell 197 t. Start your 30day free trial of unlimited to listen to this album plus tens of millions more songs. Liszts dante symphony by rich disilvio, hardcover barnes. Water themes in liszt s dante symphony perhaps one of the greatest works of art inspired by dante s divine comedy is liszt s symphony s. Written in the high romantic style, it is based on dante alighieris journey through hell and. Franz liszt, leipzig gewandhaus orchestra, kurt masur dante symphony faust symphony.
The dante symphony guides us through the hell and purgatory, but not heaven. During those years europe would experience numerous revolutions and witness two world wars, thus emulating the horrors foretold in dante s inferno and liszt s symphony, as hitlers poison gas and human incinerators, coupled with a fiery barrage of weapons, turned the world into a hellish cauldron of death and destruction. There are to be three movements, hell, purgatory and paradise the first two for orchestra alone, the last with. Stream adfree with amazon music unlimited on mobile, desktop, and tablet. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The winds of time a nonfictional study of the titans who shaped western civilization. The music i used to use in showing the movie was a cd recording of franz liszt s dante symphony. The inferno of dante dantes inferno complete audio book a dramatic read of the inferno of dante by.
Franz liszt, daniel barenboim, berlin philharmonic liszt. Liszt, at times a devout catholic, portrayed dante s scenes with great imagination and passion, cleverly suiting his melodysometimes simple and tranquil, sometimes chromatic and writhingand harmony to. Written in the high romantic style, it is based on dante alighieris journey through hell and purgatory, as depicted in the divine comedy. Unfortunately we dont quite make it to heavenly paradise in liszt s version, although we do get tantalisingly close. Staatskapelle dresden, dresden state opera chorus, giuseppe sinopoli. Whether noseda agrees or not, he takes the movement at a generally brisk pace, with incisive articulation when required. Liszt was a very generous, kind and religious man in addition to being a genius of musical romanticism in the 19th. Like liszt s other famous tone poem, the faust symphony, the dante symphony was inspired by a literary source. In his recent book, markus gartner has inestimably enhanced.
Gustave dore scenic storyline complete m a n d a t o r y p r e r e q u i s i t e it is imperative to watch all my videos on the highest quality for. In the peroration of the latter, it sounds as if the dresden band has about 18 bass fiddles. Lopezcobos decca was more splendid, especially with the magnificent opening. Gianandrea noseda does a good job with the dante symphonys first movement the only part anyone cares about. Jun 06, 2011 liszts dante symphony is a great book. Liszts dante symphony is an enigmatic tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, which leads to hitlers infernal third. Franz liszt dante symphony warner classics apex 2564 673012. It is an allegory telling of the journey of dante through what is largely the medieval concept of hell, guided by the roman poet virgil. Franz liszt, leon botstein, london symphony orchestra liszt. Conlons recent performance with the rotterdam philharmonic on erato was responsive to the shifting moods, but rather softcentered. Liszts other symphonic work, the symphony to dantes divina commedia 1856, depicts the three major sections of the divine comedyinferno, purgatory, and paradise. The first movement of liszt s dante symphony, inferno, opens with unheard words. Its two movements are basically a pair of symphonic poems, each depicting, respectively, scenes from dantes inferno and purgatorio, the first.
His evocation of the inferno, the shade of francesca da rimini and her sad remembered love is marked by strokes of genius which, with bewildering frequency, preempt the mature wagner who was, incidentally, the dedicatee of the work. Bonus track edition kirill karabits to stream in hifi, or to download in true cd quality on. Liszt s other symphonic work, the symphony to dante s divina commedia 1856, depicts the three major sections of the divine comedy inferno, purgatory, and paradise. Inferno barenboimberliner philarmoniker youtube rachmaninov. Lopezcobos decca was more splendid, especially with the magnificent opening movement. The dante sonata is the 7 th piece in liszts piano works collection.
A work of this kind of influence especially a work of poetry must have had a lot of great musical expressions. This substantial single movement score was begun in 1837 and revised over a decade later in 1849. I was able to find a full recording of the symphony on youtube, with daniel barenboim conducting the berlin philharmonic orchestra. Take a typical cd for the alpine symphony as an example.
Dante symphony, an album by franz liszt, gyorgy lehel on spotify we and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. Eagleeyed readers will have spotted that i described the piece as having two parts, and yet of course dante s work consists of three inferno, purgatorio, and paradiso. Fantasia quasi sonata french for after a reading of dante. Cd, album, club teldec, teldec classics d 105807, 9031773402. It was by a different romantic composerfranz liszt. Liszts dante symphony meet your next favorite book. A faust symphony in three character pictures german. Public domain compositions, and 1 music rights societies.
Jun 11, 2009 c ompleted in 1856, liszt s dante symphony is one of the most talkedabout 19thcentury scores, but one of the least frequently played. Franz liszt dante symphony warner classics apex 2564. Faust symphony, dante symphony, les preludes, prometheus by siegfried jerusalem, franz liszt, sir georg solti, jesus lopezcobos, chicago symphony, london philharmonic from amazons classical music store. Liszts dante symphony is a thrilling tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, thus leading to hitlers brutal third reich. If there were a means for the average listener and not just people who have a copy of the complete score to follow along with the dante symphony, it would be much more engaging.
The choice of sources of inspiration for musical composition makes for a fascinating study, especially when a source is one of the great and canonic works of western civilization. He whips up the opening storm excitingly, plays the francesca episode tenderly, evokes the hellish laughter in the strings and clarinets with obvious relish kudos to the players here, and blasts through the closing pages with fiendish abandon. Liszt, at times a devout catholic, portrayed dantes scenes with great imagination and passion, cleverly suiting his melodysometimes. Strauss spells it out for us from section to section. This novel features an italian as the main character whose mission. Liszts dante symphony plus a worldpremiere recording. Liszts dante symphony is a work of astonishing imagination. Liszt s dante symphony is an enigmatic tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, eventually leading to hitlers infernal third reich.
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