Between opera and the Lied - ‘Tre sonetti di Petrarca’ by Franz Liszt

• Authors: Ziemowit Wojtczak
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

Franz Liszt composed his songs in the time when Europe was at the peak of the development of the Romantic form - das Lied. However, it seems that not all of Liszt’s songs should be discussed from this perspective, pointing at least at significant influences of the 19th century Italian opera. The second version of a set of Tre sonetti di Petrarca reflects not only some changes in the composer’s technique or style, but above all, constitutes an evidence of certain tendencies in perceiving vocal technique and the development of Italian and European vocal aesthetics. It might be assumed that, even though the music construction of the second version of the Sonnets - particularly in the layer of melody of the vocal part - brings to mind the Italian operatic aria in its almost purest form, the deeply emotional musical interpretation of Petrarch’s most beautiful love lyrics seems to strongly derive from the already shaped German Romantic song. On the whole, the masterpiece is a bit eclectic, which in the light of Liszt’s reference to the past (belcanto form of an Italian aria, Renaissance lyrics) constitutes - as it could be called today - the author’s postmodern reinterpretation.

Keywords

PL

Liszt; Tre sonetti di Petrarca; das Lied; opera; belcanto; songs; singing aesthetics

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology
• Year: 2014
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 57-66

Dates

published

2018-10-17

Contributors

author

Ziemowit Wojtczak

• Graduate of the Music Academy in Łódź in the singing class of Professor Halina Romanowska. At the same time he studied methodology of the teaching of singing with Professor Tatiana Mazurkiewicz. Soloist of the Music Theatre in Łódź during the years 1991-2011, he has also performed in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France and Italy. In total, he has made nearly 400 appearances abroad in more than 140 European cities. Since 1992 he has also taught the solo singing class at the Music Academy in Łódź; for many years he has been the mentor of the Vocalists’ Science Circle; he is a member of the Academy’s Senate, as well as acting as supervisor and reviewer of many M.A., Ph.D. and habilitation theses. In 2003 he was awarded the ‘Services to Culture’ order of merit by the Minister of Culture and Art, and on three occasions he has been the recipient of the prize of the Rector of the Music Academy in Łódź. In 2006 he was awarded the degree of Dr hab. of art, and since 2007 has held the post of assistant professor at the Music Academy in Łódź. He also specialises in the performance of artistic songs and, together with the pianist Aleksandra Nawe, has recorded two CDs with this repertory. He has authored the book Wieczory z liryką wokalną [‘Evenings with lyrical songs’] and numerous scientific articles on vocal music; he has also served as the science editor of a number of publications issued by the Department of Vocal Music at the Łódź Music Academy. Over a period of ten years he was also a regular contributor to the journal ‘Muzyka21’, publishing over a hundred record reviews and numerous articles.