Tuesday, December 9, at noon
Salle Polyvalente
Having taught musicology in the Human and Social Sciences program organized by EPFL’s School of Humanities, pianist Georges Starobinski is on home turf at EPFL. Director of the Music Academy in Basel since 2013, he has returned to EPFL to gift us with a memorable musical moment.
He will be accompanied by Mary Ellen Woodside on the violin and Rafael Rosenfeld on the cello.
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On the program:
Trios by Beethoven and Brahms
All two pieces on the concert program are reworkings: they were reworked several years after they were first composed. The pieces by Beethoven and Brahms have a similar backstory. At the age of 33, Beethoven left the manuscript for “Variations Kakadu” in the back of his drawer, only to take it back out repeatedly over the following 20 years, notably recomposing the introduction. The final result is a marvellously rich masterpiece, where the popular melody of the motive is surrounded by surprising tragic shadows.
Brahms was only 21 years old when he composed his first trio. Contrary to Beethoven, he immediately went ahead and published it. But 37 years later, the piece no longer satisfied him, and he published it again in a new version, completely rewriting the end. According to Brahms, the second version is superior to the first, and should replace it. We couldn’t agree more.