"LISZT: Rigoletto Paraphrase" genre: Romantic
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	If opera was the 19th century equivalent of contemporary cinema, then the concert paraphrase was the television mini-series. With the popularity of the touring virtuoso/composer, exemplified by Liszt and Paganini, opera became available to the general public thanks to the brilliant transcriptions of celebrated musicans. Anyone with access to a piano could enjoy the melodies that enthralled Europe. In the concert hall audiences looked forward to paraphrases performed with abandon and bravura by skilled soloists. For the music lover, the parapharase provided what recordings do today, with one major difference: the intimacy of actually making music at home with one's friends and family. The paraphrase differs from the literal transcription, in that the composer embeliishes themes from the original work with his own variations or improvisations. When expertly performed, the results can be spectacular, a majestic, "technicolor" feast for the ears. Liszt modelled this paraphrase on the famous vocal quartet in the final act of Verdi's Rigoletto, a story of intrigue, power, lust, love, rejection, deformity, mistaken identity and of course, murder. After a brilliant introduction, the Duke of Mantua's aria "Bella figlia dell'amore" (Love's beautiful daughter) is heard as he begins his seduction of Maddalena. The work draws to its glamorous conclusion in a flurry of chromatic scales, 3-hand effects and an awesome swoop of parallel octaves.
	Label: ENIGMA Credits: Recorded in concert. Florida, 1994
	Story Behind the Song Recorded in concert 1994 St Petersburg, Russia

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