THE MUSIC:

This is Mozart at his most welcoming meeting us in the fourth of five piano sonatas composed in 1775. This sonata is different from the others because of its slow introductory movement, amongst others. Two elegant minuettes ending in a charming allegro lets Mozart play with the octave interval.

The virtuoso Carl Philip Emanuel – the son of  the ‘Bach senior’ – was called ‘Berliner-Bach’ and ‘Hamburger-Bach’ because of his prominent role at the court of Frederik the Great and subsequently as a precentor in Hamburg, where he replaced Telemann.

He was particularly interested in the keyboard instrument and, with the short rondo in C minor, demonstrates a fantastic tour de force of changing moods and unpredictable thematic variations.

It is said that Arthur Rubinstein used the opening of Beethoven’s third piano sonata to test the grand piano before performing. Both the very first trill in parallel thirds and the extremely difficult passage with tremolos in a sixteenth figure could break the fingers of many a skilled pianist. The virtuoso four-movement sonata is dedicated to Haydn.

Fauré was a great admirer of Chopin and composed his famous nocturnes within the familiar setting of Romantic piano music. Nevertheless, these rather dark pieces of music are recognised as some of the most important works of the young Fauré. It takes a great pianistic strength to bring to life Fauré’s piano music which, with repeated listening, opens up as extremely passionate and original music with subtle syncopations and advanced harmonic shifts.

Ravel’s piano suite is inspired by three poems by Aloysius Bertrand. We traverse an amazing – and dangerous – universe populated by enticing water nymphs, death bells for a hung man with spiders crawling on him and, finally, the devil himself crawling in and out of one’s consciousness.

The work is definitely notorious for its extreme difficulty. It is magnificent and deeply fascinating music where one wonders: How is it humanly possible for one musician to realise such an orchestral work on just one set of keys?

MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN

The pianist who brings to life the grand piano programme of the evening has been called the ’emperor of the keys’ and an artist with ‘almost superhuman technical ability’ by the New York Times.

Marc-André Hamelin visits us for the second time and we can promise you a world-class experience when the Canadian sits down at our grand piano.

The Canadian pianist’s concerts and recordings have called for accolades all over the world – amongst others, he has received 11 Grammy Award nominations.

His career started in Montreal and, later on, Philadelphia, although

the list of tours visiting famous festivals and scenes has since covered the whole world. This has led to a significant number of awards. Marc-André Hamelin won the Carnegie Hall competition in 1985, was inducted into Gramophones’ Hall of Fame in 2015 and has been awarded with the lifetime award of the German music critics.

Marc-André Hamelin was born in Montreal and currently resides in Boston, USA.