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 th...