In 2000, we did what we had done in many other years: we recorded young talent at the Concertgebouw.
For years, the Holland Music Sessions took place in Amsterdam. Up-and-coming musicians from all over the world would come to perform in Concertgebouw, where we could get to know them. Some of those musicians became famous artists. Liza Ferschtman once performed here. So we’ve known her since before she was famous!
This episode will feature three performances from the 2000 Sessions. There are no musicians of Ferschtman’s caliber, but there are musicians who enjoyed a solid education and reputation, who remain active in the concert scene. An interesting twist is the focus on twentieth-century music—at these types of competitions, you usually hear a lot of compositions from the Romantic Era.
Greek-French pianist Stephanos Thomopoulos performes music by Haydn, Ravel and Ginastera. Japanese duo Reiko Otani (violin) and Kyoko Sasani (piano), perform virtuoso pieces by Eugène Ysaÿe and Sergei Prokofiev. The latter, along with compatriot and contemporary Shostakovich, also appears in the repertoire of pianist David Mcnulty, who focuses on piano music from Stalin’s era.
Playlist
1. Joseph Haydn – Sonata in C, Hob. XVI:50
2. Maurice Ravel – Gaspard de la Nuit: Ondine
3. Alberto Ginastera – Sonata no. 1, opus 22
4. Eugène Ysaÿe – Caprice d’après l’Étude en forme de valse de Camille Saint-Saëns
5. Sergei Prokofiev – Sonata in f, opus 80
6. Dmitri Shostakovitch – Prelude and fugua in a, opus 87/4
7. Sergei Prokofiev – Ten pieces from ‘Romeo and Julia’
