An Offering of Concerts
Paul Bisaccia |
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| George Gershwin's American in Paris: Great American Composers A new concert offering featuring Waltzes by Billy Joel, Scott Joplin, Stephen Sondheim and the "Carousel Waltz" by Richard Rogers as well as Bernstein's Overture to "Candide," plus Copland, Barber, Brubeck, Sousa's Washington Post March, Gottschalk's 'ColumbiaóCaprice Americaine," and Bisaccia's new arrangement of "American in Paris." Stars and Stripes Forever! The Great American Piano A concert based on Bisaccia's PBS television special "The Great American Piano". Original Gershwin improvisations on "Someone to Watch Over Me", old fashioned novelty numbers like "Dizzy Fingers", "Puttin' on the Ritz" and "Take Five", Gottschalk's "Union" and "Banjo" plus Scott Joplin, Billy Joel and Frederic Rzewski's "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues". The concert concludes with Bisaccia's dazzling arrangement of John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever." George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue Although Gershwin's music is well known, here is an evening of seldom played original solo piano arrangements that Gershwin himself made. Included will be a little history, more humor and many anecdotes that make the man who made the music come alive for an evening. An intimate evening such as this is most appropriate because this is how Gershwin himself performed his pieces for friends. Bisaccia is the first person ever to record all the solo piano music of Gershwin. The program will include lots of standards and favorites such as "Swanee," "'S Wonderful", and "I Got Rhythm" as well as the seldom played original solo piano version of "Rhapsody in Blue" that Mr. Bisaccia played on his PBS special "Gershwin by Bisaccia". Blue Danube: Waltzes Rare and Familiar No one has seriously proposed as the test of a composer's true greatness his ability to compose a listenable waltz. After this concert you may have second thoughts! Glittering waltzes by Chopin including the "Minute Waltz" (Schumann says the dancers of these Waltzes should be at least countesses!), waltzes of Liszt including seldom heard "Valse Oubliee" (forgotten Waltzes that really were forgotten), the intoxicating Waltz from Gounod's "Faust" and sophisticated waltzes by Debussy, Ravel, and Gershwin. This is a concert of surprising variety and ingenuity with lots of interesting anecdotes about the music and the men who created it. Of course the Waltz King, Johann Strauss, will be represented by the seldom-performed Schulz-Evler arrangement of the most famous waltz of all: "The Blue Danube." Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition This great masterpiece in its complete original solo piano version. "Full-fisted white hot almost metallic performance" (Worcester Telegram Gazette) Ragtime Lullabies An unusual type of concert guaranteed to please. Ragtime by Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, Claude Debussy, and Billy Joel. It includes newly discovered Gershwin Preludes, the newly restored piano version of Gershwin's "Lullaby" plus favorites such as Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer," Debussy's "Golliwog's Cakewalk," and Billy Joel's "Root Beer Rag." Also included is "Spaghetti Rag," Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz," a haunting lullaby version of Memory from the musical "Cats" and more. Chopin Artur Rubinstein wrote, "Even in this abstract atomic age where emotion is unfashionable Chopin endures. His music is the universal language of human communication." Bisaccia will play a program that includes Ballade in g-minor, Fantasie-Impromptu, Waltzes, Preludes, Nocturne in E-flat, the "Military" Polonaise, "Revolutionary" Etude and of course the famous "Heroic" Polonaise. An unforgettable evening of Chopin in the grand manner."Delivered with power, poignancy, authority and aplomb." (Worcester Telegram Gazette) Moonlight Sonata: The Romantic Piano Based on Bisaccia's newest CD. A concert in the grand romantic tradition including Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," and "Fur Elise," Chopin Etudes including the "Harp" and "Revolutionary" Etudes, Liszt "Liebestraum" and "Un Sospiro," Rachmaninoff Etude--Tableaux and Preludes (including the famous C#-minor) and the "Fire Dance" by Manuel de Falla. Bisaccia will also include some of his trademark Gershwin renditions including "The Man I Love" Classic-Christmas Jazz-Christmas A new concert offering by pianist Paul Bisaccia A special Christmas concert with music rare and familiar. A unique collection of Christmas music with something for everyone. Paul Bisaccia always wanted to do a Christmas concert but wondered what repertoire to choose. As you can see, he chose to play both jazz and classical styles in a concert of both the familiar and the seldom heard. The concert runs the gamut from classics and pop standards to jazz and even boogie-woogie. Many of the classics here are seldom played on the piano, such as Tchaikovsky's ever-popular Nutcracker Suite. Franz Liszt's gorgeous Christmas Tree Suite, written as a Christmas gift to his granddaughter Daniela, is almost never performed. It's a masterpiece well worth rediscovering. Liszt was a man of deep spiritual convictions and in the slower pieces (such as In dulci jubilo) the composer achieves a luminous quality unique in piano music. There are two versions of Sleigh Ride. The famous one by Leroy Anderson is a jazzy uptempo New England sleigh ride. The other (again seldom performed) by Tchaikovsky is a magical romantic version of a sleigh ride in a Russian wonderland of snow and ice. Both Leroy Anderson and Tchaikovsky imitate the clip-clop of horses, but in the Tchaikovsky version the snow also begins to fall ever so delicately. There are two versions of Silent Night - one as the snow falls, and the other filled with evocative jazz chords. There are also two versions of Jingle Bells - one a short homage to Ella Fitzgerald and the other played as a pop standard. Of course everyone loves Mel Torme's Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fireÖ) One can't help but recall Torme's velvety smooth voice and the lovely sophisticated jazz harmonies. the program *The Nutcracker Suite Peter I. Tchaikovsky
*Sleigh Ride Peter I. Tchaikovsky *Sleigh Ride Leroy Anderson *Silent Night (in the snow) Franz Gruber *Joy to the World George Frederic Handel *Christmas Waltz Peter I. Tchaikovsky *O Holy Night Adolph Adam *Carol of the Bells M. Leontovich *Six Carols in a Jazz Style
*Christmas Tree Suite Franz Liszt
*Carrol (as if on a journey) Christopher A. Haynes *The Christmas Song (Chestnuts RoastingÖ) Mel Torme *Winter Wonderland Felix Bernard *Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring J. S. Bach *Jingle Bells arr. Bisaccia |
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