Liszt: Vallée d'Obermann (Pace, Korstick)

A masterclass in thematic transformation from the first book of Liszt's Années de pèlerinage. Texturally, lyrically, and harmonically, there’s so much wonderful stuff going on in here it’s easy to overlook how taut and ingeniously put-together VdO is. In short: a single theme (in minor) gets major-ised, and then its major and minor versions become treated as different themes in a four-part form roughly analogous to sonata form (Theme 1, Theme 2, unstable development, steady build-up to climax). Over the course of the work a three-note motif at the head of the theme becomes more and more prominent, until at points the material is reduced into a descending scale (a trick Liszt also pulls off – albeit via a different transformational procedure, and in an more radical fashion – in the Dante Sonata). The miracle is that something so monomaniacally focussed on such limited material manages to traverse such vast musical terrain – dead-eyed listlessness in the opening bars, lyricism in the second section, blind fury in the third, and rhapsodic ecstasy in the close.

“EXPOSITION” – Theme Group 1
00:00 – Theme 1 (Phrase 1). The first three notes in the LH constitute the main motif (M*); this gets lots of independent development. (Note the similarity of T1 to the opening bars of Liszt’s B minor sonata – same rhythm & harmonic restlessness.) There’s nice modulatory scheme here too: the key up in minor thirds to Gm and Bbm before a common-tone shift to F#m, which is followed by a cunning tritone sub (m.13) that leads to the dominant of Cm.
00:44 – Theme 1, (Phrase 2). At first it appears to take a different direction from Phrase 1, but eventually becomes dominated by M* (which appears as soon as m.10).
02:00 – Transition 1. The dominant of Em is spelled as Cb aug 6, preparing for a move into Ebm in which the first phrase comes to a rest on an gorgeous suspension that spells a Gb augmented maj7. The process is repeated a tritone lower, setting the stage for a return to Em via a B7 b9 chord.
02:38 – Theme 1 returns.
03:56 – Transformation 1. Theme 1 suddenly slips into Eb (and B), losing its tail.
04:32 – Transition 1. At 5:07 this is diverted into a statement of T1 in E Neapolitan minor (= A Hungarian minor’s 5th mode).
“EXPOSITION” – Theme Group 2
05:47 – Theme 2 (Transformation 2). Now in luminous C, with an emphasis on M* in augmentation (both its melodic and rhythmic contours). It’s a cunning touch that the augmented M* has the same rhythmic profile as T1’s second bar (m.2). Moves into A (6:35).
06:40 – Theme 2 further developed (Transformation 3).
“DEVELOPMENT” – dramatic, rhetorical, tense, lots of tremolos
07:36 – Part 1. M* developed as a dramatic recitative over LH tremolos (Transformation 4).
07:59 – Theme 1 appears in the RH, before being transformed into long chains of octave descents (Transformation 5).
08:11 – Part 2. M* developed in the LH in two new and different forms: a stabbing three-note descent in the bass, as well as a chain of descending thirds in the upper registers. Yet again, the theme is distilled into a series of descending scales (8:41; 8:55 – note the prevalence of short descending three-note cells, recalling M*). A climax arrives in the form of RH parallel tritones (9:13). The tension then ebbs via plaintive statements of M* (m.161) in the RH, mirrored by similar descents in the bass (mms.163-164, 167-168).
“RECAPITULATION”
10:10 – Theme 2 (Transformation 6), in E, over rolling triplet semiquaver accompaniment.
11:09 – Theme 2 in inversion, quiet but radiant (Transformation 7). The continuation at 11:34 (m.184) is especially clever – combining an inversion of the 4-note descent of T1 (see the LH of m.1) with the two-note (non-inverted) motif that comes right after. (This two-note sigh is also a truncated M*.)
11:52 – Theme 2 (Transformation 8) now with a quivering, repeated chord accompaniment, growing in strength.
12:21 – Theme 2 in inversion (Transformation 9), with dramatic LH descents and ascents. The second phrase gets some nice modal colour, using the minor iv to move into G.
12:36 – M* developed first in the LH, before leaping into the RH.
12:50 – Theme 1, a rhapsodic octave descent (Transformation 10).
“CODA”
13:03 – M* developed again – but now in the RH, then the LH (the latter with double harmonic colour).
13:16 – M* repeats 4 times in the bass, emphasising the b7 and b6. Passing C aug 6 harmonies in the RH, before a E arpeggio rises up the keyboard.
13:27 – Closing phrase, reintroducing the darkness from the beginning. T1 returns in E double harmonic (= major-ised Neapolitan minor), with a stark emphasis on the augmented sound of the C appoggiatura (recalling m.201 and similar).

[AshishXiangyiKumar]

00:00 – Pace
13:49 – Korstick

Two wildly divergent recordings. Pace is lyrical & intimate – there is a warmth to his playing that is sustained even in the densest or most violent passages. His playing also has the incredibly rare Rubinstein-like quality of being completely satisfying while also coming across as almost artless – the mechanics of the interpretation are strangely subterranean. There are so many lovely moments in this, often generated from the tiniest gestures: at 10:38 (m.175), the non-literal way in which the accompaniment triplets are played (just a smidge shorter than their notated duration); or the arpeggiation at 11:10 (m.180). Also worth mentioning that the phrasing throughout is consistently excellent (just listen to how the opening line in shaped).

Korstick’s interpretation is something of an antipode to Pace’s – a titanic, even orchestral progression from despair to joy. Contrasts are played up – the slow sections are slightly slower than with Pace, but the fast sections are significantly faster. The dynamic/textural control is jaw-dropping: a huge crescendo can suddenly swell up out of nowhere (20:24, m.90), but even consistently loud passages are never less than thrilling (see the tension of the repeated chords at 26:48, or the LH voicing at 26:48). Korstick also has a gift for adding variety to otherwise static textures: at 22:06 (m.121) he accentuates the start of the tremolo to underscore a harmonic shift, and at 22:10 (m.123) there is a magical drop in the LH dynamic to prepare for the coming crescendo.

[M.Arsenault]

Here’s an interesting thing related to this piece. In around 1880, one of Liszt’s close friends, Edward Lassen, arranged Vallée d’Obermann for piano, violin, and violoncello. Lassen, having great respect for Liszt, showed him his work to get his approval. Liszt, as an old man, had a different perception of Vallee d’Obermann then when he wrote it, and guided Lassen to make some remarkable modifications to the music. Liszt gave the name “Tristia” to the reworked piece, now numbered S.378c. The piece starts with a 21-bar introduction, or “prelude”, has a different ending to the first section, an added 8-bar transition to the C major section, and most remarkably, the piece ends before the “Recitativo” section, with a rather dark and unsettling ending, quite characteristic of some of Liszt’s late works. Liszt himself described Vallée d’Obermann as a depiction of human loneliness and suffering, and this version of the piece is arguably even more evocative of this.

This is because, allegedly, In Liszt’s late years, he refused to hear Vallée d’Obermann in its entirety. Listening to it had apparently once caused him great anguish. He even instructed August Gollerich, a student, secretary, and travel companion of his, to conclude his performance of the piece at the end of the first section, before the part in C major, at measure 75.

I find it pretty interesting to see how Liszt perceived Vallée d’Obermann as an old man.

[feeblay]

The more i listen to Liszt, more affection i get towards his ideas, melody pacing and harmony. At the start of my music education Liszt represented this kind of hard, show'y music, which you would play in front of someone you would like to impress. And its easy to neglect Liszt' genious with this kind of approach. His pilgrimage pieces were the starting point of my apreciation of him.

[MasmorraAoE]

18:07 Love the flex of playing that left hand chord without breaking it :D

[azure]

i really like Pace's playing; he's very restrained, and he gives me the impression of someone who doesn't want to fall into desperation, anger, sadness; he's playing the role of a dramatic hero who still fights against his fate but he doesn't want to become prisoner of his own emotions, and tries until the end to stay controlled, rational.
very nice

[JamesBower-yjew]

It's amazing how Liszt manages to transform such simple idea into something extremely dramatic and beautiful.

[cschlums]

Seeing Pace get some love is so awesome to see. Such an underrated liszt player

[hermanbakkekarlsen]

So glad you included Korstick's recording of this piece. He has so much to say! His interpretation of this, and especially Les cloches de Genève is for me beyond heaven!

[Masato_Ota]

Ah, I just picked this piece up yesterday for practice! And now I see this premier coming, it’s like a sign from heaven✨

[rexy]

IMO, this is definitely his greatest Ballade, Legend and Sonata!
It is all about the self reconciliation which makes it even more touching.

[AsrielKujo]

Oh it's Enrico! Amazing to hear his performance here!

[Barpoint]

I *love* the Korstick performance: highly dramatic, but never inappropriately so. Thanks for introducing me to a pianist I didn't know! Your commentary on both the piece and the performers is also excellent.

[versiani]

oof the use of listlessness for the first part gave me intellectual chills

[kronsh]

The first 9 notes remind me of an excerpt from Lensky's aria from Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin.

[cschlums]

I recommend all to listen to Nyiregyhazi’s Vallee d’Obermann. It’s not for everyone, but it is a real experience for those who appreciate it.

[kpokpojiji]

Forgive the obvious comment, but one can only imagine what this piece, so autobiographical, must have sounded in Liszt's hands.

[gergelykiss]

It really is an amazing piece of research: it details the connection to Senancour's novel, Liszt's subtle references to Schubert's song Der Wanderer, which he transcribed at the same time as the composition of the first version of Vd'O - the A-C-B three-note motif that first appears at the border of bars 1 and 2 is very likely an allusion to Schubert's setting of the words "Wo bist du?" (Where are you?) in the song, there is another quite clear quotation from the Lied later on, there is also a comparison between the fist and second versions of Vd'O. The musical analysis is also eye-opening - it's worth checking out in addition to the wonderful description given here by Ashish.

[ksw]

I wish he would upload a liszt piano concerto.
I sometimes feel that liszt's piano concerto is too underrated compared to Chopin's piano concerto (especially No. 2). Anyway, I haven't found a perfect liszt piano concerto recording yet, and I'm sure he knows a good recording (most of the recordings were too slow for me or the expression was disappointing).

[kevinh]

Simple soul that I am, that's the first and last time I'll listen to this, um, stuff.

[paulfievet]

22:58 anyone knows why he adds c sharps in the octave runs ? It changes the scale quite a bit