Piano Recital IV – Ivo Kahánek by Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček, Klein, G., Martinů, Minn (2024/2024), Slovak Philharmonic, Bratislava, Slovakia

Czech Evening: the concert of the talented Czech pianist Ivo Kahánek could aptly be named as such. Dramaturgy will present the work of Czech composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Older, melodious and harmonically pleasing works by the giants of the 19th century Czech music school, Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, will be complemented by more daring newer compositions. The four compositions that make up the cycle “In the Mists” (“V hmlách”) by Leoš Janáček have an impressionistic character. Experts consider this work to be the pinnacle of Janáček’s contribution to the piano genre. Bohuslav Martinů dedicated his Sonata to Rudolf Serkin, who premiered it in 1957 at Carnegie Hall. The consonant dance parts, which evoke folk songs, contrast with the darker, even demonic passages of the composition. The journey through Czech provenance will also be enriched by the work of Gideon Klein, a native of Přerov. The life of this talented musician ended very early. Because of his Jewish origin, he was deported to concentration camps, where he died at the age of twenty-five. The piano sonata was composed during his three-year imprisonment in Terezín.