Sigismund Thalberg (1812–1871) was one of the most prominent virtuoso pianists of the 19th century and at the time was considered the equal of Franz Liszt. Like Liszt he made many opera paraphrases and fantasies that would showcase his own pianistic abilities in performance. The composition Memories of Straniera after Thalberg by Kühnel could be seen as the second version of such a rearrangement that the initial opera La straniera by Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835) underwent, turning the opera’s themes into a virtuoso instrumental solo piece. The first version being Thalberg’s Fantaisie sur des motifs de l’opéra La straniera de Bellini, op. 9.
Kühnel’s work is an excellent example of a successful musical recycling process. It adapts Thalberg’s ideas and transfers them to the guitar where possible. Where this is not possible, Kühnel composes his own passages, which imitate the musical emotions that are trying to be conveyed. Kühnel has an exquisite and elegant way of arranging Thalberg’s virtuoso piece for guitar, he must have been an expert at playing and arranging for the instrument. The result of his expertise is a state-of-the-art composition of the highest difficulty and density that achieves the quality of original Romantic masterpieces for guitar by, for example, Regondi or Mertz. An interesting fact is the date marked at the end of the score, 11 May 1874, which is more than 30 years after the concert review of Kühnel performing this work in Prague. What made him, or anyone else, finally write down or transcribe a piece so many years after it had already been performed? Nobody can say for sure, but we do know the great pianist Sigismund Thalberg passed away on 27 April 1871 – three years before the date written in the autograph.
