Franz Joseph Haydn Sonata in C major Hob. XV1:50 Haydn’s last three piano sonatas, Nos. 60 to 62 (Hob. XVI: 50-52), were written during the composer’s second trip to London in 1794-1795. All three were composed with a specific dedicatee … Continue reading
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Our first concert of the 2019-20 Season is just over a month away (Sept 22). Violinists Nikki and Timmy Chooi and pianist Angela Cheng will debut a new piece by Marc-André Hamelin which was composed to commemorate our 40th Anniversary Season. Can't wait!
Today's the day! Single tickets for 2019-20 performances are now on sale: vanrecital.com/concerts/
PROGRAM NOTES: ALBAN GERHARDT & STEVEN OSBORNE
Posted onJohann Sebastian Bach Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor BWV 1008 The instrumental suite, with its predictable allemande-courante-sarabande-gigue sequence of dances and its un-predictable addition of various galanteries (minuets, bourrées, gavottes, etc.), was a staple of the Baroque. Arising … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: GEORGE LI
Posted onFranz Joseph Haydn Sonata in B minor Hob. XVI:32 It is not often that you catch the congenial, ever-chipper Haydn writing in a minor key. But minor keys were all the rage in the 1770s, the age of Sturm und Drang … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: ZHANG ZUO
Posted onLudwig van Beethoven 32 Variations in C minor WoO 80 The theme that Beethoven chose for his 32 Variations in C minor (1806) has a Baroque feel to it, with its chaconne-like harmonic pattern in the left hand and sarabande-like … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: YEKWON SUNWOO
Posted onFranz Schubert Sonata in C minor D 958 Schubert’s unabashed admiration for Beethoven is vividly on display in the opening bars of his Sonata in C minor D 958, composed in September 1828, shortly before his death. Schubert had served … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: THE VERONA QUARTET
Posted onFranz Joseph Haydn Quartet in B at major Op. 50 No. 1 The art music of Western Europe underwent a period of transition in the mid- 18th century as the thickly embroiled scores of the Baroque, with their long spun-out … Continue reading
A change to our first concert in the 2017-18 Season
Posted onThe Simón Bolívar String Quartet’s scheduled performance at the Vancouver Playhouse on September 17 has been postponed to a future season. The current volatile and violent situation in Venezuela, which has heightened following last week’s election, has made it almost impossible … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: BENJAMIN GROSVENOR
Posted onRobert Schumann Arabesque, Op. 18 In the autumn of 1838 Robert Schumann made a career decision. He would move from his native Leipzig to Vienna to find a publisher and a sympathetic public for his piano compositions. The public he … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: JAVIER PERIANES
Posted onFranz Schubert Piano Sonata in A Major D 664 The salubrious effects of country air on the mind and spirits of the vacationing composer are well known. Witness Schubert’s wonderfully relaxed and lyrical Sonata in A Major D 664 composed … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: MURRAY PERAHIA
Posted onJohann Sebastian Bach French Suite No. 6 in E Major BWV 817 The spirit of the dance can be felt across a wide range of Bach’s works, from the fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier to the Mass in B minor. … Continue reading