Fantasie über Themen aus Figaro und Don Giovanni, S.697 - Leslie Howard/Franz Liszt/W. A. Mozart

Franz Liszt/Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Fantasie über Themen aus Mozarts Figaro und Don Giovanni, S.697 (1993 completion of Liszt's manuscript by Leslie Howard, probably an earlier version of his 1996 EMB edition).


[...] A peculiarity of the Fantasy is that Liszt illustrated themes from two operas in it: In addition to the themes employed in his well-known fantasy Réminiscences de Don Juan (R 228, S 418), written in 1841—which is a worthy companion to the Fantasy edited here—Liszt uses three further melodies from Don Giovanni: a minuet, a contradance and a waltz.

The work concerns itself with two arias from Le moze di Figaro—Figaro's Act 1 aria (“Non più andrai”— his teasing and admonitory injunction to Cherubino to take life seriously and to cease his ubiquitous flirting) and Cherubino’s Act II arietta (“Voi che sapete"—a serenade to the Countess, Figaro's advice notwithstanding), and the dance scene from the Act I finale of Don Giovanni (the masked figures of Donna Anna, Donna Elvira and Don Ottavio come to accuse Don Giovanni of the murder of the Commendatore and the rape of Donna Anna, and find themselves just in time to prevent the rape of Zerlina).

After a dramatic introduction (based upon Figaro's aria but ending with a hint of what is to come), Cherubino’s arietta is given a gentle, florid setting, transposed to A flat from the original B flat. This theme occurs only here in the entire work, then is heard no further. After a brilliant transition, Figaro’s aria returns in its original bright C major. In the reprises of this theme Liszt presents marvellously inventive pianistic and harmonic variations. But instead of proceeding directly to Mozart's coda, the aria falls away to reveal the Don Giovanni dance scene, where Mozart's score calls for two additional onstage dance orchestras to add to the pit orchestra, simultaneously adopting various tunes for different social groups—the celebrated minuet in 3/4, a rustic dance in 2/4, and a fast waltz in 3/8. As in the opera, the minuet is first given alone, in F major, and Liszt retains this key for the combination with the rustic dance. Liszt does not add the third theme as Mozart does, but keeps it for separate treatment, and gives it rather more substance than it has in the opera, combining it with fragments of the rustic dance and, excellently, parts of Figaro's aria. There follows a modulatory section which allows Liszt to toy with parts of all four themes together before the transition. This uses earlier Figaro material alongside the minuet theme, and leads to the coda, which finally completes Figaro's aria and the work itself.

Bearing in mind George Bernard Shaw's’ perceptive observations upon Liszt's musical interpretation of the morality of the Don in the Don Giovanni Fantasy it might be similarly if cautiously suggested that the combination and disposition of the themes in the minuet scene in the present work also adumbrate a moral fable: that the flirtatiousness of Cherubino which may seem harmless enough at the beginning could be leading to the unforgivable behaviour of a Don Giovanni, unless good common sense hinders him from doing so.

At the beginning of this century Ferruccio Busoni published a greatly truncated version of the present fantasy under the title: “Fantasie / Gber zwei Motive aus W. A. Mozarts / Die Hochzeit des Figaro / nach dem fast vollendeten Originalmanuskript / erginzt und Moriz Rosenthal zugecignet von / Ferruccio Busoni / Erste Ausgabe 1912". His honourable intention to make an unknown work of Liszt available was somewhat compromised by the edition remaining silent about exactly how great was Busoni’s contribution. Nor is there any mention of what and how much he omitted from Liszt's manuscript. A comparison with the autograph manuscript reveals that Busoni omitted sections from Don Giovanni altogether which implies that he was obliged to shorten by 245 bars (!) Liszt’s original manuscript consisting of 597 bars and compose 37 new bars in order to make the remaining sections suitable for performance.” Busoni’s paraphrase (comprising just 389 bars which may have reflected temporary conceptions of Liszt) no longer meets the theoretical or practical requirements of a time like ours which strives for an ever-greater fidelity to the original. [...] (perface to the 1996 EMB edition by Leslie Howard, a brief structural analysis of the piece below in the comment section).


Leslie Howard's 1993 studio recording for Hyperion diverges slightly from Liszt's manuscript and from the edition printed by EMB 3 years later. We have tried our best to implement those changes (the most notable of which is at the coda) in this MIDI, as well as following his tempo, pedal, dynamic and articulation choices to the utmost of our ability.


Busoni's completion:    • Fantasy on two themes from The Marria...  

Hamilton's completion:    • Fantasie über Themen aus Figaro und D...  

Old version of the MIDI:    • Fantasy on themes from Figaro and Don...  


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