Salon Series, the Parrish Art Museum’s classical music program featuring world-class artists performing in an intimate, casual setting that evokes the salons of Paris, presents Bulgarian-born pianist Nadejda Vlaeva on Friday, November 12, 6pm. The program includes piano sonatas by Beethoven and Scriabin; three Chopin waltzes; works inspired by vocal music arranged by Franz Liszt; a prelude by Pancho Vladigerov and intermezzo by Paul Klengel; and an original work, Silent Words. The concert may be experienced in person at the Museum, or live-streamed.
Fitting for a concert on the East End of Long Island, Vlaeva will play Alexander Scriabin’s Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor (Op. 19)—a work inspired by the sea, which Scriabin first experienced on a trip to Latvia in 1892. The sonata was completed five years later in 1897, during which time the composer visited other seaside towns including Genoa, and Crimea on the shores of the Black Sea where he spent his honeymoon. Scriabin described inspirations for Sonata No. 2 including, “the calm of a night by the seashore…somber agitation of the depths…tender moonlight…the stormy agitation of the vast expanse of ocean.”
The concert features German composer Paul Klengel’s Intermezzo in G minor (Op. 55)—a tour de force that calls for deft finger work, precise technique, and a sensitive approach. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 18 in E flat major (Op. 31, No. 3) is informally known as “The Hunt,” referring to a theme that evokes a horn call. The playful jocularity throughout much of the piece belies profound ideas and deep emotion. Next is the evocative Liebestraum No. 3 composed by Liszt, followed by two of his arrangements: Robert Schumann’s art song Liebeslied (Widmung),and Isolde’s Liebestod (Love-Death) from Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde. Vlaeva continues with Frédéric Chopin’s Waltz in E-flat Major (Op. 18), Waltz in A Minor (Op. 34, No. 2), and Waltz in C-sharp minor Op. 64, No. 2). Following the Scriabin Sonata, Vlaeva concludes the recital with her original composition Silent Words, and Exotic Prelude (Op. 17, No. 3) In Spanish Style by Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov.
Vlaeva has won major international awards—including First Prize, Liszt Competition in Lucca, Italy; Third Prize, International Liszt Competition in Budapest; and the Yamaha Award for best Brahms interpretation—and has performed solo recitals and with orchestras throughout Europe and the United States.
