Henry Litolff (1818-1891) is little known today. Despite leaving an impressive collection of musical works, he's best remembered for a single movement, the Scherzo from his Concerto Symphonique No. 4 in D minor. It's a challenging piece for even the best pianists, played at relatively high speed that demands high technical skills.
This performance features pianist Natalie Erlich, a rather interesting person in her own right. She showed promise as a musician from an early age, winning several competitions; but her love of music had to compete with her interest in medicine. She's about to qualify as a neurologist, but continues to play in her spare time - an intriguing combination, when one thinks of the mental demands on a concert pianist. Here she performs the Litolff Scherzo with the Commencement Orchestra at the 2006 New England Conservatory Commencement in Jordan Hall, Boston. Donald Palma conducts.
Peter
Well done! I would imagine that Natalie Erlich would be a challenging woman to be in a relationship with. I hope that her personality is equal to her brilliance and talents.
ReplyDeleteNow if you want to see someone making it look like a stroll in the park easy piece, here's Yuja Wang who could have played this backwards standing on her head age 6.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_IbUBQxNUo