Beethoven and more 2011 podcast #32: Death of a lady's man
October 14, 2011
Franz Liszt
Reminiscences of Don Juan (Paraphrase on Don Giovanni) for two pianos, S 656
Duo d'Accord
MP3 recorded on September 24, 2011 in the Beethoven Hall Bonn by Deutschlandfunk (DLF)
Duo d'Accord stuck to the classics during their Beethovenfest appearance - but with a twist. The piano playing couple (Sebastian Euler und Lucia Huang) performed Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in versions that condense the grand scale of each work into arrangements for just four hands.
Liszt's "Reminiscences de Don Juan" offers a series of variations on themes from "Don Giovanni." Mozart's opera tells the story of the work's namesake, an incorrigible lady's man.
"The opera ends with the death of Don Giovanni, and, if I were to simplify it radically, Mozart's message for us is: Stick to the rules, especially in matters of love, otherwise you'll die," said Sebastian Euler, one half of Duo d'Accord.
Liszt changes the order of the narrative, though, and opens with the music to the scene where Don Giovanni perilously ignores a threat. But then the composer moves into a series of fantasies on brighter moments from Mozart's opera, including a flirtatious aria between Don Giovanni and a young woman. The shift away from the moral center envisioned by Mozart suggests a thing or two about Liszt's personality, as Sebastian Euler sees it:
"The part where Don Giovanni seduces a simple peasant girl is the central element in Liszt's piece, and it's presented in all sorts of detail and variations. That alone says a lot about what he liked about the opera! And he ends with the champagne aria - with this very virtuosic and unrestrained way of taking pleasure in life."
Author: Greg Wiser
Editor: Rick Fulker