Santa Rosa
Nareh Arghamanyan
September 20, 2009
Valentina Lisitsa
February 21, 2010
Richard Cionco
November 15, 2009
Zeynep Ucbasaran
March 28, 2010
Angwin-Ukiah-SanRafael
Elizabeth MacDougall
November 1, 2009
Elena Casanova
November 8, 2009
7th Season Concerts
The sensational 20-year old Armenian pianist, winner of the 2008 Montreal International Competition, opens the season with Mendelssohn’s Variations Serieuses, Schumann’s mighty Carnaval, Pletnev’s transcription from Tchaikovsky’s "Nutcracker," and the volcanic Rachmaninoff Second Sonata in B-Flat Minor, Op. 36. In collaboration with the Guzik Foundation, it’s a recital to remind one of the artistry of Alicia de Larrocha.
Read the review of Arghamenyan's recital.
Ms. Arghamanyan’s Website:
www.artsmg.com/
Fresh from a world tour, Ukrainian virtuoso Lisitsa has responded to requests to play Schumann and Chopin in their 200th anniversary year. She has programmed Schumann’s “Kinderscenen,” Op. 15, Beethoven’s mighty “Appassionata” Sonata in F Minor, and all the Chopin Etudes from Op. 10 and 25. A big program!
Ms. Lisitsa’s Website:
Cal State University Sacramento faculty pianist Cionco plays the SF Bay area premiere of Sunny Knable’s effervescent American Variations (2007) along with three Chopin Mazurkas, Liszt’s Sancta Dorothea, the Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasilieras No. 4 and Ginastera’s Danzas Argentinas.
Read the review of Mr. Cionco's recital.
Mr. Cionco’s Website:
www.csus.edu/music/faculty/cionco.html
Currently holding the McKnight Chair on the faculty of the University of Minnesota, Prof. Artymiw begins her Newman Hall recital with Mozart’s lively B Flat Sonata, K. 333, and continues with three of the Vingts Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus of Olivier Messiaen. Selections from Gyorgy Kurtag’s Játékok/Spiele/Games and the Op. 12 Fantiestücke of Schumann complete the program.
Ms. Artymiw’s Website:
Making her second Concerts Grand appearance, Turkish pianist and audience favorite Ucbasaran will play five Studies from Saygun’s Aksak Rhythms and a big batch of Chopin: three Polonaises (Ops 44, 53 and 61), the Tarantelle and the Op. 42 Waltz in A Flat. She closes with a Liszt novelty, the Grand Paraphrase De La March de Giuseppe Donizetti (composed for the Sultan Abdul-Medjid Kahn).
Ms. Ucbasaran’s Website:
Closing the season is Italian pianist Sandro Russo, a hero with San Francisco audiences since his initial recitals there in 2007. In Newman he performs the magnificent Liszt variations on Bach’s Cantata "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen", Beethoven’s "Appassionata" Sonata, the haunting Eighth Nocturne (2003) of Lowell Liebermann, Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Balakirev's Islamey.
Back from her fifth-season Concerts Grand appearance, MacDougall’s Mendocino College Choral Room recital will feature a Prelude and Fugue from Book II of the WTC; Schumann’s Op. 12 Fantaiestücke and Sonatas of Prokofiev (No. 3, Op. 28) and Beethoven (in B Flat, Op. 22).
Launching the first Concerts Grand recital in Napa County, PUC alumna Casanova performs Latin music by Lecuona, Gottschalk, Cervantes, Guerra, Piazzola and her signature piece, Ginastera’s Danzas Argentinas. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue completes the program.
Read the review of Ms. Casanova's recital.
Ms. Casanova’s Website:
JB Piano’s intimate recital stage will resound with Marin pianist Gartner’s readings of an eclectic menu of masterworks: Bach’s Italian Concerto (S. 971), the C Major Sonata (“Waldstein”) of Beethoven; The Brahms Op. 79 Rhapsodies; Miroirs of Ravel and Liszt’s declamatory Tenth Rhapsody.
Mr.Gartner’s Website: