Thursday, Jan 26, 2017
Pianists Ena Bronstein Barton and Phyllis Alpert Lehrer present a recital titled “Drama and Dialogue: the Piano Duet as Chamber Music” on Sunday, January 29 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Admission is free.
They will perform Divertissement á la hongroise, Op. 54 by Franz Schubert, Six Épigraphs Antiques by Claude Debussy and Sonata in C., K. 521 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. According to the artists, The selection of these works is based on the premise was that the piano duet is a form of chamber music, different from the soloistic style that flourishes so beautifully in the piano solo literature or in the two piano literature. Franz Schubert, the most prolific composer of piano duets, never wrote a piano concerto or a piece for two pianos. His piano music, like his lieder, is imbued with the spirit of intimate chamber music.
In this recital Barton and Lehrer want to draw attention to the different compositional styles by three great masters: Schubert, Debussy and Mozart. In Debussy all the four hands are intricately interwoven. The layers of sound come and go, with no reference to whom is playing the primo or secondo part. Mozart creates a little opera on the piano. Both dialogue and drama are evident in every movement. The Schubert is predominantly about melody and dance; it is also influenced by Hungarian motifs, with its modes and improvisatory passages.
The Barton & Lehrer Duo was formed in Princeton in 1984. Since then the pianists have been performing regularly throughout the United States. As solo artists and academic colleagues, they bring a depth of musical understanding to the repertoire of piano duets and two pianos. Their ability to communicate with stunning sensitivity results in stellar performances. Widely acclaimed, their performances have been described as “evocative, expressive and beautifully integrated.” - Bucks County Courier. “The music seemed to reach the ear whole, without human intrusion...Olympian music-making.” - Newark Star Ledger.
Born in Santiago, Chile, Ena Bronstein Barton began her career in South America, touring her native continent. After winning a national piano competition she traveled to New York to study with Claudio Arrau and Rafael de Silva. Her New York debut at Town Hall was received with critical acclaim. Since then, Ms. Barton’s career has taken her across the United States, back to South America, to Europe, the Near and Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Among her engagements abroad was an extended tour of Israel and Europe, highlighted by performances as soloist with orchestras in Jerusalem, Luxembourg and Rome.
She has received many honors throughout her career, including an invitation to attend the Casals Festival, a Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant that resulted in a solo recital at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and the Distinguished Artists Piano Award by Artists International. Her chamber music performances have included appearances with violinist Jaime Laredo and the Guarneri Quartet.
Phyllis Alpert Lehrer is known internationally as a performer, teacher, clinician, author and adjudicator. She has given master classes, workshops and enjoyed an active concert career as a soloist and collaborative artist in the United States, Canada, Central America, Asia and Europe. Her performances have met with much critical acclaim: “Warmth and vibrancy at its best,” The Times (London); “An able warmhearted pianist…Impressive musicianly qualities,” Daily Telegraph (London); “an admirable musicality …” (The New York Times). A founding member of Young Audiences of New Jersey and the International Society for the Study of Tension in Performance, she has presented regularly at conferences of the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and the European Piano Teachers Association. Recent lectures, master classes and performances have been presented at the International Society for Music Education in Glasgow, Scotland, Performing Arts and Medicine Conference in Colorado and New York City, Nebraska Music Teachers Association, Portland District Music Teachers Association, Third Street Settlement in New York City, Brooklyn College Conservatory, the Steinway Society, New York Piano Teachers’ Congress and Westminster Choir College.