THE NEAPOLITAN CONNECTION CONCERT SERIES presents “A Romantic Music Tryst with Liszt!”
Angela Park, piano / Rachel Mercer, cello / Eve Rachel McLeod, soprano
February 19 at 3 PM, 2012 / Toronto Centre for the Arts / 5040 Yonge Street (North York subway station)
Tickets: $40, $30, $25, and student rate $15 with valid ID / http://www.tocentre.com/studio/neapolitanconnection / Ticketmaster toll free: 1 855 985 2787 / TorontoCentre for the Arts box office: 416 250 3708
In approaching piano music, Liszt swallowed the instrument whole, like a python, subduing it, conquering it, and transcending it. He concentrated almost exclusively and obsessively on the piano repertoire, scrutinizing it from every possible angle to expand it and make it as technically insane as possible. He added ingenious dimensions of fiendishly difficult technical elements (think Evgeni Plushenko in men’s figure skating, tossing in quad combination jumps everywhere) to the piano which were totally unthinkable in Liszt’s day – but commonplace now.
Liszt made piano recitals exciting – he was the rock star of his day, and women swooned over him. He revolutionized the way audiences responded to recitals, making the solo piano recital into a big-time anticipated event – much like Lang Lang or, quite frankly, Justin Bieber does today. Franz Liszt heightened the status of both instrument and player in the process.
The program:
- Années de Pèlerinage, Premiere Annee: Suisse with Angela Park, piano
- La Lugubre gondola, Liebestraum No. 3: O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst with Angela and cellist Rachel Mercer
- Victor Hugo Lieder for Soprano with Angela and soprano Eve Rachel McLeod
See you there!
Sounds like a very exciting event – a Romantic Music Tryst with LISZT!
Liszt was truly the ultimate classical rock star. He had had a dashing wardrobe of 60 suits, complete with a tie for every single day of the year! Liszt was also the one who took Chopin’s études out of the smaller salons and onto the larger stage.
Chopin loved the way Liszt played his etudes, almost to the point of envy. Chopin was actually once quoted as saying that he “should like to steal from him his way of playing my études!”