Hélène Grimaud Piano Recital
Hélène Grimaud, the singular pianist and Renaissance woman, opens this recital with two Rachmaninoff picture pieces, and then launches into the final piano sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert. Beethoven’s Op. 111 plays wildly against classical conventions, unfolding in just two movements and ending with an epic set of variations, which some say prophesied jazz and funk. Schubert’s enveloping B-flat major sonata is one of the most sublime works in the piano literature, the musical culmination of Schubert’s too-short life.
Acknowledgements:
This performance is sponsored by:
The Piano Series is generously supported by Trine Sorensen and Michael Jacobson, and David Wollenberg and The Wollenberg Foundation.
Program
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Nos. 2–3 from Étude-Tableaux, Op. 33
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111
FRANZ SCHUBERT: Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960
Sergei Rachmaninoff's American Story
Sergei Rachmaninoff immigrated to the United States in 1918 after the Russian Revolution upended his life and career, forcing him into exile. In America, he built a lasting legacy that blended the emotional depth of European Romanticism with the musical culture of early 20th-century America.
“I am very happy to become a United States citizen in this land of opportunity and equality.” —Sergei Rachmaninoff, The New York Times, February 2, 1943
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