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Carlo Grante

Concert:
Thursday 28 July, 20:30, Ex Municipio di Castagnola

 

TRANSCRIPTIONS MADE IN CHINA

In 1924 the great Russian pianist Leopold Godowsky visited China, Japan and Siberia.  During this journey he continued the work he had begun in November 1923 just prior to his departure from New York:  the free transcription and adaptation for piano solo of several works by J.S. Bach for solo violin or solo cello, namely, Sonatas and Partitas BWV 1001, 1002 and 1003 for solo violin and Suites for solo cello numbers 2 in D minor BWV 1008 (dedicated to the Belgian cellist Jean Gerardy); 3 in C Major BWV 1009 (dedicated to the pianist Mario Paci, director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra) and 5 in C minor BWV 1011 (dedicated to Pablo Casals).  The eccentric British pianist and composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji believes Godowsk had reached his artistic peak in these free transcriptions, published in 1924 by the American editor Carl Fischer.
Carlo Grante’s 1999 recording of Godowsky’s “free transcriptions” of the Bach Cello Suites (Music & Arts”, CD 1046) has achieved wide success.  Riccardo Risaliti wrote: “Grante’s superlative performance in this demanding pianistic work no longer surprises those who know the gifts of musicality, intelligence and mechanical virtuosity of this Roman pianist …..  Grante is a musician who plays like a musician, but with the technique of a ‘super pianist’….(from CD Classica, November 1999).
Carlo Grante has performed for important concert institutions in London, New York, Chicago, Rome, Milan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hanoi, Zagreb, Bucharest, Lima, Rio de Janeiro; he has played at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Dresden Semperoper, the Vienna Konzerthaus; and at Festivals of Vienna, Istanbul, Husun, Newport, Saratov “Neuhaus,” Miami, Tallin, Ravello, MDR Musiksommer, etc.  He’s appeared as soloist with the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Royal Philharmonic of London, the Wiener Symphoniker, The Orchestra of the Academy of S. Cecilia, the Pomeriggi Musicali of Milan, the Orchestra of Radio and TV of Zagreb, the orchestra of the Radio of Leipzig (MDR), the Capella Istropolitana of Bratislava, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, etc.  His vast collection of recordings (on the U.S. label Music & Arts) presently numbers more than thirty titles, and includes authors such as Scarlatti, Piatti, Clementi, Liszt, Chopin, Busoni, Prokofiev, Godowski and Sorabji.

Booking: +41 (0)58 866 48 00 | sportello.foce@lugano.ch

 

PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach/Leopold Godowsky   
Three Suites for violoncello solo, very freely transcribed and adapted for the pianoforte

Suite n. 2 in re minore, BWV 1008
Prelude. Andante cantabile
Allemande. Allegro moderato
Courante. Allegro energico
Sarabande. Largo, ma non troppo
Menuet I/II. Moderato
Gigue. Allegro deciso

Suite n. 3 in do maggiore, BWV 1009
Prelude. Alleegro maestoso
Allemande. Allegretto scherzando
Courante. Maestoso
Sarabande. Largo
Bourrée I/II. Allegro moderato/L’istesso tempo
Gigue. Vivace giocoso

Suite n. 5 in do minore, BWV 1011
Prelude and Fugue. Grave/Allegretto espressivo
Allemande. Maestoso, largamente
Courante. Moderato
Sarabande. Mesto
Gavotte I/II. Allegretto espressivo
Gigue. Andantino espressivo

Carlo Grante pianoforte

 

LINKS

http://www.rbartists.at
http://www.agendalugano.ch/estivalugano/programma/musica/carlo-grante
http://www.longlake.ch/index.php/site/detail/id/156