Sensibility and Improvisation

Marcia Hadjimarkos, fortepiano

Marcia offers a bouquet of music by female composers of the 18th and 19th centuries, including sparkling dances by Maria Szymanowska, who was celebrated in her time as a pioneer professional virtuoso pianist, and a hauntingly lovely Etude by Hélène de Montgeroult, the first woman to be hired as a piano teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, and who penned the Cours complet, a monumental collection of études. These pieces have undeniable pedagogical value, but are first and foremost works of art. Little is known about the enigmatic Mme de Villeblanche, apart from the fact that she died at the age of 24; her sonata bears witness to a robust and original musical voice.

Madame de Villeblanch: Sonata in C minor (composed before 1782)

Maria Szymanowska (1789- 1831): Excerpts from Dix-huit Danses de différents genres pour le pianoforte (1820) 

Hélène de Montgeroult (1764–1836): Excerpt from Cours complet pour l’enseignement du piano-forte (1812)

Gabriele Toia, fortepiano

From Tango to Italian Baroque, from Viennese Classicism to jazz: the soul of historical pianos crosses borders.
Gabriele Toia plays music by Sammartini (modern world premieres), Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Beiderbecke, Ellington, Piazzola and totally improvised pieces.

Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700-1775) Sonate in G-groot en Sonate in F-groot (modern world premières)

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Four Mazurkas:
Op. 24 No. 1 in g-klein
Op.  17 No. 3 in As-groot
Op. 17 No .4 in a-klein
Op. 24 No. 3 in As-groot

Gabriele Toia (1967) Three improvised Bagatelles

Duke Ellington (1899 – 1974)
Mood Indigo
The Shepherd
Satin Doll
It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)