Piano for Left Hand
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
It’s an evening for the left-handed. A number of piano works have been written for the left hand alone; we enjoy two this evening, an original and an arrangement.
Although the Austrian-born pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in World War I, he returned to the concert stage, performing with his left arm only, becoming well known and loved. Several prominent composers wrote works especially for him; particularly famous is Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, which we hear Wittgenstein perform this evening, as Bruno Walter conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a 1937 recording. Directly thereafter, we hear pianist João Carlos Martins (who recovered the use of his right arm after therapy) playing Johannes Brahms’s arrangement for left hand of the famous Bach Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2.
The 1776 Harpsichord Quintet in G Minor is the last of six such works written by Padre Antonio Soler for his pupil, the Spanish prince Gabriel. Though not technically demanding, they all exude charm. Before the evening ends, we hear harpsichordist David Schrader as he joins the Chicago Baroque Ensemble. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” Suite No. 2.
Although the Austrian-born pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in World War I, he returned to the concert stage, performing with his left arm only, becoming well known and loved. Several prominent composers wrote works especially for him; particularly famous is Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, which we hear Wittgenstein perform this evening, as Bruno Walter conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a 1937 recording. Directly thereafter, we hear pianist João Carlos Martins (who recovered the use of his right arm after therapy) playing Johannes Brahms’s arrangement for left hand of the famous Bach Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2.
The 1776 Harpsichord Quintet in G Minor is the last of six such works written by Padre Antonio Soler for his pupil, the Spanish prince Gabriel. Though not technically demanding, they all exude charm. Before the evening ends, we hear harpsichordist David Schrader as he joins the Chicago Baroque Ensemble. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” Suite No. 2.
