Franz Liszt’s Sardanapalo

It is exceptionally rare that we have the opportunity to hear a previously unknown work by a major composer, but that is precisely what the Library of Congress offered in its presentation of the piano/vocal version of Franz Liszt’s Sardanapalo. Scholar and pianist David Trippett has reconstructed one act of an opera composed by Franz Liszt that the composer abandoned in 1852. This video features excerpts of this beautiful and exciting work from Trippett’s piano/vocal performance version of the piece presented at the Library. Trippett as pianist and director is joined by singers from the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program of the Washington National Opera and the Washington Master Chorale. LISZT/TRIPPETT - Selections from Sardanapalo [0:28] 1) Act 1, scene i: “Al core affranto della schiava infelice” Mirra, broken-hearted, laments the loss of her homeland, and begins to weep. [1:36] 2) Act 1, scene i: “Di rose e pampini ghirlanda il crine” The chorus of concubines worships Mirra, as the king’s favorite,