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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Wild Moonlight
If you miss classical pianist Richard Dowling when he plays his recital in Keller on Jan. 22, you can catch him in Hurst the following evening, as he repeats his program.
His concert begins with Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata, the piece’s nickname (which the composer didn’t approve of) coming from its famous dark, ghostly opening movement. Beethoven wrote the sonata at an early stage in his career, and that slow opening not only broke with the 18th-century convention of sonatas with fast starts, but helped the piece build to its roiling conclusion.
Also in the program is Ravel’s Sonatine. Ravel’s best-known music can be somewhat aloof — one contemporary compared him to a Swiss watchmaker. This small piece has the same jewel-like colors and harmonies as his other work, but it also has a warm, friendly spirit that shows a different side of the composer. Equally shimmering is Chopin’s Barcarolle in F-sharp major, his evocation of a trip on a Venetian gondola.
The wild card comes from Earl Wild, best known as a pianist specializing in Liszt and Gershwin. The recordings he made through the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s display a technique so flashy that it’s comical. It’s easy to imagine a cartoon character playing them, because what mere human could play so fast and so loud and so accurately? (The Pittsburgh native is still playing and making great records at age 87.) Wild is also a composer, and his Three Virtuoso Etudes on Themes by Gershwin closes the recital.
Richard Dowling plays at 7pm Thu at Hurst Public Library, 901 Precinct Line Rd, Hurst. Admission is free. Call 817-283-3406.
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