Rachmaninoff: The Pianist
Sat, Nov 4, 2023, 7:30 pm
Alice Tully Hall
2 hours, including intermission
Sergei Rachmaninoff was a leading exponent of the virtuoso pianist tradition, showcased in this program spanning nearly two centuries of keyboard mastery.
Rachmaninoff himself gets the last word, with his blockbuster Second Suite, a stunning composition of orchestral texture and operatic drama.
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Sonata in D major for Two Pianos, K. 448
(1781)Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(1840–1893)The Nutcracker Suite for Two Pianos
(arr. Economou) (1892, arr. 1988)Claude Debussy
(1862–1918)En Blanc et Noir for Two Pianos
(1915)William Bolcom
(b. 1938)“The Serpent’s Kiss” from The Garden of Eden Suite for Two Pianos
(1974)Sergei Rachmaninoff
(1873–1943)Suite No. 2 in C minor for Two Pianos, Op. 17
(1901)
Inon Barnatan
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Alessio Bax
Wu Han
Pianist Inon Barnatan performs regularly with leading orchestras and conductors worldwide. He was the inaugural Artist-in-Association of the New York Philharmonic and has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago and Boston symphonies, and most major US ensembles, as well as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Zurich Tonhalle, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, and the London, Hong Kong, and Royal Stockholm Philharmonics. In the 2025–26 season he performs with the Baltimore, Dallas, and Minnesota symphonies, gives solo recitals at Tippet Rise Art Center and Wigmore Hall, and takes part in the Complete Etudes of Philip Glass project at the Krannert Center and the University Musical Society. Barnatan is Music Director of La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest in California, a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, and an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet enjoys a prolific recording and international concert career. He has performed with the Cleveland, NHK Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and BBC Symphony orchestras, among others, and has collaborated with renowned conductors including Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Ludovic Morlot, Edward Gardner, and Louis Langrée. 2026–2027 season highlights include appearances with the Malmö and Gävle Symphony orchestras, the Malaysian Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony orchestras, and performances of all five Beethoven piano concertos with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, and the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic. He also begins a two-year Haydn series at Wigmore Hall, and appears in recital at the Ravello and Bari Festivals, The Glasshouse International Centre, and Taipei National Concert Hall. Bavouzet has made over 60 recordings in the last 20 years, many of which have garnered multiple Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Diapason d’Or, and Choc de l’Année awards. He is the International Artist in Piano Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Alessio Bax won first prize at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and has appeared with nearly 200 orchestras, including the New York, London, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras; the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Cincinnati, Seattle, Sydney, BBC Scottish, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras; the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras; and the Tokyo and NHK Symphonies in Japan. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists. At age 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, Italy. He is a former member of CMS’s Bowers Program and is on the faculty at New England Conservatory. For ten years, Bax has been Artistic Director of the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival, and is the Artistic Director of the London Festival of Chamber Music at Smith Square Hall in London. He also serves as Co-Artistic Director of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation for emerging pianists.
Pianist Wu Han, recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year Award, enjoys a multi-faceted musical life that encompasses artistic direction, performing, and recording at the highest levels. Co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2004 as well as Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Silicon Valley’s innovative chamber music festival Music@Menlo since 2002, she also serves as Artistic Advisor for Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music at the Barns series and Palm Beach’s Society of the Four Arts, and as Artistic Director for La Musica in Sarasota, Florida. Her recent concert activities have taken her from New York’s Lincoln Center stages to the most important concert halls in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In addition to countless performances of virtually the entire chamber repertoire, her concerto performances include appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of ArtistLed, classical music’s first artist-directed, internet-based recording label, which has released her performances of the staples of the cello-piano duo repertoire with cellist David Finckel. Her more than 80 releases on ArtistLed, CMS Live, and Music@Menlo LIVE include masterworks of the chamber repertoire with numerous distinguished musicians. Wu Han’s educational activities include overseeing CMS’s Bowers Program and the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo. A recipient of the prestigious Andrew Wolf Award, she was mentored by some of the greatest pianists of our time, including Lilian Kallir, Rudolf Serkin, and Menahem Pressler. Married to cellist David Finckel since 1985, Wu Han divides her time between concert touring and residences in New York City and Westchester County.