Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Opera and Song Transcriptions for Piano (Julia Severus)

Information

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1. 6 Romances, Op. 16: No. 1 Cradle Song
2. 6 Romances, Op. 16: No. 4 O, Sing that Song
3. 6 Romances, Op. 16: No. 5 So What, Then?
4. 6 Romances, Op. 6: No. 5 Why? (arr. J. Severus)
5. 6 Romances, Op. 28: No. 3 Why? (arr. V. Laub)
6. I Should Like a Single Word (arr. J. Severus)
7. 6 Romances, Op. 73: No. 6 Again, as Before, Alone (arr. J. Severus)
8. 6 Romances, Op. 73: No. 1 We Sat Together (arr. A. Bernard)
9. 7 Romances, Op. 47: No. 6 Does the Day Reign? (arr. J. Severus)
10. 6 Romances, Op. 63: No. 5 The Fires in the Room Were Already Out (arr. A. Bernard)
11. Charles Voss - Characteristic Fantasy on Motifs of Tchaikovsky's 'Vakula the Smith', Op. 319
12. 6 Romances, Op. 6: No. 3 Bitterly and Sweetly (arr. J. Nagel)
13. 6 Romances, Op. 38: No. 1 Don Juan's Serenade (arr. A. Bernard)
14. 6 Romances & Songs, Op. 27: No. 3 Do Not Leave Me! (arr. V. Laub)
15. 6 Romances, Op. 73: No. 2 Night (arr. H. Pachulski)
16. 6 Romances, Op. 6: No. 6 None but the Lonely Heart (arr. J. Severus)
17. 12 Romances, Op. 60: No. 1 Last Night (arr. V. Laub)
18. 6 Romances, Op. 63: No. 2 I Opened the Window (arr. A. Bernard)
19. 12 Romances, Op. 60: No. 6 Sleepless Nights (arr. A. Bernard)
20. 12 Romances, Op. 60: No. 11 The Heroic Deed (arr. J. Severus)
21. Carl Frühling - Fantasy on 'Eugene Onegin'

Julia Severus, piano

Date: 2019

Label: Grand Piano

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Review

After recording the complete piano music of Bizet and selected works of Franck, Julia Severus has turned to unusual piano transcriptions of songs. Her first disc of Rachmaninov transcriptions (Naxos 8.573468) was well received on these pages (review). She now turns her attention to rare transcriptions of the songs and operas of Tchaikovsky. Rare indeed: to my knowledge, only the first three items on the disc have been recorded before, and of the arrangers I was only familiar with Pachulski. Also of note is that these are relatively straightforward arrangements. Any piano introductions and postludes appear to be as Tchaikowsky wrote them, and in the body of the songs the material is not altered. They certainly do not follow the examples of Liszt, Godowsky or, more recently, Earl Wild in his transcriptions of Rachmaninov or Tchaikowsky, in which a virtuoso piano piece is created from the original.

The arrangements by Tchaikowsky himself are an excellent example of this. Although they stand as piano pieces in their own right, he has faithfully reproduced a fusion of the voice and accompaniment with occasional little touches like the grander arpeggio in the central section of So what, then? The famous Cradle song, treated to a complex arrangement with a very jazzy ending by Rachmaninov, is heard here at its touchingly simplest. The imploring lines of O sing that song, with its multiple suspended notes (like little pleas all the way through), and So what, then? with its growing complexity of figuration, are effective in their new guise, especially the latter.

As for the other songs here, Severus turns to a volume issued by the publisher Jurgenson in 1891, wherein several pianist/composers were commissioned to produce further arrangements. Included here are the John Field pupil Alexander Bernard, who contributed to the Nuvelist journal, as did Leipzig-educated Julius Nagel, whose pieces were published within its pages. (Tchaikowsky’s collection The Seasons also appeared there.) The Czech Váša Laub was a Moscow-based piano teacher, composer and choirmaster, whilst Polish-born Henryk Pachulski was professor of piano at the Moscow Conservatory from 1886 to 1917. Pachulski also made solo piano arrangements of Tchaikowsky’s 5th and 6th symphonies and other orchestral works. Completing the song arrangements are six by Severus herself.

The range of songs is wide; in songs such as Again as before and We sat together from Op.73 or Frenzied nights from Op.60, there abound themes of loneliness, yearning and lost opportunities. More positive aspects of love are heard, from the quiet contentment of The fires in the room were already out to passion’s dizzying heights in the gloriously virtuosic Does the day reign? Obsessive reiteration in the heavy laden Night (Op.73 No.2) is only reinforced by the absence of the contrast between voice and piano, the doom-ridden chromatic motifs falling or rising one after the other in some endless cycle. The most famous of the set, generally known in English as None but the lonely heart, is arranged by Severus. She has replaced the syncopations of the original accompaniment with triplets that meander around the vocal line. In general, I find that the extra little touches of fantasy in Severus’s transcriptions make for more effective piano solos than the others on the disc. That said, Tchaikowsky’s gift for melody and drama make all these pieces worth hearing.

As well as the song transcriptions, there are fantasies on the operas Eugene Onegin and Vakula the Smith. The fantasy on Vakula the Smith is by the Pomeranian-born pianist Charles Voss, who settled in Paris, piano capital of Europe in the early 19th century. His works comprise over 330 opuses and are full of fantasies, morceaux de concert and diverse salon works for the piano; this late fantasy was published in Jurgenson. It is similar in scope to a host of fantasies by the likes of Henri Herz or Sigismond Thalberg. Vakula’s two Act 2 arias are both treated to increasing amounts of decoration, and are separated by a short minuet. The Act 3 Polonaise ends the fantasy in lively mood, although, excepting a short coda, the music is essentially played as written in the vocal score.

Carl Frühling was an Austrian composer and pianist whose chamber music is occasionally heard. I am not aware that any of his works for the piano have otherwise been explored. The fantasy on Eugene Onegin takes us on a guided tour of the opera. The passionate music that opens the opera leads to Lenski’s arias which are introduced in reverse order: the arioso that he sings upon meeting Olga appears after the aria in which he faces death in his duel with Onegin. A lively jaunt through the Act 3 Polonaise ends the first section. The opening is heard again before we are introduced briefly to Gremin. His music quickly segues into the glorious close of Tatiana’s letter scene, which then dissolves into the grand waltz bringing the fantasy to a close.

Serverus finds the mood and style effectively, and generally plays very well. My slight niggle is that I wanted more in terms of pain and struggle, torment and heartache. The voice and its timbre are missing. In a song like It is both painful and sweet “fever flows in your veins, painful and sweet, your blood flames with heat, painful and sweet!” (translation from www.lieder.net) I miss that last drop of agony and ecstasy at the climaxes. That, however, does not distract from what is a very enjoyable and well-balanced recital.

— Rob Challinor

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Romantic Russian composer. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression.

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Coming from a family with an artistic background, Julia Severus graduated from the Berlin University of Arts and from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Wishing to explore piano ensemble repertoire, she founded the Aurora Duo and Quartet, performing and recording numerous world premières. Her solo recordings of Rachmaninov’s transcriptions, Franck’s early piano works, Tchaikovsky’s opera and song transcriptions and Bizet’s piano works have been highly praised. Her search for undiscovered piano literature led her on the trail of Russian composer Adolf Barjansky, whose complete piano works she has recorded.

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