Adelaide, Beethoven - Thalberg

"Adelaïde" is one of the most famous Beethoven songs, written in 1795/96, when the composer was about 25 years old. The text of Adelaïde is an early romantic German poem by Friedrich von Matthisson. It expresses an outpouring of yearning for an idealized and unattainable woman. In the nineteenth century, the critic Eduard Hanslick called Adelaïde "the only song by Beethoven the loss of which would leave a gap in the emotional life of our nation."

There are quite a few piano transcriptions of this wonderful song, including 3 different versions by Liszt. Around 1850, Thalberg created his own transcription as part of his "Art of song applied to the piano". He must have played it in a unique, unforgettable way, as shown by the following review from the Dwights Journal of Music:

"....on Tuesday he played the Huguenots fantasia, with prodigious effect; also the fantasias on Masaniello, Sonnambula, and Norma.... But his transcription of Beethoven's Adelaide, and of the Quartet from 'I Puritani', (simply played from his book: L'Art du Chant appliqué au Piano) gave us the most unalloyed delight. It was the perfect transfer of a vocal melody (without any of the personal drawbacks) to the strings of an instrument. We fear we shall never wish to hear "Adelaide" sung again, for it never sang itself so purely, so tenderly and sweetly as under Thalberg's fingers."

Needless to say that my little attempt will not leave the same impression, and most of us will always love the original, sung for example by Fritz Wunderlich. Still, I hope you also enjoy this rarely played transcription by Thalberg.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Beethoven
• Thalberg
• Adelaide
• Piano
• Transcription
• Classical

[mozartiikodesu]

Great performance and very nice interpretation!( you have a good tempo)

I would like to sing this song by your wonderful accompaniment.

[pianovirus]

@mozartiikodesu Thanks very much! I just listened to you singing Schubert's "An die Musik" -- very heartfelt and touching! (and a good accompanying pianist!)

[wildeval]

PLEASE!!!!!! Tune that poor YAMAHA which could sound great if it were in tune

[pianovirus]

It's even worse right now, but I'm severely broke, unfortunately :( When the bills are paid, I'll have it tuned, I promise!!

[juufa72]

Cant beat Thalberg's transcription. I wish his compositions were performed more.

[pianovirus]

I fully agree with you, juufa!

[tigersamik]

Love it! It is amazingly awesome!

[TVAboy1]

I hear this, and I understand why mankind exists.

[nguyendangdanh]

Very beautiful!

[pianovirus]

Thank you, Andreas!