This temperamental queen of the keyboard possesses the unique gift of making strings and keys swoon with desire one moment and spark with excitement the next: with Olga Pashchenko at our side, there is nothing more delightful than lingering in nocturnal landscapes that are sometimes intoxicatingly sweet and at other times eerily lonely. For a unique glimpse of nocturne repertoire, the fortepiano expert sought out three dazzling instruments, along with a whole pantheon of Russian greats. Each of these make their own mark on the genre, from the daring, sensual interpretation of Skryabin to the delicate melancholy of Glinka and the songlike lyricism of Tchaikovsky or the sophisticated nostalgia with which Rachmaninov cast the stars across his sky.
Program
F. Chopin: Nocturnes, opus 55, no. 1, 2 | Russian nocturnes by M. Glinka, K.E. Hartknoch, I. Laskowski, A. Rubinstein, P.I. Tchaikovsky, A. Skryabin, M. Balakirev, C. Cui, S. Liapunov & S. Rachmaninov
Performers
Olga Pashchenko, piano (Pleyel 1843, Bechstein 1860, Steinway 1875)