Italian pianist Eloisa Cascio performs works by Chopin and Schubert in a Rush Hour Recital at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.

Join the Kettner Society in the Burgess Bar from 5.30pm, then escape to another world with an hour of sublime music.

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Programme

Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 1849) – 4 Impromptus, Op. 29, Op. 36, Op. 51, Op. posth. 66

Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828) – 4 Impromptus, Op. 90 / D. 899

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The composers

Chopin and Schubert each transformed the Impromptu into something far more profound than its title might suggest. In the hands of both composers, these apparently spontaneous pieces become intimate worlds of extraordinary invention and emotional depth.

Schubert’s four Impromptus, Op. 90 / D. 899, were written during the final year of his life. The set features a remarkable range of expression: from the stark unaccompanied march-like melody which begins the opening C minor piece, to the rapidly flowing triplets progressing from the airy major to the dark and violent minor in the second, the sublime ‘song without words’ melody of the G-flat major Impromptu, and the restless drama of the final piece. Together they offer a glimpse of Schubert at his most personal and profound.

Chopin’s Impromptus were written as individual pieces over a span of 8 years (1834 – 1842). The earliest of these, the Fantasie-Impromptu, was known only to a single person during the composer’s lifetime, an aristocratic pupil who likely paid him well on the understanding that she would have the only copy of it. Chopin had no idea that this work would later become one of the most famous and beloved piano pieces ever written! The brilliance of Chopin the pianist-composer is heard in virtuosic flourishes, while moments of introspection and tenderness reveal a composer who could make the piano appear to speak like a poet’s words.

Two very different musical voices, eight pieces that reveal just how much can be said in the supposedly spontaneous language of the Impromptu, and some of the most compelling music ever written for the piano.

Impromptu (noun): a piece of music composed or performed as though spontaneously, without preparation.

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The performer

Eloisa Cascio is an Italian pianist and harpsichordist whose career combines solo performance, chamber music and historical keyboard practice. She studied with Tina Babuscio at the Conservatory of Benevento and subsequently with Pietro De Maria at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, where she obtained her Piano Interpretation Diploma. She also holds advanced degrees in Chamber Music and Harpsichord.

She has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and in the United States, appearing at major festivals and concert series in Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Poland, the Baltic states, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, and elsewhere. Her collaborations have included the Aron Quartet Wien, Apollon Quartet and Estonian Chamber Soloists, and she has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including l’Orchestra del Conservatorio di Benevento in Italy, and Dinu Lipatti and Mihai Jora Philharmonic Orchestras in Romania.

Her numerous awards include third prize at the Dichler Competition in Vienna and the University of South Florida Steinway Piano Series Special Award. In 2022 she performed at the György Cziffra Memorial at the Liszt Museum in Budapest. Eloisa Cascio is currently a piano professor at the Nicola Sala Conservatory in Benevento.

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Doors 5.30pm  |  Concert 6pm – 7pm