Building Bridges - Andràs Schiff presents young pianists
Concert with Michael Brown
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 - 1847)
Preludes & Fugues op. 35:
Prelude no. 1 in E minor
Michael Brown (b. NN)
Constellations and Toccata (2011)
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 - 1847)
Preludes & Fugues op. 35:
Prelude no. 2 in D major
Prelude no. 3 in B minor
Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990)
Touches (1981)
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 - 1847)
Preludes & Fugues op. 35:
Prelude no. 6 B flat major
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Variations and Fugues in E flat major op. 35 "Eroica"
The New York Times describes the Avery Fisher Career Grant winner as "a young piano visionary" and "one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of composer-interpreters." He is successful as both a composer and a pianist. Michael Brown studied both subjects at the Juilliard School and now lives in New York.
The program reveals parallels and lines that connect each work: All of the works refer in different ways to the forms of fugues and variations, all of the composers are or were pianists, and the music is technically mature and accurately attuned to the strengths of the piano. Mendelssohn's Preludes and Fugues are innovative and imaginative in their masterful use of counterpoint and harmony. Beethoven's Eroica Variations pay homage to the past while hinting at Beethoven's late style of daring transitions and passionate fervor. Leonard Bernstein dedicated Touches to his "first love, the piano." The work, a theme with variations, was commissioned by the Van Cliburn Competition. Michael Brown wrote Constellations for pianist Orion Weiss, referring in the title to the constellation Orion. Contemplating the starry night sky is the starting point for the music in this work.
Text source and more information about this event: http://www.frankfurter-buergerstiftung.de/node/2226
