Black Oak Ensemble and pianist Wenting Yu play a tribute to the life of pianist and composer Robert Casadesus. Robert Casadesus (1899-1972), the renowned French concert pianist, was also a prolific composer. Student of harmony and composition at the Paris Conservatory, Casadesus pursued composition throughout his performing career. Yet, it is an enigma that Casadesus did not promote his own compositions in public until the 1940s. Thus, his music is rarely performed today. In quality, these works stand alongside pieces by Poulenc, Prokofiev, Copland, and their contemporaries. His oeuvre provides another window to the mid-twentieth century musical time period. This outstanding pianist left not only a legacy in performance, recording, and pedagogy, but also sixty-eight original works, including seven symphonies, three concerti for solo piano, one concerto for two pianos, one concerto for three pianos, and a large body of duo sonatas and chamber music. Casadesus wrote expressively, revealing a keen understanding of the physical demands and enormous color possibilities of each instrument.
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