Echo and Metamorphosis
A journey through eras and languages, from Bach’s spirituality to the Argentinean influences of Piazzolla.
This concert intertwines styles, centuries, and geographies in a fascinating sonic journey.
It opens with three Chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach, in which melodic simplicity is transfigured into pure spirituality, the eternal foundation of Western music. This is followed by Mendelssohn’s Andante e Allegro brillante, Op. 92, a rare gem of the literature for two pianos (or piano four-hands), which alternates lyrical elegance and dazzling virtuosity. With the Paganini Variations, contemporary composer Idmtal pays homage to the archetype of the diabolical violinist, transfiguring the famous theme into an explosion of piano invention. The second part opens with Astor Piazzolla’s Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas, in a piano arrangement that captures all the sensuality and lyricism of tango nuevo, a pulsating homage to Buenos Aires, somewhere between melancholy and rebellion. The program closes with another work by Idmtal: Eight Variations on a Child’s Melody, in which the innocence of the initial theme is reinterpreted with irony, refinement and surprising stylistic freedom.
- J. S. Bach
Three Chorales
- F. Mendelssohn
Andante and Allegro brilliant, Op. 92
- M. Idmtal
Paganini Variations
Eight variations on a children’s melody
- A. Piazzolla/A. Kenner
The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
