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PROGRAM NOTESMozart composed his Sonata in A minor KV. 310 in Paris in 1778 following the death of his mother. A dark and virtuosic work, it is believed to be a reflection of the difficulties Mozart endured personally and professionally at the time. The first movement alternates between anguish and reconciliation, while the second movement displays an intensity and restrained passion seldom heard in Mozart’s slow movements. The final movement returns to the dark world of the first, presenting a subdued sense of tragedy, one of the deepest and loneliest in Mozart’s piano oeuvre.

Liszt’s Sonata in B minor is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the composer’s piano output, and one of the greatest piano compositions of the 19th century. Composed in Weimar, Germany, in 1853, the work is dedicated to Robert Schumann, possibly in response to Schumann’s attempted suicide in early 1854 or in return for being the dedicatee of his Fantasy in C major. It is a panorama of unprecedented harmonic vision and spiritual depth in which the ten fingers of the pianist and seven octaves of the piano replace the entire range of a full orchestra. The sonata, harshly received by critics and musicians at the time, is nearly 30 minutes of uninterrupted music and structured as a traditional sonata. It is a kind of flow of consciousness, and many scholars believe it to be Liszt’s personal evocation of the eternal struggle between good and evil, divine and diabolical, and God and the devil.

Mozart composed his Fantasy and Fugue K. 394 in 1782, and it is one of his most unusual explorations as it looked back toward the Baroque period. Mozart had a lifelong fascination with counterpoint, and a remarkable facility in fugal writing. In 1781, the composer moved to Vienna, where he came into contact with an influential Viennese patron of the arts who gave him access to the works of Bach. Inspired in part by his young wife Constanze’s passion for fugues, Mozart began immersing himself in the fugues of Bach and composing his own, most of which remained unfinished. The Fugue in C major K. 394 is therefore considered to be Mozart’s first complete keyboard fugue, and demonstrates his remarkable abilities in this genre. The Fantasy portion is dark and filled with dramatic contrasts of dynamics and mood, followed by the bright, happy brilliance of the sophisticated three-part fugue.

The program ends with the glamour of New York City in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Commissioned by Paul Whiteman in 1924 for a concert entitled “An Experiment in Modern Music,” the premiere featured Gershwin as a piano soloist for an audience of the most influential musicians of the day. The Rhapsody was composed in a mere five weeks, and primarily conceived on a train ride between New York and Boston. Gershwin described it thus: “It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is so often so stimulating to a composer.... And there I suddenly heard, and even saw on paper—the complete construction of the Rhapsody, from beginning to end. I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness.”

KATIE MAHAN, PIANOThursday, February 9, 2017, 7:30pm

Sonata in A minor KV. 310 Wolfgang Amadeus MozartI. Allegro maestosoII. Andante cantabile con espressioneIII. Presto

Sonata in B minor S. 178 Franz Liszt

Intermission

Fantasy and Fugue in C major KV 394 Wolfgang Amadeus MozartRhapsody in Blue George Gershwin (arr. Katie Mahan)

Mansion at Strathmore | STRATHMORE.ORG | 301.581.5100 | 3

ABOUT KATIE MAHANAmerican pianist Katie Mahan is capturing the attention of audiences throughout the world for her innovative musical personality, poetic interpretations, and graceful, charming stage presence. Mahan is at home in a broad repertoire ranging from Bach to Poulenc, and is particularly distinguished as an interpreter of Gershwin and Debussy.

Mahan’s life has always been filled with music. At age four, inspired by a performance by French piano duo Katia and Marielle Labèque, she decided to be a concert pianist. She began piano studies with her mother, Bobette Mahan, giving her first solo recital two years later at age six. Mahan’s greatest pianistic influence came from her studies with celebrated French pianist Pascal Rogé.

Mahan has appeared in concert throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Russia, and Japan. She has performed with such celebrated conductors as Jiri Belohlavek, Marin Alsop, Grant Cooper, and Lawrence Leighton-Smith, and in such famous halls as the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Prinzregenten Theatre in Munich, and the Smetana Hall in Prague. Mahan has participated in master classes with Lang Lang, Simon Trpceski, and Michel Béroff, and recently performed with the Prague Philharmonia, Colorado Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Cheyenne Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, and the Vienna Residence Orchestra. She has recorded six independently released albums. In 2014, she founded the Katie Mahan Foundation to promote classical music and to inspire giving through music. Mahan is a Steinway artist and was awarded the Classic Superstar award by the Berliner Salon.

Afternoon Tea in the Mans ionSpice up your week with a trip to the Mansion at Strathmore

for Afternoon Tea. Enjoy light, lovely sandwiches, savories,

and scones in our elegant Music Room, while notes from the

piano, harp, or flute float through the air.

UPCOMING TEA SCHEDULE AT WWW.STRATHMORE.ORG/TEA

Call 301.581.5108 for reservations.Prepaid, nonrefundable reservations required. Vegetarian options available, inquire when reserving.

SAVOR THE EXPERIENCE.