INDEX OF THE VOLUME
MICHAEL SAFFLE, Liszt’s Rhapsody as composer biopic
LUCIANO CHIAPPARI, Liszt e la marchesa Maria Martellini. Lettere inedite
MARCO BEGHELLI, Angelo de Gubernatis: un «savant illustre» tra Liszt e Madame d’Agoult
KLÁRA HAMBUGER, Vier unbekannte Briefe Anna Liszts
ANDREA MALVANO, Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne. Franck e Liszt alle origini del poema sinfonico
AUTOGRAFI
ANNA SCALFARO, Due autografi inediti di Luigi Dallapiccola
RECENSIONI
ABSTRACTS
MICHAEL SAFFLE, Liszt’s Rhapsody as composer biopic
Unlike other Liszt biopics, which attempt to imitate reality more or less successfully, Liszt’s Rhapsody (1996) transforms an obscure story from the composer’s life into a parable of political correctness. In spite of certain realistic visual details, Liszt’s Rhapsody is a less successful biopic than several of its predecessors, including Charles Vidor’s and George Cukor’s Song Without End (1960), James Lapine’s Impromptu (1991), and Ken Russell’s controversial Lisztomania (1975). An examination of Liszt biopics reveal ways in which composer biopics function in terms of filmic conventions governing historical and documentary truth.
LUCIANO CHIAPPARI, Liszt e la marchesa Maria Martellini. Lettere inedite
The Istituto Liszt has recently acquired a set of 5 letters written by Liszt to the noble woman marquise Maria Martellini at the end of the 1830s. Another letter to the same addressee, kept in the Archives of the Fondazione Scaramagà (Trieste) and published in 1987 by Marina Petronio, is re-published here and profusely annotated.
A rich network of notes is provided for each of the six letters, with the intent of systematically clarifying the relationships that are behind each letter. Research in private and public archives has enabled the author to illustrate the family history of outstanding persons, to give news about famous buildings and institutions and to offer an extensive overview of the society Liszt frequented in Florence and in other towns of Tuscany during his first journey in Italy.
MARCO BEGHELLI, Angelo de Gubernatis: un «savant illustre» tra Liszt e Madame d’Agoult
Count Angelo De Gubernatis (1840-1913) was one of the most eminent scholars of the newly united Italy. He was a writer and scientist (orientalist, linguist, grammatician), he founded many journals, and organized conferences and exhibitions on several subjects. In the 1870s he got in touch with Marie d’Agoult, corresponding with her until her death. In the 1880s he met Liszt in Florence and in Budapest, and involved him in a charity initiative.
From De Gubernatis’ writings and other sources, the author casts new light on unexpected instances useful for enriching Liszt’s biography in the last years of his life in Italy, especially on his friendship with outstanding people living in Florence but coming from different countries. Also the little known correspondence between De Gubernatis and Madame d’Agoult is briefly investigated.
KLÁRA HAMBUGER, Vier unbekannte Briefe Anna Liszts
A newly discovered letter by Anna Liszt to her son offers some more information about the relationships between the composer and his mother.
Three letters by Anna Liszt to Mr and Mrs Guiselin – Daniel’s teachers – are also transcribed. They represent clear evidence of the great commitment of the grand-mother to the children’s education.
The transcriptions of the letters and their rich critical apparatus are preceded by an article containing a vivid portrait of the gentle and generous nature of Anna Liszt.
The whole contribution helps to better delineate the threads that characterize particular aspects of Liszt’s relationships with his children and his mother.
ANDREA MALVANO, Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne. Franck e Liszt alle origini del poema sinfonico
The author compares the symphonic poem Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne by Franz Liszt and that of César Franck from different points of view, without denying Liszt’s paternity of the genre. The negative critical position of French literature on the historical role of Franck’s symphonic poem is possibly due to the fact that Franck himself did not give great importance to this piece.
Liszt and Franck met in Paris 1837 and shared many aspects of the French culture of their time. It is revealing that both chose Victor Hugo’s poetry for a symphonic poem and for a chanson (S’il est un charmant gazon, 1844).
In both symphonic poems there are several common aspects, and especially the presence of three “main subjects”: Hymn to God, human lamentation, presence of the sea. Also the musical language expressing such “themes” is often similar, for instance: large episodes lacking a clear tonal centre, the baroque “figure of lamentation” in the melody and the musical form of the chorale.
AUTOGRAFI
ANNA SCALFARO, Due autografi inediti di Luigi Dallapiccola
The first fragment reproduces measures 225-231 of the second scene of Volo di notte. Careful comparison with the draft of the score (the abbozzo), the reduction for voice and piano prepared by Riccardo Nielsen and published by Ricordi, and the complete score enables the author of the essay to hypothesize that Dallapiccola copied the seven bars from the abbozzo, even if the two sources are not identical. The author also proposes an explanation for the “strange” choice of these seven bars.
In the article clear evidence is given of the origin of the second unpublished autograph (first chord of Il Prigioniero). It was prepared for the collector Mr Manfred on his special request and was dedicated to him.
RECENSIONI
MARIATERESA STORINO
Cécile Reynaud, Liszt et le virtuose romantique, Honoré Champion, Paris 2006
Paul Bertagnolli, Prometheus in music, Ashgate, Aldershot 2007