This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2021) |
Variations on a Theme from Carmen is a set of variations composed and performed by the Russian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz. They are based on the Gypsy Dance from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen (1875).
Of Horowitz's many transcriptions, the Carmen Variations was the only work to remain in his repertoire throughout his career. He played the Variations from his earliest concerts in the 1920s, when he delighted his audiences with the "show stopping" encore, through to his golden jubilee season in 1978, over 50 years later.
The main theme of the piece originates from the energetic Gypsy Dance from Act II of Bizet's opera Carmen ("Les tringles des sistres tintaient"), a theme that has been used by many for various other variations and transcriptions, including Moszkowski's Chanson Bohème de l'Opéra Carmen. [1]
Horowitz wished the piece not to be published. He performed it in many concerts and showed it to a couple of friends and acquaintances, and even made a piano roll of the piece, but kept the score to himself. [2]
Horowitz's audiences loved the Carmen Variations and he performed them frequently. Eventually, he tired of this, concluding that his audiences forgot the rest of the programme after the encore. [3]
The piece begins with the basic unchanged theme in a rapid tempo, however, the mood soon turns playful but with an increasing technical demand on the pianist. Notes cascade from the upper register and rhythms become even wilder.
In the latter section, a variant of the theme is played in the lower register, providing a calmer and less hectic atmosphere, but this does not last.
After an intricate, chromatic scale passage, taking the form of a short cadenza, the music suddenly explodes into mayhem and Horowitz blows the main theme through the roof, showing huge virtuosity, power and a brilliant technique at the keyboard.
The coda of the piece concludes with the usual Horowitz-Style interlocking octaves, taking the form of an ascending chromatic scale and a few final mighty chords, all versions of the variations contain this in some form or another.
In these variations Horowitz displays the heights of his powers and technique. [2] [4]
The piece changed over time. It is almost strictly a virtuoso showpiece, but as the years progressed, the variations became more sophisticated. Here are the five main versions of the piece:
Horowitz's first recordings were on a piano roll for Welte and Sons in January 1927 and in 1928 for Duo-Art. Also in 1928 Horowitz made his first disc recording of the piece for Victor, taking five attempts before a satisfactory take was approved. Takes 1-3 were cut on 26 March and takes 4 and 5 on 2 April. Take 5 was chosen for issue and the others were destroyed. In these early performances we hear the youthful Horowitz's hasty fingers. Two further takes were made on 25 February 1930 but these were destroyed. [5]
There is a live recording from 1942 and a similar studios version recorded in 1947. There were not many changes from the 1928 version save that the "cadenza" was completely new. [2] [6]
In the middle of his long retirement from the concert stage from 1953 until 1965, Horowitz considered a return in 1957 and worked on a new version of his Variations. This version was not just a flashy encore, but a full length concert piece. We see some new developments; the variations are more varied and the coda is almost completely new. Unfortunately he did not return to the stage to perform it and the recording was not released until after his death.
In 1965, Horowitz ended his retirement and began performing again. He soon brought back his Carmen Variations and the public heard it for the first time in nearly 20 years. Though this version contained some of the changes made in 1957, it had been restored to its usual encore form with little change from the 1947 version. [3] Horowitz performed the piece at his famous television concert in 1968 on CBS, with some minor changes from the 1967 version, mostly alterations to the coda.
In 2009 a recording from 1967 was released with slight differences to the coda.
The last recording of the Carmen Variations occurred in February 1978 at Horowitz's televised White House concert, celebrating the 50th anniversary of his American debut. [7] This version is similar to that of 1968 save for a few small alterations and addition of several items from the 1957 version including some of the coda.
In 1985 during the filming of The Last Romantic, Horowitz included a few bars. [1]
Recording Date | Duration | Record Label | Album |
---|---|---|---|
1926/2009 [8] | 03:58 | Tacet | The Welte Mignon Mystery Vol. XI |
1942 [9] | 03:37 | APR | Piano e forte, April 2000: APR Catalogue & Details of Special CD |
1947 [10] [11] | 03:37 | RCA Victor | Legendary RCA Recordings / Vladimir Horowitz: The Indispensable |
1957 [12] | 06:55 | RCA Red Seal | RCA Red Seal Century: Soloists and Conductors |
1968 [13] | 03:58 | Sony Masterworks | The Legendary 1968 TV Concert |
Pianist | Duration | Record Label | Recording Date | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arcadi Volodos [14] | 03:39 | Sony Classical | 1996 | Transcriptions |
Ladislav Fanzowitz [15] | 04:02 | Diskant | 2005 | Ladislav Fanzowitz plays Horowitz, Godowsky, Balakirev & Liszt |
Valery Kuleshov [16] | 04:19 | BIS Records | 2000 | Hommage à Horowitz |
Denis Matsuev [17] | 03:26 | RCA Red Seal | 2003 | Tribute to Horowitz |
Yuja Wang [18] | 03:39 | Deutsche Grammophon | 2012 | Fantasia |
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all time, he was known for his virtuoso technique, timbre, and the public excitement engendered by his playing.
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, was composed in the summer of 1909. The piece was premiered on November 28 of that year in New York City with the composer as soloist, accompanied by the New York Symphony Society under Walter Damrosch. The work has the reputation of being one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical piano repertoire.
Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, MWV O 14, is his last concerto. Well received at its premiere, it has remained among the most prominent and highly-regarded violin concertos. It holds a central place in the violin repertoire and has developed a reputation as an essential concerto for all aspiring concert violinists to master, and usually one of the first Romantic era concertos they learn. A typical performance lasts just under half an hour.
The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor, Op. 23, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between November 1874 and February 1875. It was revised in 1879 and in 1888. It was first performed on October 25, 1875, in Boston by Hans von Bülow after Tchaikovsky's desired pianist, Nikolai Rubinstein, criticised the piece. Rubinstein later withdrew his criticism and became a fervent champion of the work. It is one of the most popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano concerti.
Réminiscences de Don Juan is an opera fantasy for piano by Franz Liszt on themes from Mozart's 1787 opera Don Giovanni.
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2, is one of the composer's most famous compositions. Part of a set of five piano pieces titled Morceaux de fantaisie, it is a 62-bar prelude in ternary (ABA) form. It is also known as The Bells of Moscow since the introduction seems to reproduce the Kremlin's most solemn carillon chimes.
The Fantasy on Themes from Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni, S.697, is an operatic paraphrase for solo piano by Franz Liszt, based on themes from two different Mozart's operas: The Marriage of Figaro, K.492 and Don Giovanni, K.527.
Three Concert Études, S.144, is a set of three piano études by Franz Liszt, composed between 1845–49 and published in Paris as Trois caprices poétiques with the three individual titles as they are known today.
John Maver is an Australian pianist and composer.
Cinque variazioni is a composition for solo piano by Luciano Berio, written in 1952–53 and greatly revised in 1966. It was published by Suvini Zerboni and the first performance was given by Berio in Milan in 1953. The variations are based on a three-note melodic cell—"fratello"[014]—from the opera Il prigioniero by Luigi Dallapiccola, to whom the work is dedicated. Major changes between the two versions are indicated below, but many other small changes may be found, mostly additions to render the harmony more complex.
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set.
Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36, is a piano sonata in B-flat minor composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1913, who revised it in 1931, with the note, "The new version, revised and reduced by author."
The Nocturnes, Op. 55 are a set of two nocturnes for solo piano written by Frédéric Chopin. They are his fifteenth and sixteenth installations in the genre, and were composed between 1842 and 1844, and published in August 1844. Chopin dedicated them to his pupil and admirer Mademoiselle Jane Stirling.
Au bord d'une source is a piano piece by Franz Liszt; it is the 4th piece of the first suite of Années de Pèlerinage.
Étincelles, Op. 36 No. 6(Sparks) is a piece for solo piano by Moritz Moszkowski. It is the sixth piece from Moszkowski's 8 Characteristic Pieces set.
Passacaglia is a solo piano composition by the composer Leopold Godowsky. It was completed in New York, on October 21, 1927. The composition commemorates the one hundredth anniversary of the death of Franz Schubert. Typical of Godowsky's composition style, the piece contains dense contrapuntal, polyphonic, and chromatic writing.
The Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz was a recording artist for over 60 years; beginning in 1926 on a piano roll system for Welte-Mignon, then with audio recordings, starting in 1928 for the Victor Talking Machine Company, later RCA Victor. Horowitz continued to record for a variety of record labels throughout his life. Between 1962 and 1973 he recorded for Columbia Masterworks In 1975, Horowitz returned to RCA, with which he recorded a series of live recitals. For the last years of his life, between 1985 and 1989, Horowitz recorded for Deutsche Grammophon. Horowitz's final recording, with Sony Classical, was completed in November 1989, four days before his death. This final recording consisted of repertoire that he had never previously recorded. His discography contains numerous albums and compilations of works by a variety of composers. Horowitz has also appeared in several video items, most of these were produced in the later years of his life.
The Piano Sonata in E-flat minor, Op. 26 was written by Samuel Barber in 1949 for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the League of Composers. Commissioned by Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers, it was first performed by Vladimir Horowitz and has remained a popular concert staple since.
The Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, for cello and orchestra was the closest Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a full concerto for cello and orchestra. The style was inspired by Mozart, Tchaikovsky's role model, and makes it clear that Tchaikovsky admired the Classical style very much. However, the Theme is not Rococo in origin, but actually an original theme in the Rococo style.
Les pêcheurs de perles is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run. Set in ancient times on the island of Ceylon, the opera tells the story of how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, whose own dilemma is the conflict between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess. The friendship duet "Au fond du temple saint", generally known as "The Pearl Fishers Duet", is one of the best-known in Western opera.