Andreas Klein Kicks Off Performing Arts Series

German-born pianist Andreas Klein will open the 2006-07 Performing Arts Series with a solo concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, in Kaufman Auditorium. Klein’s career has taken him to many of the world’s most prestigious venues – from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to London’s Philharmonic Hall. For his first Marquette appearance, he will treat the audience to selections from Chopin and Liszt.

“They were contemporaries and both wrote romantic music, but they had very different approaches to the piano,” said Klein in a telephone interview from his home in Houston, Texas. “Chopin was introverted and sensitive. He was a fantastic piano teacher, but he didn’t particularly enjoy playing in public. Liszt was flamboyant and extroverted, especially in his younger years. He liked to show his versatility and skill. He could be called the inventor of the piano recital because he was the first to sit down and present a whole evening of piano solo music.

“Chopin and Liszt were friends, but were opposites in terms of personality. However, both composed as pianists. They always conceived music as coming from that particular instrument.”

Klein’s discography includes Piano Sonatas, Beethoven and Berg and Dancing Through Time. In addition to his solo work, he toured with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists earlier this year in honor of the 250th Mozart Anniversary. He also performs with symphony orchestras around the world.

Klein is a graduate of the Juilliard School and completed his studies with the legendary Claudio Arrau and Nikita Magaloff. He wrote a dissertation on the Chopin Etudes, which is kept in the libraries of the Chopin societies in Vienna and Leipzig.

“When Chopin was young and traveling as a pianist, he had to practice pieces to keep up his dexterity,” Klein explained. “He was far too inventive to play the same passages over and over, so he made up new exercises by extracting passages from the difficult concerti he had already written. He generated a new set of exercises, but they were much more than boring finger busters. They were little jewels; very beautiful miniature compositions. If you study those, you’ll not only improve dexterity – you’ll be ready to play anything he ever wrote.”

Klein was described by The New York Times as “a fascinating artist with all the indispensable qualities: temperament, taste, touch, tone – the four Ts of pianism.”

Season tickets, which entitle bearers to six events for the price of five, are still available at the Superior Dome.

 

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Updated: October 6, 2006

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