BRUCE LIU
Since his success at the 2021 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Bruce Liu has built an exemplary career on the world’s greatest stages. He returns to Verbier with a recital combining, alongside Bach, Liszt, and Chopin, the Spanish colors of Mompou and Albéniz.
Programme
GYÖRGY LIGETI (1923-2006)
Fanfares, from Études for Piano, Book I
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
French Suite No. 5 in G major BWV 816
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major Op. 53 “Waldstein”
Interval
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Nocturne in D-flat major Op. 27 No. 2
MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
Alborada del gracioso from Miroirs
FEDERICO MOMPOU (1893-1987)
Glossa sobre « Au clair de la lune »
Fantasia sobre « Au clair de la lune »
ISAAC ALBÉNIZ (1860-1909)
El Puerto, from Iberia, Book I
FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886)
Rhapsodie espagnole S. 254
Ligeti’s Fanfares, like Bach’s Fifth French Suite, draw on the world of dance: tango drowned in a chromatic maze for one, baroque dances with meditative or joyful accents for the other.
Beethoven composed his Waldstein Sonata on a grand piano with an extended range, concealing a highly ambitious finale beneath the guise of a nursery rhyme.
A gentle, romantic barcarolle, Chopin’s second Nocturne is a tribute to bel canto, the vocal line unfolding with unusual clarity and obviousness.
In Alborada del Gracioso, Ravel embraces his Spanish influences from the very first bars with their guitar strums. Mompou, nicknamed the “Spanish Debussy”, is not far behind. Albéniz, for his part, bases El Puerto on a Zapateado rhythm, an energetic variation of flamenco. As for Liszt, he drew on his memories of his Iberian tour to compose this exceptional Rhapsodie Espagnole, which was inspired in particular by the Follia, a Renaissance dance that gives the work the colours of ancient times.
