Fanny Azzuro

It is no coincidence that this programme brings together these three composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. The interest is to show different facets of composers who have a common background. In fact, Rachmaninov always adored Chopin, he played his works a lot and in these Preludes one feels that it is a real tribute to the great romantic composer that Chopin was! Gershwin, the American, is not so far removed from the world of Rachmaninov. They both lived in New York and knew each other.

12 February 1924: At Aeolian Hall, in the centre of Manhattan in New York, the clarinettist Ross Gorman attacks the glissando from Rhapsody in Blue. The whole hall is spellbound. The violinists Kreisler and Heifetz, the pianists Rachmaninov and Godowsky... The triumph is impressive. Everyone stands up to applaud. According to Toscanini, "Gershwin is the only true American composer.

And is Rachmaninoff more Russian than American? One wonders to what extent he was influenced by all the encounters he had in New York. But he is often nostalgic for his homeland, his soul has remained in Russia, and he is often dark and unhappy. His Preludes, Op. 32, so powerful and haunting, a true hymn to Russian nature, were composed in 1910, in the quiet between two trips to Ivanovka. Both Gershwin and Rachmaninoff revered Anton Rubinstein: 'Every word he wrote was pure gold', said Rachmaninoff.

Rachmaninov's Preludes are, of course, a vibrant tribute to his favourite composer, whom he put on a pedestal: Chopin. Rachmaninoff shared the opinion of his pianist friend Rubinstein: 'Every note of Chopin is pure gold'.
The 4th Ballade is one of the peaks of Chopin's harmonic writing, and one of the great masterpieces of the Romantic piano repertoire. A varied programme that takes us on a journey through the romantic, post-romantic and jazzy eras!

GERSHWIN
Rhapsody in Blue

CHOPIN
Fourth ballade

RACHMANINOFF
Preludes, op. 32