Still Young at Heart
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
“Kinderszenen” (Scenes of Childhood), brought to vibrant life by an aging performer, still young at heart and still perhaps the 20th century’s greatest pianist...
Vladimir Horowitz was 83 years old when he made the recording of Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen” that we bring you tonight. Though elderly, he was still a titan, embodying his own advice: “Piano playing consists of common sense, heart, and technical resources. All three should be equally developed. Without common sense you are a fiasco, without technique an amateur, without heart a machine.” His unsurpassed way with Schumann is on display!
There are several well-known “unfinished” symphonies out there—but did you know that Alexander Borodin’s Symphony No. 3 in A Minor also bears that nickname? His friend and colleague Alexander Glazunov reconstructed and orchestrated the work from sketches and his own memory of prospective movements played for him on the piano by the composer before his untimely death at 54. We hear that version this evening, performed by the Gothenburg Symphony under Neeme Järvi.
Another work you won’t want to miss: Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat, performed by the venerable team of pianist Peter Serkin, violinist Alexander Schneider, violist Michael Tree, and cellist David Soyer. One short treat you should listen for during the evening is the Schubert fugue, Allegro moderato, played by the whimsically named but far more than whimsically talented Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet.
Vladimir Horowitz was 83 years old when he made the recording of Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen” that we bring you tonight. Though elderly, he was still a titan, embodying his own advice: “Piano playing consists of common sense, heart, and technical resources. All three should be equally developed. Without common sense you are a fiasco, without technique an amateur, without heart a machine.” His unsurpassed way with Schumann is on display!
There are several well-known “unfinished” symphonies out there—but did you know that Alexander Borodin’s Symphony No. 3 in A Minor also bears that nickname? His friend and colleague Alexander Glazunov reconstructed and orchestrated the work from sketches and his own memory of prospective movements played for him on the piano by the composer before his untimely death at 54. We hear that version this evening, performed by the Gothenburg Symphony under Neeme Järvi.
Another work you won’t want to miss: Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat, performed by the venerable team of pianist Peter Serkin, violinist Alexander Schneider, violist Michael Tree, and cellist David Soyer. One short treat you should listen for during the evening is the Schubert fugue, Allegro moderato, played by the whimsically named but far more than whimsically talented Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet.
