Opera Chic

Do NOT Disturb Maurizio Pollini, Please

Pollini Prospettive: Il Maestro 9 To 5 Plays Brahms, Maderna, Schönberg, Chopin, Debussy, Nono

5 years after Pollini Prospettive, a sup3rkicka$$ series of Pollini concerts, the maestro comes back to give us moah at Accademia di Santa Cecilia: starting on Sat nite, 9 evenings with 5 different programs, featuring music that ranges from Brahms to Maderna, Schönberg to Chopin and Debussy to Nono.

Let's see:

Five evenings in January, on both the symphonic and chamber calendars. Two Brahms concerts, with Pollini himself at the piano directed for the first time by Antonio Pappano on the podium with the Accademia Orchestra, will include other greatly contrasting works, each one representative of its own time: Aura by Maderna, a mature masterpiece by the Venetian composer; Notations by Pierre Boulez, an emblematic work by one of the greatest living composers. Equally bold and invigorating is the pairing of piano music by Chopin with two works by Luigi Nono, Sofferte Onde Serene and the rediscovered La Floresta è Jovem e Cheja de Vida, resonant with political connotations. Among other friends who have joined in Pollini's project are composer and conductor Peter Eötvos, the Viennese group Klangforum and the Hagen Quartet, all of whom will give life to a fascinating journey backwards in time beginning with Karl-Heìinz Stockhausen and winding up at Quintet Op. 34 by Brahms. Sealing and symbolizing the idea underlying the entire series, Maurizio Pollini's own recital will include music by Debussy, Boulez and Webern.

Stockhausen's Klavierstück is part of the program: Stephen Pollard is a fan of sorts.

Re: Maderna's Aura check out this totally awesome  LP cover omG!