Description
Piano Classics: Mendelssohn - Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words, Complete) - Balázs Szokolay - 2 Audio CD
Brand new! Factory packaged! As pictured! Buy with confidence!
Product Details:
- Product Type: Audio CD Box Set (2 CDs)
- Label: Piano Classics
- Catalog Number: PCLD0067
- Composer: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
- Pianist: Balázs Szokolay
- Genre: Classical / Solo Piano
- Recording: September 2012, Studio I Musicanti, Rome
- Sound Engineer, Mastering & Producer: Giovanni Caruso
- Musical Supervision: Dario Paolini, Giovanni Caruso
- Editing: Giovanni Caruso, Andrea Caruso
- Publisher: Piano Classics, 6 Church Row, Moore Park Road, London, SW6 2JW
- Barcode (UPC): 5060385450024
- Condition: Factory Sealed
Product Features
- Format: 2-CD standard jewel case set
- Total Playing Time: CD1 - 61:14 / CD2 - 53:13 (total approx. 114 min)
- Audio: DDD
- Manufactured in the EU
- Content: Complete Songs without Words (49 pieces across 8 books, Op. 19, 30, 38, 53, 62, 67, 85, 102 + Reiterlied without opus number)
Overview
The Songs without Words is one of the most quietly radical piano collections of the nineteenth century. Mendelssohn published them across his lifetime in eight separate books, never explaining the concept beyond the title itself. No text, no program, no narrative - just melody and accompaniment shaped into something that behaves like a song without needing one. He invented the genre, named it, and nobody has matched it since.
This two-disc set from Piano Classics gives you everything: all 49 pieces, recorded in Rome in September 2012 by Hungarian pianist Balázs Szokolay. The complete cycle runs just under two hours and covers an enormous emotional range - the familiar "Venetian Gondola Songs," the urgent Presto agitato pieces, the tender "Frühlingslied" (Spring Song), the gravely beautiful "Trauermarsch" - all the way to the posthumous Op. 102 pieces published after Mendelssohn's death at 38.
Szokolay plays with clean, unhurried intelligence. The recording at Studio I Musicanti in Rome is close and clear, placing the piano naturally in a dry acoustic that suits introspective repertoire. Nothing is over-pedalled; the inner voices speak. For a collection this long, that kind of consistency is not a given, and Szokolay maintains it across both discs.
If you want a single complete, well-recorded reference set of the Songs without Words, this is a strong candidate.
Interesting Facts
- Mendelssohn composed the Songs without Words between approximately 1829 and 1845; the first book (Op. 19) was published in 1832, and the final two books (Op. 102 and portions of Op. 85) appeared posthumously.
- His sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel composed her own set of pieces in the same form - some were initially published under Felix's name, a fact that only became widely known much later.
- The "Spring Song" (Op. 62, No. 6, "Frühlingslied") became one of the most recognized short piano pieces of the Romantic era, widely used in early recordings and piano pedagogy throughout the 20th century.
- Mendelssohn reportedly resisted attempts by publishers and admirers to add text to the pieces, insisting that music expressed things words could not, not the other way around.
- Balázs Szokolay is the son of Hungarian composer Sándor Szokolay (1931-2013), best known for his opera Blood Wedding (Vérnász); Balázs studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and has performed across Europe and Asia.
- The "Venetian Gondola Songs" (Nos. 2, 12, and 29 in the complete cycle) are among the earliest examples of the barcarolle style in solo piano music, predating Chopin's famous single Barcarolle by nearly two decades.
- Studio I Musicanti in Rome, where this recording was made, is a boutique recording space known for its intimate piano sound and has been used for several acclaimed Piano Classics releases.
Track Listing
CD 1 (61:14)
- Andante sostenuto, G minor Op. 19/6 "Venetian Gondola Song" 2'14 / 2. Agitato, F sharp minor Op. 19/5 3'07 / 3. Andante con moto, E major Op. 19/1 3'32 / 4. Andante espressivo, A minor Op. 19/2 2'29 / 5. Molto allegro, A major Op. 19/3 "Jägerlied" 2'20 / 6. Moderato, A major Op. 19/4 1'52 / 7. Allegretto, F sharp minor Op. 30/6 "Venetian Gondola Song" 3'07 / 8. Andante grazioso, D major Op. 30/5 2'12 / 9. Agitato e con fuoco, B minor Op. 30/4 2'46 / 10. Andante sostenuto, E major Op. 30/3 1'54 / 11. Allegro di molto, B flat minor Op. 30/2 2'00 / 12. Andante espressivo, E flat major Op. 30/1 3'59 / 13. Andante con moto, A flat major Op. 38/6 "Duetto" 2'47 / 14. Presto, E major Op. 38/3 2'18 / 15. Andante, A major Op. 38/4 2'11 / 16. Agitato, A minor Op. 38/5 2'21 / 17. Allegro non troppo, C minor Op. 38/2 2'00 / 18. Con moto, E flat major Op. 38/1 2'29 / 19. Presto agitato, G minor Op. 53/3 2'31 / 20. Allegro non troppo, E flat major Op. 53/2 2'33 / 21. Andante con moto, A flat major Op. 53/1 3'03 / 22. Adagio, F major Op. 53/4 2'16 / 23. Allegro, A minor Op. 53/5 "Volkslied" 2'48 / 24. Molto allegro vivace, A major Op. 53/6 2'22
CD 2 (53:13)
- Andante grazioso, A major Op. 62/6 "Frühlingslied" 2'24 / 2. Andante, A minor Op. 62/5 "Venetian Gondola Song" 2'43 / 3. Andante maestoso, E minor Op. 62/3 "Trauermarsch" 2'39 / 4. Allegro con anima, G major Op. 62/4 1'18 / 5. Andante espressivo, G major Op. 62/1 2'10 / 6. Allegro con fuoco, B flat major Op. 62/2 1'47 / 7. Andante tranquillo, B flat major Op. 67/3 2'27 / 8. Andante, E flat major Op. 67/1 2'28 / 9. Presto, C major Op. 67/4 "Spinnerlied" 1'47 / 10. Allegro leggiero, F sharp minor Op. 67/2 3'00 / 11. Moderato, B minor Op. 67/5 2'03 / 12. Allegretto non troppo, E major Op. 67/6 2'09 / 13. Allegretto, A minor Op. 85/2 1'03 / 14. Andante espressivo, F major Op. 85/1 2'28 / 15. Allegretto, A major Op. 85/5 1'47 / 16. Andante sostenuto, D major Op. 85/4 2'27 / 17. Allegretto con moto, B flat major Op. 85/6 2'25 / 18. Presto, E flat major Op. 85/3 2'20 / 19. Andante un poco agitato, E minor Op. 102/1 2'47 / 20. Presto, C major Op. 102/3 1'34 / 21. Andante, C major Op. 102/6 1'41 / 22. Allegro vivace, A major Op. 102/5 "Kinderstück" 1'08 / 23. Adagio, D major Op. 102/2 2'25 / 24. Un poco agitato, G minor Op. 102/4 2'21 / 25. Reiterlied, D minor, without opus number 1'47
Label & Publisher
Piano Classics, London. www.piano-classics.com. Manufactured in the EU.
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