Kirckman Concerts Present: Eden Agranat Meged

Pianist Eden Agranat Meged presents a programme featuring some of his favourite works. While each work stands on its own, the juxtaposition of the different pieces uncovers fascinating connections between them, casting a different light on the music – it’s not always what it seems at first glance.

Although Chopin is often categorized as a Romantic composer, his music is deeply rooted in tradition while simultaneously pointing toward a new musical future – rather than being strictly aligned with the styles of his contemporaries. In Mozart’s Rondo in A Minor, the composer is at his most “Chopinesque”. With each repetition of the refrain, the music is elaborated with increasingly improvisatory ornamentation, resonating with Chopin’s Mazurka, Op.17 No.4.

The Barcarolle, Op. 60 demonstrates the operatic influences that shaped Chopin’s style throughout his life, while beginning a daring new chapter of experimentation in harmony and form.

Scriabin’s two Mazurkas Op.40 and his Fourth Sonata Op.30 mark a period of transformation in his compositional voice. While rooted in Romanticism and strongly influenced by Chopin, these works begin to move toward the mystical and revolutionary sound world that would define his later music.

Brahms’s five-movement Piano Sonata No.3. is symphonic in scope and ambition. Composed when Brahms was just twenty years old, the work is a bold artistic declaration paying homage to the master of the form, Beethoven, while also reflecting the influence of Brahms’s older contemporary, Robert Schumann.