Le Piano Symphonique
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 ‒ 1847)
Präludium and Fuge e-Moll op. 35
Franz Schubert (1797 ‒ 1828)
«Ständchen» from the «Schwanengesang»
Franz Schubert (arr. Franz Liszt)
«Ständchen» from the «Schwanengesang»
Franz Liszt (1811 ‒ 1886)
Suisse:
«Tout n‘est qu‘images fugitives» WWV 58
«Les Cloches de Genève»
Made in Switzerland: There are some great compositions with an eminent Swiss reference. Starting with the first volume of Franz Liszt’s piano cycle “Années de pèlerinage”, in which he musically recreated impressions of his Swiss journey, which he undertook together with Marie d’Agoult in 1835/36, in a most impressive manner. This ultimately became the first volume of his three-part cycle “Années de pèlerinage”. For the elderly Richard Strauss, on the other hand, it was not a tourist educational trip that took him to Switzerland after the Second World War, but a retreat to a country preserved from the ravages of war. Here he wrote his “Four Last Songs”, staying in noble hotels in Montreux and Pontresina. He himself saw it as a pastime – but the result is one of the most profound, grandest orchestral song cycles ever: a touching farewell to life composed on poems by Hermann Hesse and Joseph Eichendorff for soprano voice Now Daniel Behle sings it to piano accompaniment. By the way: Made in Switzerland – this also applies to the pianist Oliver Schnyder …
