Classical Music | Piano Music

Franz Liszt

Tarantella, from Venezia e Napoli  Play

Woobin Park Piano

Recorded on 08/12/2015, uploaded on 04/24/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Franz Liszt’s Venezia e Napoli was published in 1861 as a ‘supplement’ to the Italian volume of Années de pèlerinage – a lighter garland of encores. These three numbers are based on popular tunes that Liszt probably first heard during his travels in Italy with Marie d’Agoult.

Gondoliera is a gently undulating piece based on a song by Giovanni Battista Perucchini. This song begins with a rippling, high-velocity, two-handed descent. The “Gondolier’s melody” follows, played by third, fourth, and fifth fingers of the right hand, while the thumb and second finger of the right hand play a trill. As the same time, the left hand supplies a gentle, watery accompaniment. Liszt returns to ebullient high spirits for the concluding Tarantella, incorporating lively themes by Guillaume-Louis Cottrau, in an evocative and triumphantly boisterous showpiece that once again illustrates Liszt’s ingenuity and keyboard inventiveness.     Woobin Park