7.) Liszt ~ Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

The other "beloved" work on our Eastern European Folk Fest, and a great way to
close the program.

Few works in the entire classical repertoire are as immediately recognizable
as this one------yes, even I have to break down every now and then and play a
REAL, authentic war-horse!

Liszt's original was, of course, written for PIANO, and was orchestrated by
a well-known German musician of the day.  It's a very well-done transcription,
and very idiomatically adapts much of the specifically pianistic figuration to
the full orchestra.

It is VERY challenging to play this music---since it was conceived as a
SOLO PIANO work, and a very free-wheeling, improvisatory one at that. The
folk style of the Rhapsody automatically implies a great deal of "ABANDON"
in the rhtyhms, etc....easy enough for a solo pianist to do, but much more difficult to pull off with a GROUP of 75 players, who must all feel the
swing-and-sway of the music like one, gigantic GYPSY virtuoso.

The GYPSY element is actually rather questionable in its authenticity, since
Liszt was influenced by Gypsy-LIKE tunes that were actually GERMAN or
VIENNESE versions that "cultured" European society thought acceptable
for their listening pleasure.  For an idea of the REAL, unadulturated  GYPSY SOUND, listen carefully to the Bartok Romanian Dances that will
open the second half of our program (See No. 4 below on this blog).
But, authentic or not, this work is thrilling to play, and to listen to. Liszt
structures the work in the typical Rhapsody format-- a slow, passionate,
introduction (known as Lassan) , followed by the exhilarating, wild and
crazy Friska, which every Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, and Woody Woodpecker
fan knows by heart.

Actually, the NSO has performed Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 subtitled
Carnival at Pesth, twice during my tenure; both times, the audience reaction was
ecstatic (we'll do it again sometime soon). But #2 is the one everyone
waits to hear, and I guarantee you we will not disappoint at Sunday's
performance!

I just realized that all four works on the second half of the program:
Bartok, Mlynarski, Chopin and Liszt--- were all ORIGINALLY composed
for piano and/or violin and piano--and orchestrated later by others (except for Bartok, who did his own).  So the evocative power and
color of the symphony orchestra will really be on display here in a most
unique and revealing way.

I look forward to seeing all of you at Sunday's concert--another
exciting, one-of-a-kind experience presented by the Northbrook Symphony!

Thanks for reading,

Larry R