Evgeny Kissin, Piano
Please note that if you purchase stage seating, please arrive one hour before concert time. There will be no late seating.
Performers
Evgeny Kissin, Piano
Program
J. S. BACH Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903
MOZART Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 311
CHOPIN Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op. 44
RACHMANINOFF "Lilacs," Op. 21, No. 5
RACHMANINOFF Prelude in A Minor, Op. 32, No. 8
RACHMANINOFF Prelude in G-flat Major, Op. 23, No. 10
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in C Minor, Op. 39, No. 1
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in A Minor, Op. 39. No. 2
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in B Minor, Op. 39. No. 4
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in E-flat Minor, Op. 39, No. 5
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in D Major, Op. 39. No. 9
Encores:
RACHMANINOFF Mélodie in E Major from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, No. 3
RACHMANINOFF Sérénade in B-flat Minor from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, No. 5
RACHMANINOFF Prelude in C-sharp Minor from Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, No. 2
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately 90 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.
At a Glance
J. S. BACH Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903
A master improviser, Bach possessed the ability to transmute his musical thoughts into sound almost at will. After hearing him extemporize on the organ, a fellow virtuoso declared, “I thought that this art was dead, but I see that in you it still lives.” Like many of Bach’s preludes, toccatas, and other works, the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue is essentially a written-down improvisation.
MOZART Piano Sonata in D Major, K. 311
A comparative rarity on concert programs, the D-Major Sonata attests to Mozart’s skill in supplying music for the amateur Hausmusik market: It was written for one of the young women pianists he met on his travels in Germany and France.
CHOPIN Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op. 44
Like his favorite composers J. S. Bach and Mozart, Chopin found a lifelong source of inspiration in dance music. The Parisian expatriate retained a deep connection with the culture of his native Poland, as evidenced by this bravura hybrid of polonaise and mazurka.
RACHMANINOFF Selected Piano Pieces
Capitalizing on the popularity of his early Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Rachmaninoff composed 23 more lyrical preludes between 1901 and 1910. Of the later Études-tableaux, a contemporary critic wrote that they showed the composer “in a new light. The soft lyricist begins to employ a more severe, concentrated, and deepened mode of expression.”