Description
Franz Liszt - Variations sur Le Carnaval de Venise de Paganini, S700a
Performer: Goran Filipec
The variations on the Carnaval de Venise are catalogued both by Raabe and Searle among Liszt's unfinished works and Searle goes so far as to erroneously call the piece a "Paganini arrangement". As a matter of fact, it is possible—although not documented—that Liszt may have heard Paganini play his own piece Introduzione e Variazioni sul Carnevale di Venezia in Paris 1831, amongst the concerts which had such influence upon Liszt's future direction. In any event the original theme is not Paganini's, but belongs to Italian folkloric tradition and is found in other well-known works. From a note on sketchbook GSA60/N, 8 preserved in Weimar, it is possible to date the piece to June 1844 (it is also possible however, that the first variations may have been written a few months earlier, according to a letter to Heinrich Schlesinger dated December 26, 1843). With a technique that makes you forget just how exacting the piece is to play, Filipec not only generates the thrill of a live performance but does so with a disarming swagger and playfulness.