Pianist Michael Arnowitt is internationally renowned for his creative and thematic programming, bridging the gap between different eras and styles. In this concert, he leads the audience on a journey through the evocative soundscapes of the 20th and 21st centuries. Arnowitt’s performance style is defined by a deep intellectual foundation combined with profound emotional resonance.

The program features a selection where spiritual depth meets modern complexity. This includes an excerpt from the spacious and beautiful “Sortilèges” by British composer George Benjamin, as well as the Sonata No. 2 “quasi una fantasia” (2011) by contemporary Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva—a work celebrated for its dramatic, spiritual, and expressive character.

A particular highlight is Arnowitt’s own well-received creation, “The Stream.” Based on the Fugue in C-sharp minor from J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, this reflective and meditative piece creates a fascinating dialogue between Bach’s Baroque structures and Arnowitt’s modern musical language.

Program:

Claude Debussy: Étude no. 8 Pour les agréments 

Victoria Poleva: Sonata no. 2 “quasi una fantasia” (2011)

George Walker: Variations on a Kentucky Folksong (from his Sonata no. 1) and Adagio non troppo and Presto from his Sonata no. 2

Michael Arnowitt/J.S. Bach: The Stream, based on Bach’s Fugue in C-sharp minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

Sergei Prokofiev: Andante caloroso and Precipitato from Sonata no. 7, op. 83

John Kameel Farah: Kleiner Anfang (Little Beginning)

George Benjamin: excerpt from Sortilèges (1981)

Olivier Messiaen: excerpt from “Catalogue d’oiseaux no. 7 La rousserolle effarvatte (The reed warbler, from Catalog of Birds)

Bela Bartok: Allegro molto, finale from Sonata for piano