Alexandre Kantorow

Dazzling audiences last season with Brahms’ Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, Alexandre Kantorow returns to Dijon with a program as subtle as it is generous, exploring the quintessence of Romantic aesthetics.

A formidable talent in the art of transcription, Liszt took one of Bach’s most poignant cantatas in 1862 to create Variations that embrace the Baroque spirit of the passacaglia. The chromatic motif at the heart of the work, associated by Bach with the Crucifixion, is magnified by Liszt within the magic of his pianistic language, balancing austerity and exaltation.

Sometimes called the “Russian Brahms,” Medtner reveals the full complexity of his writing in his ambitious first Sonata, shifting between elegiac melancholy and powerfully structured discourse. His virtuosity also owed much to Liszt, whose genius in transcription is exemplified here by the extraordinary challenges posed by Beethoven’s Pastoral. How could a symphony so intimately linked to orchestral effects, instrumental colours, and a palette capturing everything from storms to birdsong be contained within the keyboard? 

All that remains is to marvel at Liszt’s boundless inventiveness, and at the means by which a performer rises to meet every challenge.

Piano Alexandre Kantorow

Johann Sebastian Bach/ Franz Liszt
Variations sur « Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen »

Nikolaï Medtner
Sonate, op.5

Frédéric Chopin 
Prélude op. 45

Alexandre Scriabine
Sonate n°10

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonate n°32 en do mineur, op. 111 

À l’issue du concert, retrouvez Alexandre Kantorow pour une séance de dédicaces !
Niveau 1, près de la billetterie.