The
arranger of this work, the well-known Hungarian composer living in
Romania writes:
'This piece has always excited my imagination, from
several points of view. First of all, its name.
The German title, the
obstinate one, may refer to its ostinato character; this is close to
Liszt's programme concept, but the French word 'obstiné' is closer in
meaning to stubborn.
There is just a shade of difference, but to me it
is important, becau se the latter suggests the description of a type of
behaviour, the emotional state of a dancer's inner frame of mind
abstracted into movements, expressed in dance movements, and this is a
fascinating interpretation.
The demonstration of stubborn resistance ,
defiance to the point of exhaustion, was not a frequently occurring
phenomenon with Liszt.
Secondly, at the beginning of the seventies
Zoltán Kocsis played the piece here in Transylvania.