Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano
Tamara Stefanovich, Piano

Thursday, October 25, 2018 7:30 PM Zankel Hall

Pierre-Laurent Aimard by Marco Borggreve, Tamara Stefanovich by Marco Borggreve

Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen, written shortly after his release from a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War, fuses religious fervor and earthly passion. Daring in its explorations of color, harmony, and rhythm, this ardent work was written for the composer and his student (and future wife) Yvonne Loriod. Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, renowned for their spectacular virtuosity and piercing intelligence, perform Messiaen’s masterpiece alongside music by Ravel, Bartok, and a Harrison Birtwistle work co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall.

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Pierre-Laurent Aimard is also performing February 15.

Performers

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano
Tamara Stefanovich, Piano

Program

BARTÓK Seven Pieces from Mikrokosmos

RAVEL Sites auriculaires

HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Keyboard Engine, Construction for Two Pianos (US Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)

MESSIAEN Visions de l'Amen

Event Duration

The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.

Pre-Concert Talk

Pre-concert talk at 6:30 PM: Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich in conversation with Jeremy Geffen, Senior Director and Artistic Adviser, Carnegie Hall.

View Program Notes

At a Glance

BARTÓK Seven Pieces from Mikrokosmos

A classic of the pedagogical repertoire, the 153 short piano exercises of Bartók’s Mikrokosmos have found a home in both the practice studio and the concert hall. Before immigrating to the United States in 1940, the Hungarian composer arranged seven of the pieces for four hands in order to perform them with his wife, Ditta.

RAVEL Sites auriculaires

Ravel was fresh out of the Paris Conservatoire when he composed the first of the two miniature tone poems that he cryptically labeled as “auricular sites.” Both the Spanish-flavored “Habanera” and its companion piece, “Entre cloches,” are harbingers of Ravel’s mature impressionistic style.

HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Keyboard Engine, A Construction for Two Pianos

This highly virtuosic new duet by British composer Harrison Birtwistle, subtitled “A Construction for Two Pianos,” has been described as a “sequence of musical clockworks.” By turns tightly controlled and seemingly chaotic, the music uses repetition and cubist-like collage techniques to generate both energy and coherence.

MESSIAEN Visions de l’amen

A renowned church organist, French composer Olivier Messiaen drew inspiration from his scholarly interest in ornithology as well as his religious faith. This sequence of seven “musical visions,” composed in occupied Paris during World War II, reflects his conviction that God was manifest in nature as surely as in the mysteries of Catholicism.

Bios