In this brilliant performance "Classical Piano Masterworks", you will feel the joy and physical excitement from some of the greatest composers of all time. In this solo recital, an invention of Franz Liszt himself, you will experience firsthand the revolutionary pianism created by Liszt and witness some of his most stunning and beautiful technical achievements. Experience the genius that gave the world such great masterpieces, adorning each period from the Baroque to Modernism in radiant musical colors. Frederic Chopin: Etude in C, Op. 10, No. 1 Étude Op. 10, No. 1 in C major is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1829. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany and England as the first piece of his Études Op. 10. This study in reach and arpeggios focuses on stretching the fingers of the right hand. The American music critic James Huneker (1857–1921) compared the "hypnotic charm" that these "dizzy acclivities and descents exercise for eye as well as ear" to the frightening staircases in Giovanni Battista Piranesi's prints of the Carceri 'invenzione. Virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who refused to perform this étude in public, said, "For me, the most difficult one of all (the études) is the C Major, the first one, Op. 10, No. 1. Frederic Chopin: Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 The Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 is initially marked lento and is in 4/4 meter. The piece becomes poco più lento at measure 25 and enters its middle section, which is a chorale. Later, it moves to doppio movimento agitato (twice as fast). The piece is a total of 77 measures long. In general, the scheme of the music is ternary form and follows A-B-A'. The Nocturne in C minor has been described as one of Chopin's greatest emotional achievements. Theodor Kullak said of the piece, "the design and poetic contents of this nocturne make it the most important one that Chopin created; the chief subject is a masterly expression of a great powerful grief." James Friskin found the music to have "the most imposing instrumental effect of any of the nocturnes," calling the middle section's crescendo and octaves "almost Lisztian." Jim Samson notes that the nocturne intensifies "not through ornamentation, but through a new textural background." Kleczytheński commented that the middle section "is the tale of a still greater grief told in an agitated recitando; celestial harps come to bring one ray of hope, which is powerless in its endeavor to calm the wounded soul, which...sends forth to heaven a cry of deepest anguish." Felix Mendelsohn: Three Preludes, Op. 104 Mendelssohn's Opus 104 comprises two separate musical entities: Op. 104a is a set of three preludes, all composed around the same time -- fall and early winter of 1836. They are all fast pieces: Allegro molto e vivace, Allegro agitato, and Allegro vivace are the tempo indications. The first is a bright, chirpy, staccato B flat major the whole way through; the second a rolling, melodic B minor. The third prelude is bold and sometimes almost regal in tone, its confident D major spirit never ruffled by its own technical difficulties. Franz Liszt: Legend No. 2 “Saint Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves” Saint Francis of Paola was born in Calabria in 1416. He founded his own order and was with Louis XI at the time of his death in 1482. According to a famous story, in the year 1464 Saint Francis of Paola was refused passage by a boatman while trying to cross the Strait of Messina to Sicily. The companions accompanying him had found room in the boat, but the ferryman blocked his way for fear of overcrowding the boat. Saint Francis gave the ferryman a little talking to about being a good Christian. The ferryman rebuffed him by saying, “If he is a Saint, let him walk on the water.” Spreading his cloak on the seas, St. Francis tied one end to his staff as a sail and launched himself onto the waves. Though buffeted by thunderous waves and flashing lighting, by his faith Saint Francis was brought safely, with his companions following in the boat, all the way to Sicily. The introduction to this piece, which is basically an extended chorale, begins in a hesitating way, as if Saint Francis is “finding his feet” on the water before growing gradually more confident and sure. The main chorale melody has a “walking” character, and the left hand accompaniment an oceanic, rumbling quality, suggesting that there might be rough sailing ahead. Waves ripple, then swell and swirl, roll and boil, but the hymn-like theme is never fully submerged. The virtuosity is in the increasingly violent octaves and scales that suggest that the tempest is threatening to overwhelm the Saint before he can finish his journey. At one point the hands trade roles: the walking chorale theme is in the left hand and the right hand has towering arpeggios; one can hear that the waves are now over the Saint’s head. The walking chorale theme disappears entirely and Saint Francis seems completely submerged. Suddenly, with an enormous burst of octaves, Saint Francis emerges from the wall of water. Then follows the glorious return of the chorale theme, which forms the climax of the work, illustrating the triumph of faith over adversity. The ending of this piece is prayer-like, yet bathed in glory, with not the slightest hint of grandiloquence. One can virtually see St. Francis kneeling gratefully on terra firma, uttering a prayer of thanks. Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody in F minor, No. 14 The Hungarian Rhapsodies comprise a set of 19 piano works based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846–1853, and later in 1882 and 1885. Liszt also arranged versions for orchestra, piano duet and piano trio. Some are better known than others, with Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 being particularly famous. No. 10 and No. 6 are also well known. In their original piano form, the Hungarian Rhapsodies are noted for their difficulty (Liszt was a virtuoso pianist as well as a composer). The Hungarian Fantasy, written in 1852, is an arrangement of the rhapsody for piano and orchestra. The rhapsody's duration is around twelve minutes. J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F minor, from the Well Tempered Clavier, Book Two The Prelude is 70 bars long, and is written in binary form. This, plus its clearly defined and contrasting phrase structure, give it a feeling of the rococo or early Classical styles to come - very unusual for Johann Sebastian. Furthermore, there is a rare "heart on sleeve" quality in the first theme. Its short phrases constitute the musical equivalent of a series of sighs. One might say that this is the most outwardly "emotional" of all 48 preludes in this great work. The Fugue is 85 bars long, and is dancelike throughout. To the untrained ear, many fugues can sound like academic constructions, and that is most frequently true of composers who are not Johann Sebastian Bach. In this case, Bach has given us one of his most irresistible fugues; the attractive dance themes are kept front and center, and the accompanying flow of counterpoint remains in the background. A Baroque hoe-down? Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3 I. Presto Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3, was written in 1798. It is the only sonata of the three in this Opus 10 group that consists of four movements, the other two sonatas each having three movements. Although the first movement is in the traditional sonata-allegro form, it is very unusual in that the tempo marking is Presto - extremely fast. Sonatas being very serious affairs during Beethoven's time, tempos were generally moderately fast in the first movements, in order to allow for the presentation of solid themes and their development. Presto, when used, was usually reserved for the last few measures of the final movement. But in this case Beethoven found subject material that is shown in its best light when the pianist is charging full speed ahead. Leave it to this eccentric genius! It's an exciting romp, introducing what turns out to be, over its four movements, Beethoven's most profound early sonata. (The remaining three movements will appear in an upcoming recital.) Franz Schubert: Impromptu Op. 142, No. 1 Franz Schubert's Impromptus are a series of eight pieces for solo piano composed in 1827. They were published in two sets of four impromptus each: the first were published in the composer's lifetime as Opus 90, and the second were published posthumously as Opus 142. They are considered to be among the most important examples of this popular early 19th-century genre. The Impromptus are often considered companion pieces to the six Moments Musicaux, and they are often recorded and published together. It has been said that Schubert was deeply influenced in writing these pieces by the Impromptus, Op. 7 (1822) of Jan Václav Voříšek and by the music of Voříšek's teacher Václav Tomášek. This Impromptu No. 1 in F minor is written in rondo form, A1–B1–A2–B2–A3. The returning A section appears always in the tonic, F minor; the first B section is in A-flat major, the relative major, whereas the second B section is in the tonic, based on F. This structure can also be interpreted as a sonata form without a development section, supporting the alternative view of the four Impromptus as movements of a single sonata. The B episodes contain a passage invoking a unique pianistic effect: the left hand presents short melodic fragments alternating between the upper and lower registers of the instrument; the right hand accompanying with an even flow of arpeggios in the middle register. The pedal further enriches the sonority, and the dynamics are mostly very soft. Claude Debussy: Reflets dans l’eau – Reflections in the Water Claude Debussy's piece Reflets dans l'eau ("Reflections in the Water") is the first of three pieces for the piano from his first volume of Images, which are frequently performed separately. It was written in 1905. As with much of Debussy's work, it is referred to as Impressionistic, meaning that it expresses emotions and senses by making use of non-functional harmony and ambiguous key signatures, its tonality being mainly non-diatonic and usually having a sense of modality. Reflets dans l'eau opens in a slow tempo (andantino molto) with a melody of A flat, F, E flat (which is repeated through much of the piece) while the right hand is playing a set of chords to accommodate the melody. It shares the main characteristics of French music of this period. For instance, the piece is characterized by ambiguous and fast changing harmonies. The piece has several brief melody statements and climaxes that are more glimpses of music than full ideas, which is typical of Debussy's middle and late piano works. This is one of the many pieces Debussy wrote about water; in particular, light reflecting off its surface. The piece creates an image of water being not quite still, then becoming rapid, then decreasing in motion again. Reflets dans l'eau is also an example of the new tone colors Debussy discovered for the piano in this part of his life, and although he later refined this style, this piece remains one of his most popular masterpieces. Franz Liszt: Transcendental Etude No. 4 in D Minor – “Mazeppa” This etude was inspired by Victor Hugo’s dramatically morbid poem “Mazeppa,” in which a Ukrainian page named Mazeppa is strapped onto a horse and the horse is set free to gallop, resulting in great danger to both the horse and Mazeppa. At the end, Mazeppa is crowned king. The short introduction is clearly designed to intimidate, with its fierce rolled chords followed by a wild scale dashing from the bottom of the keyboard to the top, and back to the bottom. The main theme, which simulates galloping, is presented several times, each time telescoped slightly more to suggest the increasing speed and desperation of the horse. A slower middle section suddenly interrupts the action. Here the D minor theme is transformed into a lyrical song in B flat Major, which offers a brief respite to the mounting tension. The relief is short lived, and the intensity builds until it explodes into frantic double octaves – and the wild ride continues, faster than ever. Suddenly, the rolled chords of the introduction intrude, and everything stops. Mazeppa has fallen from the horse. The recitative-like phrases in single notes suggest that he may be breathing his last. Suddenly the music erupts in a fanfare-like finale, illustrating the phrase from Victor Hugo that Liszt attached to the bottom of the last page: “He finally falls – and rises a king!” Prokofiev: Toccata, Op. 11 The Toccata in D minor was composed by Serge Prokofiev in 1912 and premiered by the composer on December 10, 1916. It is a further development of the toccata form, which has been used by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Robert Schumann. Other composers of well-known toccatas include Maurice Ravel, Dmitri Kabalevsky and Aram Khachaturian. Prokofiev's Toccata starts off with a persistent repetition of the note D, interchanged between the right and left hands. The apparent simplicity of this opening is deceptive; the effect is similar to standing on railroad tracks as long as possible as a distant train approaches closer and closer. It is an extremely difficult showpiece that is popular with virtuoso pianists and has been recorded by many. According to the biography of the composer by David Gutman, Prokofiev himself had trouble playing it because his technique, while good, was not quite strong enough to do justice to the piece.