Sigismond Thalberg - Piano Sonata in C minor, Op.56

Sigismund Thalberg, Lithograph by Josef Kriehuber, 1841.

 

(8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871)

was a composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.

Piano Sonata in C minor, Op.56

00:00​ - I. Allegro 07:56​ - II. Scherzo Pastorale 13:27​ - III. Andante 21:18​ - IV. Finale Agitato

piano - Adrian Ruiz

 

During the 1830s and the 1840s his style was a major force in European piano-playing. He was greatly in fashion and was imitated by others. Mendelssohn wrote in a letter to his mother: ’Thalberg, with his composure, and within his more restricted sphere, is more nearly perfect as a real virtuoso; and after all this is the standard by which Liszt must also be judged, for his compositions are inferior to his playing, and, in fact, are calculated solely for virtuosi.’