This Rare Two-Piano Fantasy will be performed by pianists John Cobb and Christopher Tavernier on September 5th at Diana Wortham Theatre.
Tickets are $9.50 and the performance begins at 7:00 pm.
You will hear two of the most spectacular two-piano compositions ever written, Reminiscences of Don Juan from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Reminiscences of Norma by Bellini and more. It begins as Franz Liszt creates the dreams of floating, falling and sweet intoxication. From piano music, to sacred choral and orchestral music, he leads us into the realm of the two greatest opera fantasies for two pianos ever created. So let the dreams begin! Savor each sensation, and let your darker side give in to the power of the music of “A Night at the Opera.”
The 3rd Annual World Masterwork Series, Benefit Concert
“A Night at the Opera”
Darcel Grimes Emcee – Anchor of News TV-13
Supporter of the Arts and Culture of Communities across the Mountains
Christopher Tavernier: Widmung (Dedication) – Song by Robert SchumannJohn Cobb: Legend No. 1 – “Saint Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds”
Christopher Tavernier: Legend No. 2 – “Saint Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves”John Cobb: “Un Sospiro”
Christopher Tavernier: Consolation No. 3 in D FlatJohn Cobb: Liebesträume No. 3
Christopher Tavernier: Transcendental Etude No. 4 (“Mazeppa”)Christopher Tavernier & John Cobb: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 for Two Pianos
Program Feature -“A Night at the Opera”
Franz Liszt Reminiscences of Don Juan from Mozart’s Don Giovanni (1877)
Reminiscences of Don Juan is an opera fantasy for piano solo on themes from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. It is extremely technically demanding. For this reason, and perhaps also because of its length and dramatic intensity, it does not appear in concert programs as often as Liszt’s lighter and more popular pieces, such as the Rigoletto paraphrase. As Ferruccio Busoni says in the preface to his 1918 edition of the work, the Reminiscences carries “an almost symbolic significance as the highest point of pianism.” Liszt wrote the work for piano solo in 1841 and published the two-piano version in 1877. The two-piano version has the same structure as the original.
Reminiscences of Norma by Bellini for Two Pianos (1877)
The Norma Fantasy dramatizes Norma’s conflict in Bellini’s opera between her duties as high priestess of the Druids and her thwarted passion for the Roman soldier Pollione. The Fantasy begins with an introduction based on Norma’s entrance theme from Act I. It is followed by a long section elaborating all of the themes from the opera’s opening scene, wherein the assembled Druids seek aid from their gods in their struggles with the Romans and call upon Norma for guidance.
This contrapuntal “tour de force” provides not only a colossal pianistic climax to the Fantasy, but a psychological one as well, bringing together, as it does, themes relating to Norma as high priestess and as rejected, but forgiving, lover.
The Performing Artists: Dr. Cobb, a semifinalist in the Third International Van Cliburn Piano Competition, is an international performer and recording artist known for his broad interpretive range and technical command. Dr. Cobb studied with Claudio Arrau, whose teacher was a pupil of Franz Liszt. Throughout his career, Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) was renowned throughout the world as one of the supreme keyboard masters of the century. Franz Liszt was a student of Carl Czerny, who was a pupil of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Christopher Tavernier made his debut as the youngest concert pianist in North Carolina at the age of thirteen, performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in B Flat minor with the Tar River Philharmonic Orchestra in North Carolina.
Christopher’s first love is the piano. He began his studies at the age of six and aspires to be a great concert pianist. Although Christopher knows and loves the whole vast piano repertoire, Franz Liszt is his favorite composer.
Franz Liszt was probably the greatest pianist who ever lived. He is considered one of the greatest composers of the Nineteenth Century. Among his many innovations was the invention of the solo recital and the development of the symphonic poem. Christopher’s repertoire contains many works by Franz Liszt, of whom he is a direct musical descendant through his teacher, pianist Dr. John Cobb. Hence the musical lineage actually extends from Ludwig van Beethoven to Christopher Tavernier. Studying under Dr. Cobb and performing concerts with him, together, they continue to “Preserve the Musical Lineage of Franz Liszt.”
Please visit www.dwtheatre.com for additional information.