Guillaume Coppola

FROM SHADOW TO LIGHT: SCHUBERT, BEETHOVEN, BRAHMS
"The viola - chiaroscuro instrument"
 

An instrument close to the human voice, the viola has aroused the expression of nostalgia in many romantic composers, oscillating between dark bass and warm medium.
At the opening of this program, dedicated to the 3 great German romantic composers, an anthology of lieder "without words" by Schubert, in which the viola replaces the sung voice, embracing the inflections of melodic lines. Then, the famous sonata D821, entrusted by the young Schubert (unknown violist) to the Arpeggione, this ephemeral instrument with a tessitura so close to the viola.
At the beginning of the second part, Guillaume Coppola takes up the tradition of 19th century concerts by playing the Andante, sometimes grave and sometimes aerial, of Beethoven's 15th piano sonata known as "Pastoral". In conclusion of this program, the twilight second sonata opus 120 by Brahms for viola and piano, the composer's last chamber music work in the form of a musical will.

SCHUBERT Lieder (transcribed for viola and piano)
Ständchen, D957  4’
Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen, D383  3’
An der mond, D193  4’
Auf dem Wasser zu singen, D774  4’
SCHUBERT Sonata for Arpeggione and piano, D821  24’
---
BEETHOVEN Andante from sonata n°15 "pastoral" for piano, op. 28  8’
BRAHMS Sonata for viola and piano in E-flat, op. 120 n°2  25’

SCHUBERT 
Arpeggione, sonatine and lieder
 

Between Franz Schubert and the viola there is an emotional connection that saw him as a child - just like Mozart or Beethoven - hold the part of this instrument during the performances of his first string quartets. With the so delicious sonata for Arpeggione - this instrument forgotten so close in its softness and its range of the viola - and its playful sonatine in D major one immerses himself in the limitless melodic invention of Schubert's chamber music. To adapt for a stringed instrument some of the most beautiful lieder of the composer, is to renew and reinvent this music. As you listen, you forget the text, you forget the time, to live a moment of eternity.

SCHUBERT
Sonatin in D, D. 384  15'
An die Musik, D. 547  3’
Ständchen, D. 957  4’
Nacht und Träume, D. 827  4’
Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen, D. 383  3’
An der mond, D. 193  4’
Trockne Blumen, D. 802  4’
Auf dem Wasser zu singen, D. 774  4'
Hungarian melody for piano, D. 817  4'
Sonata for arpeggione, D. 821 (22')

JOURNEY IN ITALY 
 

Between 1837 and 1839 Franz Liszt traveled to Italy with his companion Marie d'Agoult. From Lake Maggiore to Pavia, from Milan to Venice, from Genoa to Florence, from Pisa to Rome, from Assisi to Arezzo, Liszt shapes his artistic vision through contact with the works he contemplates, in search of emotions and exchanges between artistic disciplines. His visual and literary discoveries become for him a real source of inspiration that he transposes into music. Synesthesia, permanent artistic quest, acquisition of an "open" culture, his musical compositions have largely benefited from this trip of two great years in Italy, disguised as "great tour in the country of the arts". But this forced stay was actually an exile.
At the invitation of Richard Wagner, Liszt went to Venice in the year 1882, and paid homage to him in his nocturnal "Lugubre Gondola" and transcribed O of mein holder Abendstern from Tannhaüser. Hector Berlioz - after winning the Grand Prix of Rome for his cantata "Sardanapale" - stayed in 1831 and 1832 at Villa Medici. This trip to Italy is an essential step in his artistic development and marks his musical work durably. Many of his compositions, from "Harold in Italy" to "Beatrice and Benedict", from "Benvenuto Cellini" to "Romeo and Juliet" and the "Trojans" keep the memory of impressions felt during his wanderings. "Freedom of heart, of spirit, of soul, of all [...] Freedom true, absolute, immense! O great and strong Italy! Wild Italy! He writes finally in his memoirs.
Franz Liszt will transcribe for the piano some of the great orchestral works of his friend, including the famous "Harold in Italy", commissioned by Niccolo Paganini. He will also compose La Romance Oubliée as an intimate reminiscence, inspired by "La Marche des Pèlerins".
Petrarch's "Three Sonnets" from the "Second Year of Pilgrimage" form a vibrant homage to Italy. The two Elegies that complete this program fit in the same poetic emotion.

LISZT, Franz
The lugubrious gondola for viola and piano (transcription), S. 134  9'
Forgotten romance for viola and piano, S. 132  4'
Three sonnets of Petrarch for viola and piano (transcription), S. 161  15'
First elegy for viola and piano (transcription), S. 130  7'
Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth for viola and piano (transcription), S. 382  6'
Second elegy for viola and piano (transcription), S. 131  6'
BERLIOZ, Hector / LISZT, Franz
Harold in Italy (March of pilgrims) for viola and piano  15'
PAGANINI 
Cantabile for viola and piano (transcription)  4'
WAGNER /LISZT
O mein holder Abendstern for viola and piano (transcription)  5'