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| RÉMI GENIET, PIANO |
Sunday, 25 February, 2018, 3:00 PM
Berger Performing Arts Center - Tucson, AZ
RÉMI GENIET, PIANO - Sunday, 25 February, 2018, 3:00 PM
Arizona Friends of Chamber Music - Piano and Friends
Berger Performing Arts Center - Tucson, AZ
Arizona Friends of Chamber Music - Piano and Friends
Berger Performing Arts Center - Tucson, AZ
PREVIEW:
For this latest round of young guns – up and coming piano virtuosi in their mid-20s – there is more or less of a formula for programming their solo recitals. It goes like this: 1) open with a romantic transcription of Bach; 2) play a Classical Era masterpiece, up through Beethoven, preferably bravura; 3) place the meatiest content just after Intermission, and; 4) breathe fire in the finale. That was the strategy of Behzod Abduraimov (26 years old, at the time) in October, 2016 – the last AFCM 'Piano and Friends' soloist – and will be again this Sunday, when French prodigy Rémi Geniet (age, 25) takes his seat at the Steinway 'D'. If the piano virtuoso only gets one shot, and we only get one listen, this formula perfect; it is flawless. There is no guesswork. The Romantics WILL have their way with Johann Sebastian; the dramatic details of late 18th Century classicism or early 19th century romanticism WILL be addressed in detail; a 'tour de force' of early 20th Century ideas and technique WILL be tackled head-on; and one of the “unplayable” virtuoso masterworks WILL end the show. All of the stops WILL be pulled out. 'Tis a blessing. Count on it. May thy appetite be duly whetted!
For this latest round of young guns – up and coming piano virtuosi in their mid-20s – there is more or less of a formula for programming their solo recitals. It goes like this: 1) open with a romantic transcription of Bach; 2) play a Classical Era masterpiece, up through Beethoven, preferably bravura; 3) place the meatiest content just after Intermission, and; 4) breathe fire in the finale. That was the strategy of Behzod Abduraimov (26 years old, at the time) in October, 2016 – the last AFCM 'Piano and Friends' soloist – and will be again this Sunday, when French prodigy Rémi Geniet (age, 25) takes his seat at the Steinway 'D'. If the piano virtuoso only gets one shot, and we only get one listen, this formula perfect; it is flawless. There is no guesswork. The Romantics WILL have their way with Johann Sebastian; the dramatic details of late 18th Century classicism or early 19th century romanticism WILL be addressed in detail; a 'tour de force' of early 20th Century ideas and technique WILL be tackled head-on; and one of the “unplayable” virtuoso masterworks WILL end the show. All of the stops WILL be pulled out. 'Tis a blessing. Count on it. May thy appetite be duly whetted!
HIGHLIGHTS:
Opus 110, in A-Flat Major, is a tour into the core of arguably the most seminal creative/expressive genius of the last 200 years. BEETHOVEN's final five piano sonatas are composed of the distant reaches of the human mind; a free and fearless trek into the unknown. A good or great performance of Opus 110 is a revelation of stunning originality and emotional depth and breadth. This set of musical statements begins from the hard-won, yet lonely territory of an artist whose only peers are far in the future. After decades as a lion, the spirit has again become that of a child. In this realm, mastery enables improvisatory whim, and the novel becomes defining. The universality of the new vistas Beethoven reaches, illuminate trails for exploration that remain compelling to this day. This is a Western cultural gift from the gods. The completely original five-sections-plus-Coda structure of the final movement is as follows: a wandering Recitative/Introduction, a dark, passionate A-Flat minor Arioso, a Fugue in ascending 4ths, a G minor Arioso, an inverted Fugue (descending 4ths), and an emphatically positive Coda, built on the original ascending fugue theme.
Opus 110, in A-Flat Major, is a tour into the core of arguably the most seminal creative/expressive genius of the last 200 years. BEETHOVEN's final five piano sonatas are composed of the distant reaches of the human mind; a free and fearless trek into the unknown. A good or great performance of Opus 110 is a revelation of stunning originality and emotional depth and breadth. This set of musical statements begins from the hard-won, yet lonely territory of an artist whose only peers are far in the future. After decades as a lion, the spirit has again become that of a child. In this realm, mastery enables improvisatory whim, and the novel becomes defining. The universality of the new vistas Beethoven reaches, illuminate trails for exploration that remain compelling to this day. This is a Western cultural gift from the gods. The completely original five-sections-plus-Coda structure of the final movement is as follows: a wandering Recitative/Introduction, a dark, passionate A-Flat minor Arioso, a Fugue in ascending 4ths, a G minor Arioso, an inverted Fugue (descending 4ths), and an emphatically positive Coda, built on the original ascending fugue theme.
STRAVINSKY's 'Three Movements from Petrushka' is not simply a piano transcription, but a specifically crafted, 1921, virtuoso piano arrangement of most of his 1911 ballet music (for Diaghilev's Ballet Russe), produced for the purpose of seducing Arthur Rubinstein into performing it. RAVEL wrote his solo piano arrangement of 'La Valse' in 1920, concurrently with the orchestral score – one which Diaghilev had rejected for Ballet Russe as a, “portrait of a ballet; not a ballet.” Many would argue that, as with Scriabin's 'Waltz', Ravel's 'La Valse' also is not a waltz, but a wild and woolly impression of a waltz! Be that as it may, both of these post-World War I boundary-pushing show-stoppers will be set before we kings for the second half of Geniet's Sunday program. This is a setup. These are both high-octane affairs, even as hardly a note in either piece is there purely for show from these two no-nonsense composers. I can see the socks flying now! Total time for the second half of this program is barely half an hour, so maybe an encore is already built in. Side bets on the first encore presented? I say it will be something very lyrical and soft, if not delicate. We should all be in dire need some relief from the spinning of our heads. Will Rémi give us this? We shall see.
~ Steven Gendel
J.S. BACH: CHACONNE (Arr. FERRUCCIO BUSONI)
BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATA NO. 31 IN A-FLAT MAJOR
STRAVINSKY: THREE MOVEMENTS FROM PETRUSHKA
RAVEL: LA VALSE
BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATA NO. 31 IN A-FLAT MAJOR
STRAVINSKY: THREE MOVEMENTS FROM PETRUSHKA
RAVEL: LA VALSE
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