Liszt - Verdi: Complete Paraphrases and Free Transcriptions - Odradek Records: ODRCD309 - CD or download

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Zhok plays...with technical command to spare. He conveys each work's capacity to conjure the world of the opera concerned, and without a trace of meretriciousness in the keyboard virtuosity. — BBC Music Magazine, May 2014, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 13th Jan 2014
Catalogue No: ODRCD309
Label: Odradek Records
Length: 81 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Liszt: Don Carlo, Coro di festa e Marcia funebre, R. 268, S. 435

Work length7:44

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Salve Maria! from I lombardi alla prima crociata (1st version), R. 264, S. 431

Work length6:43

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$1.40

$1.75

Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Rigoletto, paraphrase de concert, R. 267, S. 434

Work length8:37

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Ernani, paraphrase de concert (1st version), R. 293, S. 431a

Work length13:27

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$2.80

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Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Miserere from Il Trovatore, R. 266, S. 433

Work length8:26

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Ernani, paraphrase de concert (2nd version), R. 265, S. 432

Work length7:35

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Réminiscences de Simon Boccanegra, R. 271, S. 438

Work length11:28

$2.00

$2.80

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Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Aida, Danza sacra e Duetto finale, R. 269, S. 436

Work length12:16

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$2.80

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Rinaldo Zhok

Liszt: Agnus Dei from Messa da Requiem, R. 270, S. 437

Work length4:51

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$1.75

Rinaldo Zhok

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About

Italian pianist Rinaldo Zhok’s first recording for Odradek features Liszt’s complete Verdi operatic transcriptions and paraphrases, which he brings together for the first time on CD in their entirety. Zhok highlights what one might define the Verdian spirituality of these Liszt adaptations, projects the dramatic force of the characters of the arias, and creates a theatre without words and without images, suggested only by the sounds of the piano. The resulting exchange is quite wonderful: Liszt giving Verdi his hands, Verdi giving Liszt his voice.

“I have always loved the simplicity and effectiveness of Giuseppe Verdi’s music, sophisticated yet popular, with its patriotic ideals and its innovative conception of the theatre, synonymous with the nascent state of Italy,” says Zhok. “I decided to concentrate on transcriptions and paraphrases of works that are otherwise not accessible to pianists. Verdi himself had almost no interest in composing absolute music, and wrote only two short and not very significant pieces for the piano.”

Even if they are from very popular operas like Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and Aida, Liszt’s paraphrases are not very widely known. He adapts the themes, enriches the harmonies, and personalizes the vocal texture, often making the original material more essential and less acrobatic, just the opposite of what one might expect from the virtuoso pianist par excellence, and the resulting arrangements have real beauty.

Reviews

May 2014

Zhok plays...with technical command to spare. He conveys each work's capacity to conjure the world of the opera concerned, and without a trace of meretriciousness in the keyboard virtuosity.

June 2014

It is greatly to the credit of Rinaldo Zhok...that he is able to create such a luminous singing tone in this small acoustic, even at his relatively cautious tempi...These sometimes lead to a loss of dramatic tension...but Zhok's always elegant playing brings its own rewards, the vocal origins of the music always uppermost and the performances more deeply satisfying than many

9th March 2014

The Italian elicits from the piano beautiful singing tones, shaping every phrase of every piece with care — and communicating with unfailing intensity.

Liszt - Verdi: Complete Paraphrases and Free Transcriptions

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