Announcing the first concert in our “Reach for the stars” series, “Lost in the stars … that are aligned” on Monday 16th December, this time with 2 pianists sharing the solo pieces between them and focusing on piano works (as well as some songs) that celebrate and are inspired by the arts and sciences of stars … big and small, bright and dark, sparking, bursting, wished-upon, loved, lost, remembered, (re-)aligned. We have put together a programme that tells the story of what stars (including colliding “dark stars”) mean and have meant to us through the music of Bach, Franck, Debussy, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Yoshimatsu, Gounod, Weill and Hahn.
We are delighted to be able to present this in Trinity College Chapel in Cambridge, England, to welcome London-based pianist Olga Stezkho’s debut with us in collaboration and sharing a love for astrophysics with Sylvia Chan. Acclaimed by Classical Source as “a supremely delicate master of her instrument” who possesses “an extraordinary presence” for her Wigmore Hall recital, Olga is a lauded interpreter of early and mid-20th century piano repertoire, with her debut album “Eta Carinae” of music by Scriabin and Busoni, and relating their music to physics and philosophy, hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “an outstanding debut” and “not a record for the faint-hearted”.
Programme:
Part 1: “Heavenly harmonies” (piano)
- Bach, Adagio (after Marcello’s oboe concerto), BWV 974
- Franck (arr. Bauer), Prélude, Fugue & Variation, Op.18
- Scriabin, Préludes Op.74
- Scriabin, Vers la flamme
Part 2: “Lost in the stars” (piano and songs)
- Debussy, Nuit d’étoiles
- Gounod, Le soir
- Weill, Youkali
- Weill, Lost in the stars
- Hahn, L’heure exquise
Part 3: “Stars aligned” (piano)
- Debussy, Clair de lune (from Suite Bergamasque)
- Yoshimatsu, To a disappeared Pleiade
- Rachmaninoff, Prélude Op.23, no 4
- Debussy, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (from Images Book II)
- Scriabin, Piano sonata 10
A more detailed description of the programme can be found here or at https://lost-in-the-stars.eventbrite.co.uk.