"A feast of song inspired piano music"

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On Thursday 18 September, 730pm at the Chamber Gallery Rangiora, Michael Endres returns to captivate .

Schubert’s works are influenced by his 600 songs and his two Fantasies are no exception.

The first work, the Grazer Fantasy was found in 1969 and is much more lyrical than the mighty Wandererfantasy, where Schubert

ventured out into the virtuoso writing. The title is derived from the song "The Wanderer”, which forms the 2nd movement, a series of Variations.

The piano as a singing instrument has inspired composers such as Liszt, Tschaikowsky and Gershwin to transcribe songs, originally composed

for voice an piano to the piano. 

The second half of the program contains a variety of these highly inspired  transcriptions, featuring some of the most popular songs of the classic repertoire.

 

                      Transcribers are Franz Liszt, Peter I. Tschaikowsky, Percy Grainger,  Earl Wild and George Gershwin."

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                      Program: Schubert Grazer Fantasy D 605

 

                      Wandererfantasy Opus 15

 

                      Intermission 

 

                       Schubert/Liszt:  Wohin (To where)

                                                    Gretchen at the spinning wheel

                                                   The trout

                          

                       Schumann/ Liszt:  Dedication 

       

                      Tschaikowsky: Lullaby Opus 16/1

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                      Gershwin/Grainger: The man I love

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                      Gershwin/ Wild: Embraceable you

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                      Gershwin: I got rhythm

 

 

German Pianist Michael Endres performs worldwide as soloist and chamber music partner.  He has won prizes such as the Concours Geza Anda (Zurich) and First & Special Prizes at the International Schubert Competition (Germany) among others. His extensive prizewinning discography of 32 CD’s  include cycles of the complete sonatas by Mozart, Schubert, Weber and the complete works of Ravel and Gershwin as well as works by Schumann. Endres covers a wide repertoire including seldom played composers like Leopold Godowsky, Gabriel Faure, Charles Ives and Eduard Tubin. Leading US critic Richard Dyer from the Boston Globe called him ”one of the most interesting pianists recording today”, the New York Times wrote: ”the performances with pianist Michael Endres were revelatory” and the Gramophone Magazine stated: ”he is an outstanding Schubert interpreter”. Michael Endres plays at festivals in Europe, America and Asia including Newport (USA), Beethoven Fest Bonn and Salzburg Festival, and has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, Musikverein Vienna and Suntory Hall Tokyo, to name a few . He accompanied legendary Baritone Hermann Prey for many years and partnered the Berlin Philharmonic soloists, the Artemis and Fine Arts String Quartets. He has a distinguished teaching career as Professor of Piano at the Cologne, the ”Hanns Eisler Hochschule” in Berlin, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and the “Barrat Due” Institute in Norway. He is living with his wife Susan and three cats in Waikuku, New Zealand.