Piano Concert "Chiaroscuro: light and dark"

Chiaroscuro) — is an Italian term, which translates as "light-dark" and denotes the balance of light and shadow in a painting or drawing, allowing shading to give figures a sense of volume.

The idea to borrow it from a painting and put it in the title of the concert arose not by chance. Similar to the chiaroscuro technique in painting, music has its expressive techniques, illuminating or darkening its various moments, promoting a contrasting and voluminous perception of the image by the listeners. Music paints with its invisible colors in the hearts and souls of those who listen to it. It tells a non-verbal story, evoking emotions and feelings of various kinds – both dark and light. It mixes them, directly addressing the personal life experience of each listener individually, and the richer and more diverse this experience, the more complex and multifaceted the narrative.

Shadow and light - go hand in hand in many spheres of life and are practically inseparable from each other. "In everything light, there is a particle of dark, in everything dark, there is a particle of light." Without touching the darkness within oneself, one cannot reach one's light. We come into this world to feel and through feelings to understand. In the interpenetration of darkness and light, in the interweaving of contrasting and complex emotions, it is sometimes difficult to understand the hue of one feeling or another. This is the struggle of polar principles within the soul of every person, similar to the process of diffusion. But it is precisely this that allows us to live and manifest in the moment of the present, to know ourselves and the world around us, with trust and gratitude, without judgment and rejection.

The pieces selected for the concert program illustrate the idea of ​​contrasting transitions between inner emotional states. Sometimes these transitions are quite vivid and polar, as with the chiaroscuro artistic technique. Sometimes they are soft and subdued, as with sfumato. The tonal plan within the pieces and between them is also intended to reflect the same idea. Further exploration of meanings and nuances I leave to the discretion of each listener.

Programme:
1. Beethoven Sonata N14 (op. 27 №2 “Moonlight”)
2. Chopin Scherzo op. 31 №2
3. Liszt Concert Etude №3 (Un sospiro)
4. Brahms Rhapsodies op. 79 №2
5. Rachmaninov Etude-tableaux op. 39 №5
6. Rachmaninov Prelude op. 32 №12
7. Rachmaninov op. 3 №2
8. Rachmaninov Prelude op. 32 №5

Enjoy listening! 🙂