Preludes for a year - day 72: Franz Xaver Scharwenka, Prelude op. 27 n. 2

Andrea Francesco Calabrese, piano A musical thought in the form of a Prelude for each day of the year. Franz Xaver Scharwenka is German by birth, but Bohemian and Polish by origin, therefore he combines in himself the Central European academism and a certain poetic-nostalgic vein typical of Eastern Europe. He was not only a great pianist, but also an important teacher, as well as a versatile composer. His works in life had a certain success, for example his Concerto n. 1 for piano and orchestra was dedicated to Liszt and premiered by the latter. After his death, Scharwenka’s works were unjustly forgotten, as evidenced by this splendid Prelude in C minor, which recalls on the one hand Schumannian writing, with the typical internal voice, and on the other a certain Rachmaninov, for the warm cantability of the line melodic and the intimate nostalgia that emanates from this work.