Mark Freshwater
It has been called the most difficult piano work ever written requiring “wrists of steel, fingers with eyes in them.” It is a work of stunning imagination and transcendent virtuosity and the focal point of a March 1 concert featuring The Oracle Piano Society’s own founder and Artistic Director Dr. Stephen Cook.
It is Gaspard de la nuit—a legendary piano suite by the French composer Maurice Ravel.
Loosely translated Sorcerer of the Night, Ravel’s piano suite contains three scenes of fantasy and the macabre selected from a mysterious book of Gothic poetry by Aloysius Bertrand. This collection, (also titled Gaspard de la nuit), contains over 70 tableaux depicting angels, fairies, ghouls and goblins in a medieval setting.
Keeping in line with the Oracle Piano Society’s mission to promote artistic fusion, Cook will punctuate his piano performances with visual projections and recitations of Bertrand’s poetry which initially inspired Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit. Also on program: Ravel’s Sonatine accompanied by Cook’s own selections from Bertrand’s writings.
Event Details:
Picturing Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, A Musical Soliloquy
When: Sunday, March 1, 2015, at 3:00 p.m.
Where: 39900 S. Clubhouse Drive, Tucson, Arizona 85739
http://tickets.saddlebrooketwo.com; 520-825-2818
Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at door; students free with ID
For more information please visit: www.oraclepianosociety.org