In the recent CHANDOS three-volume release of Anton Reicha’s L’Art de varier – a set of an F major theme and 57 variations for piano under the opus number 57, the formidable Serbian American pianist Ivan Ilić takes on the challenge of bringing to life this intriguing work with splendid results.
Anton Reicha(1770-1836), a Czech artist and close friend of Beethoven composed this work between 1801 and 1803, and, in spite of its many merits, L’Art de varier fell into relative obscurity for well over two centuries, along with most of Reicha’s prolific output. Reicha dedicated this work to Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, who then invited the composer to become his Kapellmeister and teacher, only to be inexplicably turned down by the eccentric composer!
Evenly balancing intellectual acuity, peerless musicality and sober sensitivity pianist Ivan Ilić sustains the interest of the listener throughout the entire set of variations that range from the drily humorous to moments of sheer bravura.
The album is neatly engineered and accompanied by a handsome booklet.
Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”
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