(2/2) Thalberg - Fantasy on Don Pasquale - Earl Wild, piano

Sigismond Thalberg (1812-1871)
Fantasy on Donizetti's 'Don Pasquale'
Op.67
Earl Wild (b.1915), piano
Recorded July 1964

[@bobbysikora]

I just found out today that we will NOT be studying Thalberg in our 19th Century Music History class. I am disappointed. I read about him in Schonbergs "The Great Pianists" and his pianism really deserves to be at least mentioned in a survey of 19th century piano music. He invented the idea of writing for the piano as if the player had more than two hands. It's very original, and his music (at least this piece) compels me to wish all the more that he was performed a little more.

[@alkanliszt]

One of the truly great performances in this genre of piano music. Wild plays with nuance, shaping, evident affection for the material and of course stellar virtuosity.

[@PieInTheSky9]

This is very exquisite. I can see why the audiences of the time loved this guy so much. How could you not just adore this music?

[@cappachino2.082]

Thalberg is such an underrated composer.

[@czeynerpianistproducercomp7155]

Beautiful!

[@ChrisBreemer]

This is a vivid reminder of why Earl Wild was one of the greatest of all times. And Thalberg's pianistic prowess was surely on a par with Liszt's. The music though ... it seems little more than a huge pile-up of sound and difficulties on top of a not all too interesting theme. A typical period piece, sure to wow audiences and make ladies faint with admiration.

[@treesny]

Apparently you aren't familiar with Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale. The main melody heard here is essentially "scenic music": the offstage serenade that Ernesto (tenor) sings in Act III sets the mood for the nighttime garden where he's about to rendezvous with his love Norina. Thalberg, whose opera fantasies -- unlike Liszt's -- are primarily bravura piano pieces and not evocations of the characters and story of the work in question, presumably chose this pretty but deliberately neutral tune as a vehicle for his (admittedly spectacular) keyboard riffs.

[@kasyapa]

that unforgettable ending!

[@sali_salvator]

i m speechless...

[@今村宏-v9j]

3hands magic !

[@niccolomaldera]

The themes used are: @ 0:00 Com'è gentil @ 5:22 Fra da una parte eccetera

[@АлександрЯрков-ш2з]

Bravo bravo bravo super brilliance music virtuoso and grandiose

[@alkanliszt]

The harpist was Parish-Alvars.

[@Reichthoff]

Brutal.

[@prammar1951]

8:17 what kind of devil should I summon to play this?!

[@prammar1951]

@BeLighty lol

[@teodorb.p.composer]

just be liszt

[@marcorval]

That must be one of the easier parts of this piece.

[@Reichthoff]

7:03 whoa

[@RedZed1974]

Wasn't this fellow Liszt's very competitive "rival" back in the day?

[@aalb1970]

Yes, most certainly. In the end it seems Liszt prevailed since his music gained a lot more recognition. I can hear why people used to adore Thalberg, but IMO Liszt is by far the better composer.

[@AndreiAnghelLiszt]

@@aalb1970 Liszt is objectively better than Thalberg so I don't think there is any need to add "IMO" :) While I do enjoy the odd Thalberg fantasy every now and then, his original compositions are completely outmatched by Liszt's.

[@vnwa7390]

Tausig, according to Liszt’s students, possessed superior technique to Liszt; and inferior musicality. It’s all subjective though

[@vnwa7390]

Obviously, Thalberg and Tausig were musical jokes compared to Liszt

[@Reichthoff]

​@@vnwa7390 but tausig became famous when liszt was old already and stopped performing so i can imagine liszt wasn't in his prime anymore.

[@ronniejamesdio7160]

Shit;;; seriously this song "sounds" 10times more difficult than liszt paraphrase

[@calebhu6383]

@Ragnvald David Oddly enough the poster does not seem American at all. In fact, if you just click on his channel, he's Korean. I think you're being unnecessarily rude.

[@vnwa7390]

I think that these people are just xenophobic morons.

[@prammar1951]

This piece is very challenging indeed

[@calebhu6383]

@Enescu I forgot, probably sone dumb racist thing

[@Medtszkowski]

@@calebhu6383 hello caleb

[@golfan1000]

This is so moving. Thalberg was very good. It is just that Liszt was better. But this fantasy on Donizetti is as good as any of the Liszt fantasies on opera music.

[@treesny]

Sorry, I must respectfully disagree with that last statement. Liszt's greatest opera fantasies, paraphrases and reminiscences all evoke in uncanny fashion the drama and characters of the original work: Bellini's Norma, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Gounod's Romeo and Juliet, Wagner's Parsifal, the Verdi paraphrases and much more conjure up the stage and the emotional content of the story. Thalberg's pieces, including this one, are decorative elaborations on attractive tunes taken out of their original context. As such, and especially when you have a pianist like Earl Wild on hand, they make for charming entertainment.

[@binhpn79]

2:56 This is why you should practice Chopin's Etudes

[@Medtszkowski]

There are so many other etudes that would help with this much better than his etude can

[@stoppelhopser1848]

@@Medtszkowski But Chopins Black Keys etude has the most similarity. The passage almosts sounds just like Chopins etude. it's the same technique. and chopins etude is also musically beautiful, so why shouldnt you learn his etudes?

[@Medtszkowski]

@@stoppelhopser1848 overplayed, and personally, I just don’t like them

[@stoppelhopser1848]

@@Medtszkowski i agree on overplayed

[@jupiterki]

Que dificil su técnica, es como Liszt

[@Eztoez]

I am picking up slight hints of Chopin in the music. On the whole it's melodically very dull.

[@prammar1951]

Funny you say that because people and scholars consider Thalberg just a melodical composer and nothing else, he really just focused on melodies sometimes However in this piece it not his melody, it's a fantasy on an opera written by Donizetti, so its Donizetti melodic writing.

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

Typical Chopin normie, calling everything that's not a Nocturne or a Waltz dull. It's people like you who ruin classical comment sections. Nobody gives a fuck if it sounds like Chopin. The themes are from Don Pasquale by Donizetti.

[@Medtszkowski]

I hate chopin

[@stoppelhopser1848]

@@Medtszkowski why though?

[@DanielCharry1025]

Liszt who? WTF

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

?

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@Enescu Imagine replying to a comment that's 2 months old. LOL!

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@Enescu So what? Are you comprehensive of the fact that public comments are visible to those wishing to observe them, at any designated or given time?

[@therealrealludwigvanbeethoven]

@Enescu I know lmao, that’s why I put LOL in my first second reply.