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Bruce Levingston Performs New York Premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Brahmsliebewaltzer

Apr. 01, 2008

Pianist Bruce Levingston performs the New York premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Brahmsliebewaltzer on Monday, April 14 in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall. Levingston's program, entitled Points of Departure, explores the unique artistic relationships between four prominent contemporary composers (Rihm, Arvo Pärt, Charles Wuorinen and Sebastian Currier) and four influential composers of the past (Brahms, Scarlatti, Debussy and Liszt). Levingston comments:

Wolfgang Rihm's Brahmsliebewaltzer is a loving homage to his fellow countryman, Johannes Brahms. Rihm employs Brahms' languorous descending thirds, piquant seconds, and playful rhythmic leger de main to evoke a kind of auditory "memory" of the great master. Bittersweet in tone, the work possesses both a nostalgic and haunting quality that reflects this important German composer's searching and historically aware nature.

Bruce Levingston is one of today's leading figures in the performance of contemporary music. Many of the country's most important composers have written works for him including Philip Glass, Sebastian Currier, Lisa Bielawa and Pulitzer Prize-winners William Bolcom, David Del Tredici, George Perle and Charles Wuorinen. His Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center world premiere performances of their works have won notable critical acclaim. The New Yorker describes him as "elegant and engaging”, “a poetic pianist who has a gift for inventive-and glamorous-programming" while The New York Times calls his performances "graceful", "dreamy” and "hauntingly serene." Also included in this evening's program are Arvo Pärt's Fur Alina, Charles Wuorinen's Heart Shadow and Sebastian Currier's Departures and Arrivals.

For more information on the music of Wolfgang Rihm and Arvo Pärt, visit www.universaledition.com.

For more detailed information on Bruce Levingston's performance at Zankel Hall, visit www.premierecommission.org.

Wolfgang Rihm
Brahmsliebewalzer (1985)
for solo piano
5'

Arvo Pärt
Für Alina (1976)
for solo piano
2'

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