2008-2009 Recitals and Performers

Ukiah pianist and teacher Elena Casanova opens the season with Beethoven’s 6 Paisiello Variations and the dramatic Appassionata Sonata in F Minor, followed by Liszt favorites – the third Consolation in D Flat and Liebestraume. The remainder is all Latin music – Ernesto Lecuona and Ginastera’s Danzas Argentinas, Op. 2.

Ms. Casanova’s Website: http://www.elenacasanova.com

Program:
Beethoven: 6 Variations (Paisiello) and 23rd Sonata, Op. 57 (Appassionata)
Liszt: Consolation No. 3 & Liebestraume No. 3
Lecuona: Andalucia, Gitanerias, Malaguena
Ginastera: Three Danzas Argentinas, Op. 2

Russian virtuoso Elena Ulyanova launches Concerts Grand’s collaboration with Tiburon’s St. Hilary Church in an exciting West Coast debut recital, followed by a gala gourmet buffet dinner. Ms. Ulyanova has programmed Soler’s Sonata in D and Beethoven’s mighty Appassionata Sonata, two Debussy Preludes and La Soiree Dans Grenade, and Rachmaninoff’s volcanic B-Flat Sonata, Op. 36.

Ms. Ulynaova’s Website: http://www.elena-ulyanova.com/

Program:
Soler: Sonata in D, R. 84;
Beethoven: 23rd Sonata, Op. 57 (Appassionata)
Chopin: Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22 Two Debussy: Brouillards;
Ondine: La Soiree Dans Grenade;
Rachmaninoff: 2nd Sonata in B-Flat, Op. 36

St. Hilary’s Church, 761 Hilary Drive, Tiburon
	6pm – Pre-Recital Reception in Parish Hall
	7pm – Recital in Sanctuary
	8-9:30pm – Elegant Buffet in Parish Hall

A North Bay favorite, internationally-acclaimed pianist Jon Nakamatsu returns to Newman Auditorium with an eclectic program: Haydn’s 33rd Sonata in C; Schumann’s commanding Carnaval, Op. 9; five Dances from Iranian composer Loris Tjeknavorian; and pieces by Liszt: two rarely-heard Impromptus and the powerful Dante Sonata from the Annees de Pelerinage.

Mr. Nakamatsu’s Website: http://www.jonnakamatsu.com

Program:
Haydn: Sonata in C, No. 33, Hob XV1/20
Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9; Tjeknavorian 5 Dances, Op. 2
Liszt: Two Impromptus and the Dante Sonata

Ken Iisaka returns to the Concerts Grand stage, this time in Marin, performing Haydn’s Sonata in C, No. 60; Berg’s Sonata, Op. 1; A Debussy Prelude; the adagio from Krenek’s Third Sonata; and two demanding masterworks: The Brahms-Handel Variations and Fugue, Op. 24, and Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata-Ballada, Op. 27.

Mr. Iisaka plays Soler: Sonata in B minor

Program:
Haydn: Sonata in C, No. 60, Hob.XVI/50
Berg: Sonata in B, Op. 1; Debussy Preludes, Bk. 1 De Pas Sur La Neige
Krenek: Sonata No. 3, Op. 92 (Adagio)
Brahms-Handel: Variations and Fugue, Op. 24
Medtner: Sonata-Ballada, Op. 27

An audience favorite from the fourth Concerts Grand season, Professor Rachmanov makes his Sonoma County debut performance with an all-Schubert first-half, including the Huttenbrenner 13 Variations, D. 156, and the exciting Wanderer Fantasy in C Major. The recital’s final part contains Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and Stravinsky’s acerbic Sonata (1924).

Prof. Rachmanov’s Website:http://www.dmitryrachmanov.com/

Program:
Schubert: "Huttenbrenner" Variations and the "Wanderer" Fantasy, Op. 15
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Stravinsky: Sonata (1924)

Fresh from her seventh tour of Japan, Elena Kuschnerova plays Bach’s 2nd French Suite and commemorates Mendelssohn’s 200th birthday with short piano pieces and the Variations Serieuses. The second half is all Russian: a Glinka Nocturne, Tchaikovsky’s Variations in F, two pieces written for Ms. Kuschnerova by Alexander Lokshin, and Stravinsky’s formidable Three Pieces from Petrushka.

Ms. Kuschnerova’s Website: http://www.elenakuschnerova.com/

Program:
Bach: French Suite No. 2
Mendelssohn: 3 Songs W/O Words and Variations Serieuses
Glinka: Nocturne "Separation"; Tchaikovsky Variations in F
Lokshin: Prelude/Theme/Variations and "In The Spring"
Stravinsky: Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka

Godowsky scholar and dynamic Guerneville virtuoso Antonio Iturrioz closes the season with North Bay premieres of three Godowsky works, including the exacting Passacaglia. Following Liszt’s visionary Benediction de Dieu Dans la Solitude, the Cuban-born Mr. Iturrioz will repeat the work which brought down the house in the first Concerts Grand season, Liszt’s Reminiscences from Bellini’s Opera Norma.

Mr. Iturrioz’ Website: http://www.aiturrioz.com/

Program:
Bach-Godowsky Prelude and Fugue in C Minor (From the 5th Cello Suite)
Schubert-Godowsky Cradle Song
Godowsky Passacaglia
Sepos Tango Blue
Liszt Benediction de Dieu dans La Solitude
Liszt Reminiscences from Bellini’s Opera "Norma"