
- 02.11.19
JoAnn Falletta, Mason Bates - Congratulations to our 2019 Grammy Award Winners
Grammy.com - 02.07.19
Vienna Boys Choir - Vienna Boys Choir Winter Tour Starts February 17
Kathryn King Media - 02.06.19
Jeremy Denk - Five Days, Three Pianists, Three Generations
The New York Times - 02.05.19
Jennifer Koh - Classical Music Concerts Part 2: Orchestras Primed for Adventure
Boston Concert Reviews - 02.03.19
Jeremy Denk - Home listening: new releases from Jeremy Denk and Maximilian Hornung
The Guardian - 02.01.19
JoAnn Falletta - RESPIGHI, O.: Roman Trilogy - Feste romane / Fontane di Roma / Pini di Roma (Buffalo Philharmonic, Falletta)
Naxos Records - 02.01.19
JAZZ IN THE KEY OF ELLISON - Ralph Ellison’s Record Collection
The New Yorker - 02.01.19
Brooklyn Rider - Common Theme
Strings - 01.31.19
Jeremy Denk - Jeremy Denk's New Album, "c.1300–c.2000," Due February 8 on Nonesuch Records
NPR - 01.29.19
Calidore String Quartet - What repertoire should you play for your first recording?
The Strad
ARTIST NEWS

Bis! to Biss
04.21.09
Jonathan Biss
San Francisco Classical Voice
"Bis!" is a demand for encore. Biss is Jonathan, a 28-year-old pianist who played a fascinating recital Saturday at Herbst Theatre, under the aegis of San Francisco Performances.
Before the second half - an all-Chopin offering, capped with a splendid encore of the Andante from Mozart's Sonata No. 15 in C Major, K. 545 - Biss presented a consistently compelling program, brilliantly played. Mozart's Sonata in C Minor, K. 457, impressed with the opening Allegro that was robust, powerful, quite different from the usual "elegant" Mozart - and Biss' approach was all to the good. The Adagio and closing Allegro were less of the "in your face" school, but again, "just right."
The most impressive part of the evening was a combined performance - that is, played without a break - of five pieces from György Kurtág's Játékok (Games) and Schubert's rarely played Sonata in C Major, D. 840, Relique.
Displaying the same passion in speaking as in playing, Biss talked briefly about the Schubert, speculating that one reason for its rare appearance in concert halls is that it's "unfinished," having only two movements. Rather than a disadvantage, Biss said, having only the Moderato and Andante gives the sonata a completeness of its own, addition to which would have been impossible or unwise.
The clarity, precision, and outstanding articulation in playing Kurtág and Schubert were deeply impressive. The crystalline piano miniatures are reminiscent of Bartók's Microcosmos.
They were Antiphony in F-sharp from Book II, Les Adieux (in the Manner of Janacek) from Book VI, Portrait (3) from Book III, La Fille aux cheveux de lin-enragée from Book V; and the amazing Birthday elegy for Judit, for the second finger of her left hand from Book VI. This last piece bore out Kurtág's famous saying that "I keep coming back to the realization that one note is almost enough." It was more than one note, a gorgeous little piece, all played with one finger.
To hear Biss on-line, there are lots of samples on his Web site. For Kurtág piano works, see these and other YouTube samples.