Michael Stephen Brown, hailed by the New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers,” takes audiences at The Four Arts on an epic journey in this multifaceted recital. He folds his own animated compositions into a lively sequence of works that goes from Haydn to Haydn-inspired music of the 20th century to masterpieces of Ravel and Mendelssohn. Brown’s Etude-Fantasy picks up where earlier Haydn homages left off, and his Breakup Etude passionately reflects on Pandemic isolation.
PROGRAM
Fantasia in C major, Hob. XVII:4, “Capriccio” (1789) JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
Hommage à Haydn (1909) CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn (1909) MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
Etude-Fantasy on the Name of Haydn (2020) MICHAEL STEPHEN BROWN (b. 1987)
Miroirs (1904–05) MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
Intermission
Selections from Songs Without Words, op. 18 (1830) DELPHINE VON SCHAUROTH (1813-1887)
Fantasie in F-sharp minor, op. 28 (1830) FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Breakup Etude for Right Hand Alone (2020) MICHAEL STEPHEN BROWN (b. 1987)
Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1842, arr. 1933) MENDELSSOHN/RACHMANINOV
Wedding March in C major from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (arr. Brown) (1842) MENDELSSOHN/LISZT