On Thursday evening the Festival will open with a presentation by ALAN WALKER, distinguished Liszt biographer, entitled:
Dr. Walker's three-volume, prize-winning biography of Franz Liszt, published by Alfred A. Knopf, was a project which took him twenty-five years to complete, and for which the President of Hungary bestowed on him the medal Pro Cultura Hungarica. The biography also received the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize, presented by HRH The Duke of Kent in London. Time hailed it as "a textured portrait of Liszt and his times without rival," and the Wall Street Journal called it "The definitive work to which all subsequent Liszt biographies will aspire." The Washington Post selected it as a Book of the Year. Two other books on Liszt have meanwhile followed. The first is called The Death of Franz Liszt (Cornell University Press). It describes the last ten days of the composer's life in Bayreuth. Based on eye-witness accounts, and the unpublished diary of a pupil, it tells a harrowing story of the final illness, medical malpractice, family neglect, and a callous disregard of Liszt's final wishes. Walker's latest Liszt book, Reflections on Liszt (Cornell University Press) is a sequel to the 3-volume biography, and deals with certain topics in greater depth than the biography itself could accommodate. These include Liszt's myriad connections with Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann; his work as a teacher and editor of the music of others; and his published writings. The book ends with An Open Letter to Franz Liszt, which the Times Literary Supplement called "an affectionate and stylized farewell from a biographer to a great subject."
At the conclusion of Dr. Walker's talk, Croatian pianist
KEMAL GEKIC—who many have hailed as the greatest living Liszt interpreter—will
perform some of the composer's works on a French Erard (generously donated
by Dayton pianist Donald Hageman) and a Viennese Bösendorfer, concert pianos
manufactured by makers who often provided pianos to Liszt, and of whose instruments he was especially fond.
KEMAL GEKIC, whose playing has been acclaimed worldwide by public and critics alike, has a daring approach to tone and form, which marks him as a maverick in the musical world, a distinction he welcomes: the very strength of his artistry challenges, provokes, and intrigues. Wherever he performs, his uncompromising interpretations never fail to generate frenzied audience enthusiasm. As a recording artist, he has won accolades in Europe, America, and Japan for his insightful, original conceptions. His outstanding Rossini-Liszt transcriptions (Naxos) won "The Rosette" of The Penguin Guide for Music, while his recording of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes (JVC) is generally considered the finest available.
Born in Split, Croatia, Kemal Gekic got his early training from Prof. Lorenza Baturina. He graduated from the class of Prof. Jokuthon Mihailovic at the Art Academy of Novi Sad and was immediately given a faculty appointment by the piano department , which he directed until 1999. Since 1999 he has been Artist in Residence at Florida International University in Miami. He is also a visiting professor at the Musashino Academy of Music in Tokyo and a guest lecturer at numerous universities and academies throughout the world. He has served as a juror on numerous piano competitions. Programs on his life and performances have been broadcast by RAI Italy, TV Portugal, TV Yugoslavia, NHK Japan, POLTEL Poland, RTV Lower Saxony West Germany, RTV USSR, Intervision, the CBC and PBS.
Critic Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe echos the consensus of critical acclaim with a brief but forceful comment: "Gekic rides the charismatic edge of genius."
On Friday evening, the Wittenberg Department of Music will present a
special concert devoted to Liszt's choral and instrumental works. ALAN WALKER will
provide special commentary for this event. Included on the program will be performances by organist
TRUDY FABER
(left), soprano
JESSICA McCORMACK (right), and both the Wittenberg Singers and Wittenberg Choir conducted by
Professor
ADAM CON (lower left).
In addition to his commentary, Dr. Walker will serve as moderator for some dialogue between the participants and the audience. The selections performed will include organ works, such as Liszt's Prelude and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, S. 260i/ii, and his moving variations on the basso continuo from Bach's Cantata No. 12, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, S. 673. Also included will be the composer's beautiful 1885 choral setting of the Salve Regina, S. 66, three French chansons, including Enfant, si j'etais rois, S. 283, and two German Lieder especially arranged for women's chorus.
The Festival concludes on Saturday evening when Mr. Gekic will join the Springfield Symphony Orchestra to perform both the Liszt E-flat and the Liszt A major Piano Concertos. The concert, under the baton of Peter Stafford Wilson
(right), now celebrating his tenth season with the SSO, will also include works by
Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály and the Hungarian Dances of Johannes Brahms. This SSO Concert will also feature a pre-concert lecture by Professor
Trudy Faber.
