In this Book
- Moriz Rosenthal in Word and Music: A Legacy of the Nineteenth Century
- Book
- 2006
- Published by: Indiana University Press
As a pianist, Rosenthal was unparalleled: his legato touch came from Chopin through his pupil Mikuli; his awareness of composition was developed by Liszt; his Brahms interpretation shaped by the composer himself; and his ingeniously crafted piano-paraphrases memorialized his friendship with Johann Strauss II. Yet Rosenthal's pianistic abilities were married to a rare intellectual erudition -- a knowledge of literature, history, philology, science, philosophy, and society that few pianists have ever matched, let alone surpassed.
In these striking pieces, we see every facet of Rosenthal: memoirist, social critic, pedagogue, and virtuoso. He could write with gravity and pathos, yet his famous and sometimes devastating wit is legendary. This volume combines Rosenthal's writings with critical assessments of the pianist by such contemporaries as Eduard Hanslick, Edward Prime-Stevenson, and Hugo Wolf. It is rounded out with an illuminating preface by Charles Rosen, perhaps Rosenthal's most renowned pupil; a discography and concertography; and a CD featuring never-before-released Rosenthal recordings.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- p. xv
- Moriz Rosenthal: A Chronology
- pp. xvii-xx
- Introduction
- pp. 1-16
- 1. Autobiography
- pp. 17-39
- 3. Letter to Lilli Lehmann
- pp. 42-43
- 5. Rosenthaliana
- pp. 45-48
- 7. The Bane of Virtuosity (excerpt)
- pp. 51-52
- 9. On Liszt’s Don Juan Fantasie
- pp. 54-55
- 10. A Stroll with Ferruccio Busoni
- pp. 56-57
- 11. Mahleriana
- pp. 58-60
- 12. Czar Alexander II
- pp. 61-62
- 14. Letter to the Editor
- pp. 64-65
- 16. The Korngold Scandal
- pp. 69-71
- 17. From Franz Liszt
- pp. 72-73
- 20. Letter to Herbert Hughes
- pp. 85-89
- 22. Schumann’s Carnaval
- pp. 93-96
- 24. My Memories of Johannes Brahms
- pp. 104-106
- 25. Brahmsiana
- pp. 107-116
- 26. Brahms and Johann Strauss II
- pp. 117-118
- 27. Review of a Concert by M. R.
- pp. 119-120
- 28. Letter to the Editor
- pp. 121-123
- 30. From Aphorisms
- pp. 125-126
- 31. On the Question of Applause
- pp. 127-128
- Appendix A. Rosenthal as Humorist
- pp. 129-132
- Appendix B. Annotated Concertography
- pp. 133-148
- Appendix C. Discography
- pp. 149-155