Home > Bellini, Vincenzo > I Puritani (opera) > Caprice-Étude de Concert sur "I Puritani" de Bellini
Prudent, Émile (Racine Gauthier) : Caprice-Étude de Concert sur "I Puritani" de Bellini Op.24
Work Overview
First Publisher:Paris: A.Meissonier-Heugel
Dedicated to:Melle Emilie de Waldenburg
Instrumentation:Piano Solo
Genre:Paraphrase
Total Playing Time:6 min 30 sec
Copyright:Public Domain
Original/Related Work: Bellini, Vincenzo 《I Puritani (opera)》
Commentary (1)
Author : Ueda, Yasushi
Last Updated: January 1, 2010
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Author : Ueda, Yasushi
Although titled "Caprice-Étude," its form is essentially a set of variations on a single theme. I puritani became very popular since its Paris premiere in 1835. Prudent adopted "A te, o cara, amor talora," sung in Act 1, Scene 3 of this opera, as the theme. In the 1840s, Prudent performed this piece throughout Europe, along with his Caprice-Étude Op. 23 on La sonnambula. Prudent's fantasie-like études always feature intriguing devices in their introductions. In this piece, a beautiful, inventive section employing chromaticism is placed before the theme.
F. Liszt published his brilliant variations, Réminiscences de Bellini: I puritani, using the same Bellini melody in 1837. Liszt transforms and modulates the theme, deploying one dazzling virtuosic technique after another to captivate the listener. In contrast, Prudent remains faithful to the original composition's structure and its flowing harmonic movement, taking care to maximize the lyrical character of the melody. For Prudent, virtuosity is not an end in itself, but rather, so to speak, a paintbrush to create a background that allows the lyrical melody to emerge attractively.