Johann Sebastian Bach GOLDBERG VARIATIONS BWV 988 Historical Background Such was Bach’s mastery of his musical materials that he was often tempted to explore a particular genre or compositional technique in a systematic way by providing a quasi-exhaustive compendium of … Continue reading
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A sold-out performance for the Jussen brothers, another coup for Sheku, and Happy Lunar New Year! Check out this week's e-news...
A sold-out performance for the Jussen brothers
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We're looking forward to welcoming pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen to our stage at the Playhouse this Sunday. The concert is sold out (we have a wait list for tickets: call us at 604-602-0363 or email us if you'd like to be added to the list). Seated at a single piano, this remarkable pair of Dutch...Another coup for Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Congratulations Sheku! đź‘Ź
Sheku Kanneh-Mason makes UK Album Chart history by entering the Top 10
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Kanneh-Mason becomes the first cellist in the history of the UK Official Album Chart to break into the Top 10 and the first British classical instrumentalist in 30 yearsHey piano lovers, check out this week's e-news...
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In the words of the great Irving Berlin: I love a piano. I have piano on my mind because I’m still on a high after the Li brothers’ brilliant performance at the Playhouse on Sunday. Despite the inclement weather, George and Andrew Li played to a full house, and our next concert this month, featu...PROGRAM NOTES: MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN
Posted onFranz Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 in A minor Liszt’s 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies pay tribute to the gypsy music of his native Hungary. Like an ancient insect trapped in amber, they encapsulate for posterity the dramatic, improvisatory performance style of … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: NIKOLAJ ZNAIDER & ROBERT KULEK
Posted onLudwig van Beethoven Sonata for Violin & Piano in G major Op. 30 No. 3 “Who are you, and what have you done with Ludwig van Beethoven?” Such is the question that Beethoven enthusiasts raised on the PathĂ©tique Sonata, the … Continue reading
Notice of the Vancouver Recital Society’s AGM
Posted onNOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MEMBERS OF THE VANCOUVER RECITAL SOCIETY (the “Society”) The Board of Directors of the Society hereby gives notice that the Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on February 4, 2018 at … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: TARA ERRAUGHT & JAMES BAILLIEU
Posted onFranz Liszt Victor Hugo Poems It may seem strange to think of Liszt as a song composer, so firmly is his name associated with 19th-century virtuoso pianism. But the extraordinary breadth of his musical sympathies is already clearly evident in … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: SHEKU KANNEH-MASON & ISATA KANNEH-MASON
Posted onGaspar CassadĂł Suite for Solo Cello Gaspar CassadĂł is hardly a household name, but he was one of the great cellists of the twentieth century, active as a performer, composer and transcriber for his instrument. Born in Barcelona in 1897, … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES:PAUL LEWIS (CONCERT 1)
Posted onFranz 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
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, bourrĂ©es, 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