David Fray | piano
David Fray invites us to savour the delights and mysteries of the art of transcription.
Around transcription
Transcriptions of works by Bach, Rameau, Couperin, Royer, Wagner-Liszt
A few years ago, musicologist Gérard Condé penned a fascinating article about transcription which he described thus: “The extent and varied potential of the piano and its popularity among music lovers made it an ideal instrument for transcription. Liszt, who was keen to extract unusual sonorities from it, transcribed the orchestral score of the Symphonie fantastique and the violin part from Paganini’s Caprices for piano. He then tackled Beethoven symphonies, Lieder by Schubert, popular operas by Meyerbeer and Verdi, and operas by Wagner which were less familiar to audiences. Piano became an instrument of dissemination and propaganda. It was to symphonic works which could not be transported outside Paris what prints were to paintings by the great masters. In the absence of colour, it captured forms and movement, light and shade.” This evening, David Fray will make the most of this subtle art which affords the performer so much freedom.
Production Théâtre des Champs-Elysées
Avec le soutien d’Aline Foriel-Destezet, Grand Mécène de la saison artistique du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées