Poets at the Piano

Tonight’s program is filled with mystery, longing, and virtuosity. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor opens with a tense and melancholic prelude that gives way to a masterful fugue in five voices (one of only two fugues of this character in the entire Well-Tempered Klavier). Mozart’s Fantasie, left unfinished at the time of the composer’s death, is a temperamental and moody work in seven distinct sections. From the opening notes of the immediately recognizable Ballade No. 1, one understands why Chopin called it his “dearest work.” This daring work takes the Sturm und Drang movement to epic, dreamlike heights. Gershwin’s delightful “It Ain’t Necessarily So” gives way to Schumann’s rich and colorful Piano Quartet.
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Repertoire

J.S. BACH: Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor, from the Well-Tempered Klavier, Book 1, BWV 867

W.A. MOZART: Fantasie No. 3 in D minor, K397

F. CHOPIN: Piano Ballade No. 1 in G minor Op. 23

G. GERSHWIN: "It Ain’t Necessarily So”

— Intermission —

R. SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet in E♭ major, Op. 44
I. Allegro brillante
II. In modo d'una marcia. Un poco largamente
III. Scherzo: Molto vivace
IV. Allegro ma non troppo