Arts & Entertainment

Brian Ganz Performs All-Chopin Concert at Strathmore

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Brian Ganz will perform an all-Chopin concert at the Music Center at Strathmore on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, pianist Brian Ganz returns to the Music Center at on Friday, Feb. 8, for the second of his ambitious "Extreme Chopin" quest to perform all of Frédéric Chopin’s piano music in front of live audiences.

Although Ganz is still researching whether or not another pianist has ever performed all of Chopin's approximately 250 piano pieces, "the important thing is not whether I’m the first to do this," Ganz said in a statement.

Rather, "I’m excited to share works with Chopin lovers that they may never have heard before."

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“There are so many beloved works of great beauty and emotional power, but there are also quite a few buried treasures that deserve to be heard," he added.

“Chopin’s music is the language of my soul, and I have dreamed since childhood of someday performing all of his works,” said Ganz, who is a graduate and faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, and a member of the piano faculty and artist-in-residence at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

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The first performance of Ganz's Chopin quest—which, Ganz anticipates, will take about a decade to complete—took place a year ago, at Strathmore, and was sold out.

The Feb. 11 concert will explore the theme of "Dances and Fantasies," and will include: Two Polonaises, Op. 40; Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49; Impromptu No. 2 in F-sharp Major, Op. 36; Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66; Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 42; Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61; Four Mazurkas, Op. 6; and Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22.

“The Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61, [one of] Chopin’s last large-scale masterworks for solo piano, will form the centerpiece of the program. It’s one of Chopin’s very personal statements, and relatively rarely heard," Ganz said.

Each of Ganz's Chopin performances will be structured around a theme, Ganz told Patch. "I am trying to structure the concerts in an interesting and balanced way ... balancing well-known pieces with less well-known [ones], longer with shorter [ones]," and earlier-written pieces with pieces written later in Chopin's life, which lasted from 1810 to 1849.

When it comes time to perform Chopin's works that are accompanied by an orchestra, Ganz will perform with the National Philharmonic, led by Piotr Gajewski, a former City of Rockville councilmember.

"He is the perfect pianist to play all of Chopin’s works—not only because of his great love for the composer, but also because of his intense connection with his audience,” Gajewski said in a statement.

“Brian’s playing exudes incredible warmth and openness. He demonstrates an uncommon eagerness to bridge the distance between artist and audience,” Gajewski added.

Ganz has been known to bring his entire collection of Chopin's music to a performance so that he can accept requests from the audience.

Ganz has shared First Grand Prize in the Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition, and he has won a silver medal (third prize) in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Competition. He has performed as a soloist with the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the City of London Sinfonia and Paris’ L’Orchestre Lamoureux, and under the direction of conductors Leonard Slatkin and Mstislav Rostropovich.

To purchase tickets for the Feb. 11 performance at Strathmore at 8 p.m., visit Strathmore's website, or call 301-581-5100. Tickets are $24 to $46, and children 7 to 17 years old are free (sponsored by The Gazette). Reserve children's tickets in person or on the telephone. Parking is free.


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