Abdel-Rahman El Bacha (Piano)

LISZT PIANO SONATA IN B

Only a virtuoso addicted to impressionism like El Bacha is a match for Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit. The three richly layered parts of this technically extremely difficult masterpiece each depict a poem, with subjects ranging from Ondine the alluring water fairy to a macabre gallows scene to the wild nocturnal tormentor Scarbo. Mozart, however, seemed to eschew programmatic music. He did portray his 15-year-old student Rosa Cannabich once, in the modest and charming Andante of the Sonata No. 7 für das Pianoforte. The lusty corner parts that embrace it show the young man giving free rein to his abundant compositional talent. The Adagio in B minor is a much more mature work that continues to amaze music lovers with its unfathomable expressiveness. Mystery and intrigue abound in Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, the second pièce de résistance of the evening. It arose when Ferenc gradually said goodbye to his life as an itinerant virtuoso. In a large-scale four-movement-in-one structure, swirling storms, brooding stillness and passionate drama flow seamlessly into each other.