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  • WDCH
  • PIANIST ALFRED BRENDEL PERFORMS HAYDN, MOZART, AND BEETHOVEN IN FINAL CONCERT 2001/2002 SERIES
  • Apr. 5, 2002
  • Friday, April 5 at 8 PM, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

    On Friday, April 5 at 8 PM, the 2001/2002 Celebrity Recital Series concludes with legendary pianist Alfred Brendel performing works by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The evening's program begins with Haydn's Sonata in G minor, Mozart's Fantasy in D minor, K.397 and Sonata in A minor, K. 310, and concludes with Beethoven's 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli. The recital, presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is the final performance in the 2001/2002 Celebrity Recital Series focusing on piano masters.

    Responding to the patriotic fervor of 1819 and intent on making an book that would provide relief for the families of soldiers killed in foreign wars, music publisher Anton Diabelli approached a number of eminent composers to submit a single variation based on his own theme. Having received variations from 50 composers such as Schubert and Liszt, Diabelli indeed published the collection in 1824. However, Beethoven, intrigued by the prospect of writing a larger set of variations on Diabelli's theme, produced 33 variations which comprised a separate piece; in fact it was released before Diabelli's publication. Brendel is particularly well-known for his masterly interpretations of Beethoven's work.

    Mozart left his Fantasia for piano in D minor as a fragment; nonetheless, the piece has become a recital favorite in the now-completed version. This version, in which the final 10 bars were filled in based on earlier thematic work, was completed in the manner in which music historians believed Mozart himself intended. Composed in 1782, the Fantasia may have originally been meant to serve as the introduction to a sonata in D major---perhaps K. 284 or K. 311-rather than the popular self-contained work that exists today. Haydn's Sonata in G minor, written in 1771, a time of exceptional artistic expansion for the composer; reflects many of the same qualities as Mozart's work, as the two were contemporaries.

    Pianist ALFRED BRENDEL began his formal music education at the age of six and, though his piano lessons ended at the age of sixteen, he continued to study with Paul Baumgartner and later attended masterclasses given by Eduard Steuermann and Edwin Fischer. His reputation as a musical intellectual began early with his debut recital at the Kammermusiksaal in Graz, Austria in 1948. Brendel, after wining a prize in the 1949 Busoni Competition in Bolzano, Italy, became quite active as a recording musician, which cultivated a truly international audience. Brendel, with an extensive discography featuring his renowned masterly interpretations of Beethoven, Liszt, Mozart, Brahms, Haydn and Schubert, stands also as the first to ever record the entire catalogue of Beethoven's piano compositions and one of the few to have recorded all of Mozart's piano concertos. Since that time, Brendel has regularly appeared with the world's major orchestras and has toured internationally performing the complete cycle of the 32 Beethoven sonatas and all five Mozart concerti. Recent engagements have included recital tours of North America and annual returns to Carnegie Hall. Brendel's Carnegie Hall performance on April 26, 1998 marked the exact anniversary of his first public recital fifty years prior in Graz.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    Celebrity Recital

    Friday, April 5, 2002 at 8:00 p.m.

    DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION

       135 N. Grand Ave in Los Angeles

    ALFRED BRENDEL, piano

    HAYDN:  Sonata in G minor, Hob XVI:44

    MOZART:   Fantasia in D minor, K.397

    MOZART:   Sonata in A minor, K.310

    BEETHOVEN:   Diabelli Variations

    Single tickets ($14 - $51) are available at the the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office, all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons-May, Tower Records, Ritmo Latino, Tu Música, and selected Wherehouse locations), and by credit card phone order at 213/365-3500. Tickets are also available on-line at laphil.com. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available 2 hours prior to the performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for special discounts. For further information, please call 323/850-2000.

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  • Contact:

    Elizabeth Hinckley, 323/850-2047; David Barber, 323/850-2023