Tag: piano
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PROGRAM NOTES: STEVEN OSBORNE
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata in E minor, Op. 90 The use of the piano sonata in marriage counselling has not found wide adoption in the profession since Beethoven first introduced the practice with his Sonata in E minor Op. 90. The curious story associated this sonata is as follows. Beethoven’s biographer Anton Schindler relates that…
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PROGRAM NOTES: EMANUEL AX
Georges Bizet Variations Chromatiques de concert For those that like to feather-dust humming the habanera from Carmen with a rose clenched between their teeth might be surprised to learn that Georges Bizet was not only an opera composer, but also a pianist. Anecdotal accounts of the period reveal that the keyboard skills of Georges Bizet…
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PROGRAM NOTES: PAVEL KOLESNIKOV
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Fantasy in C minor K. 475 The year 1785 was a good one for Mozart. In the words of musicologist John Irving, he had become something of a ‘hot property’ in Vienna, enjoying considerable success both as a published composer and as a performing musician. But Mozart had also acquired a reputation…
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DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR VERY FIRST MUSICAL MEMORY?
When I was a boy my father would sing me to sleep every night. And when he went away on business trips, my mother sang to me at night instead. Now, my mother, whom I love dearly (98 and going strong!) has many wonderful traits and abilities, including playing the piano. But singing perfectly in…
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PROGRAM NOTES: CHARLIE ALBRIGHT
Franz Schubert Impromptus Op. 90, Nos. 1-4 The impromptu is just one of a number of small-scale instrumental genres arising in the early 19th century, known under the collective title of “character pieces”. Cultivated by composers of the Romantic era, these pieces present a simple musical idea in an intimate lyrical style with the…
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PROGRAM NOTES: DANIEL MÜLLER-SCHOTT & SIMON TRPČESKI
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata for cello & piano in C major, Op. 102, No. 1 Those who think of sonata form as a well-organized dinner plate – with the red meat in one corner, the mashed potatoes stationed opposite, and peas or broccoli distributed neatly over the remaining space – might be forgiven for thinking…
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PROGRAM NOTES: PINCHAS ZUKERMAN & YEFIM BRONFMAN
Franz Schubert Sonatina for violin & piano in A minor D. 385 It humbles me to think, paraphrasing Tom Lehrer, that when Schubert was my age, he had already been dead for several decades. Lest I forget, there are his first three sonatas for violin and piano, which he composed in a sprint of creative…