Alexander Boyd, piano [] Pro Musica: San Miguel de Allende

  • 12.6.2019-2

Event Category: Musical Events

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  • Pro Musica is thrilled to host pianist Alexander Boyd for his first performance in Mexico. Boyd, a native of Australia made his concert debut at just eleven years old with the BBC’s Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Since then, he has enjoyed a stellar career as both a soloist and chamber musician, sometimes performing with his cellist brother, Nathaniel. His recordings of Schumann, Debussy and Chopin have earned high praise with critics citing his “interpretive depth and poetic feeling.”  Every ticket booked online entitles the holder to a glass of free prosecco in the interval.

    In 2017, he received a Grammy nomination for his recording of the “Iberia Suite” by Isaac Albeniz. This year, Boyd follows his interest in folk music and dance, specifically the fandango and tarantella, with a recording project based on these two famous dances. Not only is he busy performing for appreciative audiences, but Boyd has also written scores for three independent films, one of which, Sogni d’ Oro, was awarded Best Drama at the Portobello Festival in UK.

    Friday’s program begins with Mozart’s Sonata No.12 in F Major. The last of three sonatas written together, it has been called a work of “kaleidoscopic brilliance”. Next we will hear Schubert’s Four Impromptus Op. 90. The title “impromptus” is something of a misnomer as these pieces, which contain an enormous range of emotion and musical color, are of more considerable length and complexity than belies any sense of improvisation.

    After intermission we have an all Chopin program beginning with his Ballade No. 2. His four  ballades, written between 1831-1842, are considered some of the most challenging pieces in the piano repertoire. The performance ends with the Sonata in B Minor Op 5, his last composition for solo piano. With its shifting moods and lyrical melodies it is considered a dramatic masterpiece, containing all the hallmarks of Chopin’s inimitable style.

    Sunday brings an entirely different program beginning with Beethoven’s Sonata in Eb Op.27 No.1. Written  when he was just 30 years old, it is noted for its “ dreamlike improvisation”. Two pieces from Brahms follow, including Klavierstucke  Op.118, a wide ranging collection of character pieces,  or ‘Intermezzo’, a term under which he included anything he regarded as neither capricious nor passionate! This is followed by his Rhapsody in B minor Op.79. Written in sonata rondo form, this composition delights with its romantic style and orchestral form. We end Sunday’s performance with Debussy’s Preludes Book 2, a harmonically complex and rich series of 12 etudes.

    We know you won’t want to miss these stellar performances by Alexander Boyd, whose playing style the Sydney Morning Herald called, “truly breathtaking virtuosity.”

    Tickets for the concerts at St. Paul’s are $200, $350 and $450 pesos donation each, and are on sale at the Bookshop  in the Biblioteca Pública; through our website with no booking fee, and at the concert 45 minutes before performance time. A free glass of prosecco with every ticket booked online

    Details of all Pro Musica’s concerts and Patron Membership are on our website, www.promusicasma.org, or contact us at promusicasma@aol.com.

    Sincerely,
    Michael Pearl,
    President, Pro Musica


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