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Piano

Seasons 2023-25

01.09.2023 – 31.08.2025
elisabeth brauß

program 1: “les adieux”
Bach I Capriccio sopra la lontananza de il fratro dilettissimo
Beethoven I Les Adieux op. 81 a
Schumann I Geistervariationen WoO 24
Prokofiev I Piano Sonata no. 7 op. 83

This program brings four outstanding masterpieces from 250 years of music history together for a celebration of art and life. In doing so, it presents very different perspectives, styles, epochs, forms, and all kinds of challenges for the pianist –but all pieces share the preoccupation with a primordial human theme: saying goodbye, longing for something lost or unattainable, with mourning; and with the hope of reunion and redemption. In Bach and Beethoven, the departure of a loved one is mourned (just as his return is frenetically celebrated), while Prokofiev’s famous, extremely virtuosic Piano Sonata no. 7 speaks of longing and despair (also in quoting Schumann’s song “Wehmut“ in the second movement). Schumann’s Geistervariationen, the work during the composition of which Schumann suffered a mental breakdown and attempted suicide, marks Schumann’s spiritual farewell to this world. Only Schumann can succeed in making this farewell speak not of death and damnation, but of heaven and love. For this program is not a program of mourning and resignation -on the contrary. The music of these great works speaks of pain and suffering, but also of hope, of the desire for life, of joy and love, of a great, existential “nonetheless”. In this it develops a courageous, life-affirming and utopian power.

program 2
Schubert I Piano Sonata in a Major D664
Ravel I Le Tombeau de Couperin OR Prokofiev I 10 Pieces for Piano op. 12
Schumann I Carnaval op. 9


program 3

Brahms I Four Pieces for Piano op. 119
Hindemith I In einer Nacht op. 15
Schumann I Carnaval op. 9

Elisabeth Brauß I piano

Dates upon request

photo: felix broede

01.09.2023 – 31.08.2025
alexej gorlatch

program 1
Haydn I Sonata E minor Hob. XVI:34
Beethoven I Sonata D minor op. 31/2 „The tempest“
Beethoven I Six Variations on an original theme for piano op. 34
Chopin I Sonata no. 2 B flat minor op. 35

program 2: chopin
Chopin I Scherzo no. 2 B flat minor op. 31
Chopin I Sonata no. 2 B flat minor, op. 35
Chopin I Two Nocturnes: op. 9/2  and op. 48/1
Chopin I 12 Études op. 10

program 3: beethoven

Beethoven I Sonata D minor op. 31/2, “The Tempest“
Beethoven I Sonata C sharp minor op. 27/2, “Moonlight“
Beethoven I Six Variations on an original theme for piano op. 34
Beethoven I Sonata A flat major op. 110

program 4
Beethoven I Sonata D minor op. 31/2, “The Tempest“
Beethoven I Six Variations on an original theme for piano op. 34
Schamo (Ukraine, 1925-1982) I Prélude: Andante spianato
Chopin I Two Nocturnes, op. 9/2 and op. 48/1
Chopin I Two Préludes, op. 28/4 and op. 28/15 „Raintrop Prelude“
Chopin I Polonaise A flat major op. 53 „Héroique“

Alexej Gorlatch I piano

Dates upon request

photo: kaupo kikkas

01.09.2023 – 31.08.2025
herbert schuch

seelenverwandte – schubert und janacek
Schubert I 4 Impromptus D. 899 and Moments musicaux D. 780 (excerpt)
Janacek I On an overgrown Path (excerpt)
Janacek I In the Mists
Schubert I Wanderer fantasy
 

beethoven and the blues

Beethoven I Sonata no. 8 C minor op.13
Garson I Pathetique variations
Beethoven I Sonata no. 31 A flat major op.110
Rzewski I Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
Beethoven I Sonata no. 32 C minor op.111

round midnight
Schumann I from the Fantasiestücke op.12: „Des Abends“ and „In der Nacht“
Chopin I Nocturne F minor op.55,1 & Nocturne C sharp minor op.27,1
Beethoven I Sonata C sharp minor op.27, 2 „Moonlight“
Schumann I Fantasy C Major op.17

verwoben [interwoven]
Beethoven I Bagatelles op.119 in combination with
Ligeti I musica ricercata
Schubert I 4 Impromptus op.935 in combination with
Janáček I from “On overgrown paths”, Series II

Herbert Schuch piano

Dates upon request

photo: felix broede

01.09.2023 – 31.08.2025
william youn

schubert
Schubert I Sonata A minor D 537
Schubert I Sonata A major D 664
Schubert I Sonata F sharp minor D 571 (Fragmentary First Movement,)
Schubert I Sonata C minor D 958

William Youn’s program for the new CD Schubert Piano Sonatas Vol. III, to be released by Sony Classical in fall 2022. With his pure Schubert sonata program, William Youn combines well-known works such as the A major sonata D 664 with unknown treasures such as the fragmentary sonata movement in F-sharp minor D571.

schubert, liszt, ravel
Schubert I Sonata A minor D 537
Liszt I Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata
Ravel I „Miroirs“ (excerpts)
Schubert I Sonata A major D 959

miroirs
Mozart I Rondeau A minor KV 511
Mozart I Sonata A major KV 331
Ravel I „Miroirs“ (excerpts)
Saunders I Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Schubert I Sonata A major D 664
Schubert I Sonata A minor D 784

goldberg variations

Bach I Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Bach’s Goldberg Variations are considered the summit of the art of piano performance due to their
great stylistic variety and technical demands. William Youn’s interpretation of the Goldberg
Variations, which he recently performed among others at the Vienna State Opera, are highly praised
by the press: Youn interprets Bach’s unique cycle “with verve” (Wiener Zeitung), “with great
precision” (Die Presse), simply “formidable” (Kleine Zeitung Steiermark).

William Youn I piano

Dates upon request

photo: irene zandel

01.09.2023 – 31.08.2025
piano//duo ensarischuch

eternity (two pianos)
Brahms I Variations on a theme by Robert Schumann op. 23
Schubert I Fantasy F minor D.951
Messiaen I 3 pieces from „Visions de l‘Amen“ for two pianos
Beethoven I Grand Fugue for piano four-hands op. 134

The program accompanying the new album by Piano//Duo EnsariSchuch (to be released by
naive records in spring 2024) combines some of the most astonishing and moving works by
great composers – works that refer to eternity, since some of them were written shortly
before the death of the composers, and at the same time hold something divine, since they
cannot be fully grasped, challenge the mind and are incredibly touching. The compositions
seem to come, each in its own way, from another world and allow a glimpse of that other
world through the eyes of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Messiaen.

lebenslust und todesfeier [joie de vivre and celebration of death] (four hands)
Schubert I Grand Duo C major D.812
Stravinsky I Le sacre du printemps

in search of (four hands and two pianos)
Dvořák I Slavonic Dances op.72 (excerpts)
Brahms I Hungarian Dances (excerpts)
Tchaikovsky I from the Orchestra Suite no. 4 G major op. 61 „Mozartiana“,
arranged for two pianos fromHerbert Schuch and Gülru Ensari: No.4 Variations
on „Unser dummer Pöbel meint“
Oğuzhan Balcı I Sarmal (2021, dedicaded to Gülru Ensari and Herbert Schuch)
Tchaikovsky I „Nutcracker“ Suite op. 71a for two pianos

“In Search of“ takes us on a journey into the childhood of the German-Turkish piano duo,
who discovered the unifying power of the music of their childhoods in Romania and Istanbul.

Gülru Ensari I piano
Herbert Schuch I piano

Dates upon request

photo: felix broede