Wagner - Liszt Tanguy de Williencourt

• Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883):
• 1Tristan et Isolde, WWV. 90 (Arr. Tanguy de Williencourt): Prélude (Excerpt)07:32
• 2Tristan et Isolde, WWV. 90 (Arr. Franz Liszt): La mort d’Isolde (Excerpt)07:04
• 3L’Anneau du Nibelung, WWV. 86 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Walhalla (Excerpt)05:47
• 4Fantaisie sur des thèmes de Rienzi, WWV. 49 (Arr. Franz Liszt)08:45
• 5Le Vaisseau Fantôme, WWV. 63 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Choeur des fileuses (Excerpt)06:08
• 6Le Vaisseau Fantôme, WWV. 63 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Ballade de Senta (Excerpt)05:08
• 7Les Maîtres Chanteurs de Nuremberg, WWV. 96 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Am stillen Herd (Excerpt)08:05
• 8Parsifal, WWV. 111 (Arr. Franz Liszt): La Marche solennelle vers le Saint Graal (Excerpt)09:02
• Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886):
• 9Am Grabe Richard Wagners, S. 13502:24
• Richard Wagner:
• 10Tannhäuser, WWV. 110 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Ouverture (Excerpt)16:36
• 11Lohengrin, WWV. 75 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Le Rêve d’Elsa (Excerpt)03:47
• 12Lohengrin, WWV. 75 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Procession d’Elsa vers la cathédrale (Excerpt)07:45
• 13Lohengrin, WWV. 75 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Fête et chant nuptial (Excerpt)10:36
• 14Lohengrin, WWV. 75 (Arr. Franz Liszt): L’admonition de Lohengrin envers Elsa (Excerpt)03:08
• 15Tannhäuser, WWV. 110 (Arr. Franz Liszt): L’entrée des invités à la Wartburg (Excerpt)10:26
• 16Tannhäuser, WWV. 110 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Récitatif et romance à l’étoile (Excerpt)05:54
• 17Tannhäuser, WWV. 110 (Arr. Franz Liszt): Choeur des pèlerins (Excerpt)06:16
• 18Élégie, WWV. 9301:17
• Total Runtime02:05:40

Info for Wagner - Liszt

What a unique, miraculous merger, that of the universes, so contrasted and so complementary, of Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Franz Liszt (1811-1886), whose thinking and oeuvre so marked the 19th century and who still fascinate us up to the present day. is century, which both crossed in such a singular way, constantly pushing back the limits of their chosen fields and linked by this same quest of the absolute through art: the former, upsetting the codes of opera by taking up with mythology and blending it with poetry, drama and philosophy; the latter, a pianist of extraordinary gifts, adulated by the masses and profoundly mystical. Together, bearers of the ‘music of the future’, experimenting with new forms and new timbres, turning the foundations of tonality upside down by establishing chromaticism as the next pedestal of harmony.

In getting closer to these two personalities so seemingly different, it is troubling to discover to what degree they come together in their inner beings, as if their souls were marked by the same stamp. From this impenetrable bond would emerge their reciprocal musical influences and their common aspirations. Liszt’s unshakeable, life-long devotion to the Wagnerian genius is poignantly revealed in the 15 transcriptions he wrote for piano based on excerpts from Wagner’s operas.

What a challenge then to transpose the multi- dimensional Wagnerian edifice to the one-sidedness of the piano, a challenge of which Liszt avoided the pitfalls, clearing the obstacles by sublimating them. Pro ting from the instrument as synthesis of orchestral and dramatic thinking whilst preserving his privilege of freedom and improvisation, Liszt brilliantly succeeded in distinguishing the passages of operas propitious to a new breath on the piano. Glorified by the fact that he was one of the first to enter the power and richness of Wagner’s music in its entirety, his genius as a transcriber comes through here in the quality of preserving the essence of the teeming Wagnerian universe whilst breathing his own compositional and pianistic magic into it. us, without exception, these transcriptions strike the perfect balance between vocal and orchestral, form and virtuosity, inspiration and absolute respect for Wagner’s art.

Tanguy de Williencourt, piano

Tanguy de Williencourt
has received the highest accolades from the press in his native country: ‘a complete musician’ (Michel Le Naour, Concertclassic), ‘pianistic authority and rich colours’ (Alain Cochard) while La Croix predicted him to become one of the ‘future greats of the piano’.

Tanguy has since pursued a very active career, both in France and abroad: Philharmonie de Paris, Auditorium de Radio France, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Musée d’Orsay, Collège des Bernardins, Opéra de Lille, Auditorium de Bordeaux, Grand Théâtre de Provence, St-Petersburg Philharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, Bonn Opera, Palazetto Bru-Zane, Sala Sao Paulo, and festivals such as Yehudi Menuhin in Gstaad, Chopin in Nohant, Radio France in Montpellier, Pablo Casals in Prades, La Chaise-Dieu, Chorégies in Orange, Abbaye de Royaumont, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Tokyo, Ekaterinburg and Warsaw, Lille Piano Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron and Victoires de la Musique on French television.

Tanguy de Williencourt records extensively: his newest CD for Mirare includes both solo and orchestral works by César Franck (“CHOC” Classica) after the complete piano transcriptions by Wagner/Liszt and all of Beethoven’s Bagatelles, all released to great critical acclaim. Tanguy de Williencourt will soon record his fourth CD together with cellist Bruno Philippe for harmonia mundi, a label for which he has also worked on a Berlioz album with mezzo-soprano Stéphanie d’Oustrac and was the featured pianist of CD ‘Debussy: the late works’, which received the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Gramophone Award in 2019. The latest one, a collaborative CD ‘Proust’, recorded with violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte, was one of Gramophone’s CDs of the year in 2021. He performed with Renée Fleming in a film shot at the Théâtre du Châtelet, which was shown worldwide in IMAX cinemas in 2022.

After graduating from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in piano, chamber music, accompaniment and vocal coaching, Tanguy de Williencourt had the privilege to work closely with Maria João Pires, Christoph Eschenbach, Stephen Kovacevich and Paul Badura-Skoda and has been supported by both the Blüthner and Banque Populaire Foundations. He also received a collection of Prizes: Société des Arts de Genève, ADAMI (Classical révélation 2016), SPEDIDAM and Play-Direct competition at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2017.

Tanguy de Williencourt teaches piano at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris since 2021 and has been appointed as vocal coach by Gustavo Dudamel at Opera de Paris in 2022.

Booklet for Wagner - Liszt