Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center Sunday, February 23, 2025, at 3 PM
LUCIANO BERIO (1925–2003)
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828)
JOHN CAGE (1912–1992)
CONLON NANCARROW (1912–1997)
JOHN ADAMS (B. 1947)
ARVO PÄRT (B. 1935)
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943)
Wasserklavier (Water Piano)
Fantasie in F minor, D. 940 (Op. posth. 103)
I. Allegro molto moderato —
II. Largo —
III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace —
IV. Finale: Allegro molto moderato
Experiences No. 1
Study No. 6 (arr. Thomas Adès)
Hallelujah Junction
I.
II.
III. INTERMISSION
Hymn to a Great City
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (arr. Rachmaninoff)
I. Non allegro
II. Tempo di valse
III. Lento assai — Allegro vivace
This program is about 1 hour 45 minutes in length.
Generous support for the 2024–25 Recital Series provided by the Art of Beauty Company, Inc.
Víkingur Ólafsson’s performance is generously sponsored by Michael Frank and Patricia A.* Snyder. * deceased
ANDSNES in recital
MAR 27 | THU 7:30 PM
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Mandel Concert Hall
GRIEG Piano Sonata
TVEITT Piano Sonata No. 29, “Sonata Etere”
CHOPIN 24 Preludes KISSIN in recital
MAY 7 | WED 7:30 PM
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Mandel Concert Hall
J.S. BACH Partita No. 2
CHOPIN Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1
CHOPIN Nocturne in A-flat major, Op. 32, No. 2
CHOPIN Scherzo No. 4
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Sonata No. 2
SHOSTAKOVICH Prelude and Fugue in D-flat major
SHOSTAKOVICH Prelude and Fugue in D minor
Generous support for the 2024–25 Recital Series provided by the Art of Beauty Company, Inc.
Leif Ove Andsnes’s performance is generously sponsored by Astri Seidenfeld
Evgeny Kissin’s performance is generously sponsored by the Art of Beauty Company, Inc.
SEVERANCE in Recital
WHY TWO PIANOS?
It’s a reasonable question. With all the dynamic and tonal resources the modern piano places at a composer’s disposal, why would anyone need more than one? Camaraderie, for a start: the practice of paired keyboards dates back at least as far as the early 17th century, when English manuscripts seem to indicate that the composers Nicholas Carleton and Thomas Tomkins wrote sacred and secular pieces together.
Simply playing together is key (no pun intended). Whether it’s the prodigious little Wolfgang and Nannerl Mozart paraded before heads of state or more modestly equipped musicians practicing sonatas and reading through symphonies at home, there’s something companionable about two pianists working as one.
From Mozart through Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms, the piano duo arguably reached its crowning glory during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when salons, courts, and households all resounded with domestic music. That’s not to say the music lacked ambition: to the contrary, Schubert’s Fantasie in F minor is viewed by enthusiasts as not just the finest among the numerous works he wrote for two pianists, but also one of his finest works, period.
Composed in 1828 — months before his final three piano sonatas and tragically early death — this sublime work for two pianos comprises four distinct movements in a seamless span, as had the “Wanderer” Fantasy for solo piano in 1822. Schubert dedicated the Fantasie to Countess Caroline Esterházy, his former pupil and unrequited love. The tender, somber melody that opens the work recurs throughout, lending cohesion even as shifts among minor and major voicings and sharp dynamic contrasts underscore a clear emotional turbulence.
Well into the 20th century, even after domestic musicmaking had lost ground to radio broadcasts and recordings, the piano duet remained in the public eye largely due to popular working acts like Vronsky & Babin , Gold & Fizdale, and Katia and Marielle Labèque, as well as celebrity pairings from Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu to Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Michael Feinstein . (One can now add to this list Víkingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang.)
Berio
Cage
Schubert
Modern composers, too, found the two-piano format fertile ground for explorations of timbre, technique, and mood. John Cage was widely regarded as a promising experimental composer and the heir to Henry Cowell when, in 1945, he wrote Experiences No. 1 for a dance by his partner, the choreographer Merce Cunningham . Cage’s piece, a deliberately paced, airy meditation for white keys only, reflects the influence of the French maverick and mystic Erik Satie, while also seemingly predicting a soon-to-emerge engagement with Asian musical styles and modes.
Two decades later in 1965, Cage’s fellow avant-gardist
Luciano Berio looked back to Romantic roots for Wasserklavier (Water Piano), borrowing fragmentary motifs from Brahms’s Three Intermezzos (Op. 117) and Schubert’s Four Impromptus (D. 935). Originally for solo piano and reworked for two instruments in 1999, the piece begins at an ethereal hush — Teneramente e lontano (Gently as from a distance) — and seems to end mid-thought rather than concluding affirmatively.
In the case of Conlon Nancarrow, two pianists are needed simply to make his work performable. Fascinated by rhythmic complexity, the largely self-taught Texas-born maverick fashioned his 49 studies for the player piano, relying on a machine to realize his rigorous notions. Study No. 6 dates from a fertile period extending from 1948 to 1960; according to Nancarrow expert Kyle Gann , it reflects the composer’s interest in medieval isorhythm and tāla , the metrical foundation of Indian music. In an arrangement by composer Thomas Adès , one pianist is entrusted with maintaining the jagged beat, while the other plays relaxed, bluesy melodies in a higher register.
Both Hallelujah Junction by John Adams and Hymn to a Great City by Arvo Pärt were inspired by specific points on the map. Adams nabbed the title of his 1996 work from a truck stop on the Nevada–California border. “Here we have a case of a great title looking for a piece,” Adams wrote in a program note. “So now the piece finally exists: the ‘junction’ being the interlocking style of two-piano writing which features short, highly rhythmicized motives bouncing back and forth between the two pianos in tightly phased sequences” — a technique he had used in his watershed 1982 orchestral work Grand Pianola Music.
Pärt, the Estonian-born figurehead of a style that came to be known as “holy minimalism,” offers a paean of another kind in Hymn to a Great City, composed for a 1984 concert at Lincoln Center in New York City. In place of his characteristic mystery and austerity, Pärt here offers tingling anticipation: one pianist producing pealing G-sharp bells and tumbling treble cartwheels, the other responding with steady cadences that provide sensations of constancy and stability.
Nancarrow
Pärt
Adams
Wrapping up this whirlwind of a program is a work by a composer immediately associated with the piano — Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Originally composed for orchestra in 1940, the composer arranged the piece for two pianos at the same time and performed it with Vladimir Horowitz at a private gathering in Beverly Hills in 1941. While the original version showcases Rachmaninoff’s mastery of orchestration, this intimate arrangement zooms in to reveal new and fascinating rhythmic layers and colors that can only be found in an identical instrumental pairing.
— Steve Smith
Steve Smith is a writer and editor based in New York City. He has written about music for The New York Times and The New Yorker, and served as an editor for the Boston Globe , Time Out New York , and NPR.
Celebrating VoiceOPERA CLUB
Rachmaninoff
VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON
Piano
Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has captured public and critical imagination to become one of the most sought-after artists of today. His recordings have led to over one billion streams and he has won numerous awards, including the 2025 Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his recording of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BBC Music Magazine ’s Album of the Year, and Opus Klassik’s Solo Recording of the Year (twice). Other notable honors include the Rolf Schock Music Prize, Gramophone ’s Artist of the Year, Musical America ’s Instrumentalist of the Year, the Order of the Falcon (Iceland’s order of chivalry), and the Icelandic Export Award, given by the president of Iceland.
In a landmark move, Ólafsson devoted his entire 2023–24 season to a world tour of a single work: Bach’s Goldberg Variations, performing it 90 times to great critical acclaim. The 2024–25 season sees Ólafsson as artist-in-residence with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as artist-in-focus at the Vienna Musikverein. He tours Europe with The Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and TonhalleOrchester Zürich, performs with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the BBC Proms, and returns to the New York Philharmonic.
Ólafsson also joins forces with Yuja Wang for a highly anticipated two-piano recital tour across Europe and North America and gives the world premiere of John Adams ’s After the Fall with the San Francisco Symphony, a piano concerto written especially for him. In spring 2025, Ólafsson will perform his new piano recital, an exploration of Beethoven’s Op. 109, on multiple dates across the US and Europe.
YUJA WANG
Piano
Pianist Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty, and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians, and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances.
Her skill and charisma were recently demonstrated in a marathon Rachmaninoff performance at Carnegie Hall alongside conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra. This historic event celebrating 150 years since the birth of Rachmaninoff included performances of all four of his concertos plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in one afternoon and saw queues around the block for tickets on the day.
Wang was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman . She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams ’s Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel .
This season, Wang embarks on a highly anticipated international duo recital tour with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson with performances in world-class venues across North America and Europe, which will once again showcase her flair, technical ability, and exceptional artistry in a wide-ranging program.
YUJA WANG PLAYS TCHAIKOVSKY
MAR 22 & 23
The Cleveland Orchestra Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
LATE SEATING
As a courtesy to the audience members and musicians in the hall, late-arriving patrons are asked to wait quietly until the first convenient break in the program, when ushers will help you to your seats. These seating breaks are at the discretion of the House Manager in consultation with the performing artists.
CELL PHONES, WATCHES & OTHER DEVICES
Please silence any noise-making devices, including cell phones and watches, prior to the start of the concert.
PHOTOGRAPHY,
VIDEOGRAPHY & RECORDING
Audio recording, photography, and videography are prohibited during performances at Severance. Photographs of the hall and selfies can be taken when the performance is not in progress.
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IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY
Contact an usher or a member of house staff if you require medical assistance. Emergency exits are clearly marked throughout the building. Ushers and house staff will provide instructions in the event of an emergency.
HEARING AIDS & OTHER HEALTH-ASSISTIVE DEVICES
For the comfort of those around you, please reduce the volume on hearing aids and other devices that may produce a noise that would detract from the program. Infrared Assistive-Listening Devices are available. Please see the House Manager or Head Usher for more details.
AGE RESTRICTIONS
Regardless of age, each person must have a ticket and be able to sit quietly in a seat throughout the performance. Classical Season subscription concerts are not recommended for children under the age of 8. However, there are several age-appropriate series designed specifically for children and youth, including Music Explorers (for 3 to 6 years old) and Family Concerts (for ages 7 and older).
Editorial: Kevin McBrien, Publications Manager (kmcbrien@clevelandorchestra.com)
Design: Melissa Leone (melissa@melissaleone.com)
Program books for Cleveland Orchestra concerts are produced by The Cleveland Orchestra and are distributed free to attending audience members. The Cleveland Orchestra is proud to have its home, Severance Music Center, located on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, with whom it has a long history of collaboration and partnership.
