The audience will be as tickled as the ivories when the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra presents its third annual Duo-Piano Gala, with eight of the area’s finest pianists performing on Tuckerman Hall’s two Steinway grand pianos — one a restored 1902 original — on Nov. 14 at 8 p.m.
This year’s program, without orchestral accompaniment, emphasizes more light-hearted, shorter pieces than last year’s, but still provides plenty for the classical purist, including rare arrangements unearthed by Holy Cross Music Librarian Alan Karass of the Waltz from Gounod’s Faust and the Polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Also featured will be works by Bach, Brahms, Poulenc and Khatchaturian’s Sabre Dance, a perennial favorite, here arranged for four pianists.
In the jazz realm, Kallin Johnson, the Massachusetts Symphony’s principal pianist, contributes an arrangement of Fats Waller’s Handful of Keys. The North American premiere of Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin’s Paraphrase on Manteca by Dizzy Gillespie will be performed by Johnson and Myron Romanul, Principal Conductor of the Massachusetts Symphony and a colleague of the composer. Massachusetts Symphony’s Executive Director Paul Levenson, calls this piece a “propulsive, rhythmic, tuneful, jazzy composition,” and describes Romanul as “an incredible crossover musician.”
The other distinguished pianists to be performing in various combinations are: Malcolm Halliday, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Master Singers of Worcester and faculty member at Clark University; Sima Kustanovich, a faculty member at Clark who holds a Master’s in Music from the St. Petersburg Conservatory; Dick Odgren, former Berklee College of Music faculty member and longtime associate of Worcester’s Emil Haddad and member of the Mike Metheny Quartet; Olga Rogach, holder of a Master’s in Music from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, piano instructor at WPI and piano accompanist for the Master Singers of Worcester and Worcester Opera Works, and Ian Watson, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London who has performed with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the English Chamber Orchestra and other notable ensembles. A much longer article would be required to do justice to the credit lists of these eight musicians, whose enthusiasm for their work and for this event is palpable.
Tuckerman Hall provides “great acoustics, a perfect scale for this event,” says Levenson. Adds Kustanovich, “While there is a grand repertoire for two pianos, there are few places with two pianos.”
“With this cream of the crop of area pianists in collaboration,” says Levenson, “we’re trying to create a tradition ... a varied program with all the virtuosic possibilities of the piano. It’ll be a magical evening.”
Don’t miss out.
Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra’s Duo-Piano Gala. Saturday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m., $15 in advance; $20 at the door. 508-754-1234 or masymphony.org. Coffee and dessert reception following the concert.
