New Zealand pianist Michael Houstoun’s performance, recorded at The Piano in Ōtautahi/Christchurch in September 2023, is part of the esteemed Sundays at Four recital series. The concert highlights works by two of the most celebrated Romantic composers, Brahms and Rachmaninov.
Brahms’ Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Handel was completed in Hamburg in 1861, and he dedicated it to his close friend Clara Schumann in honor of her birthday. Written at the peak of his compositional powers, it is considered one of the crowning achievements of his keyboard works.
Brahms selected the Air from Handel’s B-flat major harpsichord suite (1733) as the theme. The programme notes describe it as a “cheerful, dance-like theme adorned with ample Baroque ornamentation.” Brahms’ 25 variations on this theme display youthful brilliance, wit, irony, and a remarkable exploration of diverse moods and characters.
For the second half of the concert, Michael Houstoun presented a selection of preludes and etudes by Rachmaninov.
Rachmaninov composed some of these pieces early in his career, while others were written later, after his voice as a composer had fully matured. Though Rachmaninov typically avoided giving descriptive titles to his works, he often drew inspiration from pictures, stories, scenes, or poems, translating these ideas into music without revealing their origins.
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