From our 2017-2018 season, this Pick of the Week brings you a two-piano performance by Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier. We paired it with a lecture by Blair Johnston on Rachmaninoff's last orchestral work Symphonic Dances. This performance and lecture celebrated the Library's acquisition of the manuscript of the two-piano version of this iconic work for which the Library now possesses all primary source materials. We hope you enjoy!
Canadian pianists Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier have been performing together since their student days and have developed a remarkable sensitivity to the four-hand and two-piano literature. Their program features staples of the Russian two-piano repertoire, with a few additional gems.
Blair Johnston, PhD, Associate Professor of Music Theory, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University.
Blair Johnston speaks about Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Rachmaninoff's last completed orchestral work. The Library of Congress now holds all of the significant primary source materials for this iconic work.
Who is ready for a Fauré foray by cellist Steven Isserlis and Canadian pianist Connie Shih? The program is filled with gems from the familiar to the Martin-new, including a work composed by Thomas Adès for Isserlis.
