René Staar on his 75^th birthday

Kaori Nishii, Johannes Piirto, Milica Zakić piano
Hartmut Krones and René Staar conversation

Arnold SCHÖNBERG Sechs kleine Klavierstücke op. 19; Fünf Klavierstücke op. 23; Klavierstücke op. 33 a und 33 b
René STAAR Structures II op. 7/2; aus Balkanmosaïk op. 26 I, bis, c (WP); Monsieur Moderne op. 14/13; 5mal5 kurze Intermezzi Heft II op. 22j (WP); Bagatellen auf den Namen György Ligeti op. 14/3a; from: Un journal d’impromptus op. 22q sexies (WP)

Tickets € 18 | Free admission for persons under 26 years

Three pianists have created a comprehensive musical concept spanning two eras and two composers whose lives overlapped for just a few weeks in 1951. Piano music played a decisive role for both composers at turning points in their careers – Schönberg’s Opus 19 on the threshold of free atonality, and his Opus 23 at the beginning of serialism. A broad overview of René Staar’s piano works, from his first official piano piece in 1981 to his still unfinished Impromptu cycle, shows how these very different composers converge in their shared curiosity about harmonic complexity and voice leading.