Event is Live
Carnegie Hall Presents

Igor Levit, Piano

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 8 PM Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Igor Levit by Felix Broede / Sony Classical
Pianist Igor Levit is an artist who dedicates himself completely to the task at hand, and in this highly anticipated return, he performs Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues in their entirety for the first time ever at Carnegie Hall. With this collection of wonderfully diverse preludes and fugues, Shostakovich became one of numerous great composers to follow in the footsteps of J. S. Bach’s seminal The Well-Tempered Clavier, and “Levit’s performance reveals what wonderfully pianistic pieces they are, whether considered individually or as a magnificently arcing sequence” (The Guardian).

Performers

Igor Levit, Piano

Program

SHOSTAKOVICH 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87

Event Duration

The printed program will last approximately two hours and 45 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission. Please note that there will be no late seating before intermission.

Listen to Selected Works

At a Glance

Inspired by the 48 preludes and fugues of Bach’s canonic Well-Tempered Clavier, Shostakovich’s Op. 87 is the fruit of his lifelong admiration for the Baroque master’s contrapuntal wizardry. Although they were conceived more for private rumination than for public performance, the 24 Preludes and Fugues are among the Russian composer’s most intricately wrought and richly expressive creations. Opportunities to hear the complete set at one sitting are rare; Igor Levit is among the few pianists who have both recorded the Preludes and Fugues and performed them live in the concert hall. “There is something utterly unique about this combination of warmth, immediacy, and pure loneliness,” he says of Shostakovich’s creation. “For me, it is a ritual of self-exploration and self-discovery that deals with the most intimate questions.”

Bios

Igor Levit

The New York Times describes Igor Levit as one of the “most important artists of his generation.” He was Musical America’s 2020 Recording Artist of the Year and won the 2018 Gilmore Artist Award. In June 2022, his album On DSCH was awarded Recording of the Year as well as the  ...

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