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March 25, 1994 - Image 81

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1994-03-25

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Duelin Pianos

Four local pianists will mix

our pianists who spend most of the
year taking their careers in differ-
ent directions enjoy an annual per-
formance that brings them
together.
Fedora Horowitz, Louis Nagel,
Joseph Gurt and Michael Gurt — the
Michigan Piano Quartet—have combined
their talents for five concerts sponsored by
the Lyric Chamber Ensemble (LCE) and are
rehearsing for their sixth, "The World Ac-
cording to Liszt."
When they meet on the Orchestra Hall
stage at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 10, they will
play as soloists and then as a foursome. Just
as Liszt celebrated the works of other com-
posers of his time, the pianists celebrate the
styles of one another.
"We have an affinity for each other's mu-
sic," said Ms. Horowitz, artistic director of
the LCE, which has produced many kinds of
concerts during the 14 years since she found-
ed the organization.
"We have that give-and-take that usually
happens in a chamber music environment,
and people can hear different styles of play-
ing because of our different backgrounds,
studies and thoughts about music."
Audience response turned the piano fes-
tival into a tradition.
As a group, the instrumentalists chose
to focus on Liszt but present few of his orig-
inal pieces. Instead, they will emphasize
Liszt transcriptions, his adaptations of mu-
sic composed by others.
"We chose Liszt because he is the most bril-
liant composer specifically for the piano and
extremely generous," Ms. Horowitz said.
"Without Liszt, a number of other composers
would be less known. I consider him a pro-
moter, and I think that people should know
about that."
Among the composers represented through
the Liszt transcriptions will be Bach, Ala-
bieff, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, Goun-
od and Paganini.
Ms. Horowitz brings experience gained in
other countries to this annual festival, which
never repeats the pieces presented.
A performer in Romania and Israel before
immigrating to the United States in 1969,
she has appeared at New York's Lincoln Cen-
ter as well as in recital with the Detroit Sym-
phony Orchestra, many local symphonies
and chamber ensembles.
In addition to college-level teaching at the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,
Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State
and the University of Michigan-Dearborn,
she has initiated a Summer Music Experi-
ence for students between the ages of 12 and
17.
Louis Nagel, who has served on the piano
faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor since 1969, has appeared in six New
York recitals, at the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C.', and on radio and tele-
vision broadcasts.
During 1984, he was invited to visit the
Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, Aus-

SUZANNE CHESSLER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

and match their styles on April 10.

tralia, where he was artist-in-residence for
six weeks. Recent engagements have taken
him to Ohio and Kentucky.
"The four of us are close friends," Mr. Nagel
says of the Liszt performers. "We know our
idiosyncrasies and we socialize, so our an-
nual concerts are so much fun.
"This is the one regular concert that I do,
and getting four pianos together is so dra-
matic. This will be a serious concert, but cer-
tainly not stuffy."
Joseph Gurt, a professor of piano at East-
ern Michigan, has performed as a soloist in
Israel, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Hong
Kong and Singapore, as well as in Carnegie
Hall and Lincoln Center in New York.

The Michigan
Piano Quartet
brings excitement
to Liszt.

From top:
Louis Nagel,
Fedora Horowitz,
Joseph Gurt,
and Michael Gurt.

He has played with the Detroit Sympho-
ny Orchestra, many other professional or-
chestras, community symphonies and
chamber music groups. During the fall se-
mester of 1990, he served as visiting pro-
fessor at Tunghai University in Taiwan.
When we all play together, there is a great
contrast in sounds, and we get a lot of color,"
said Mr. Gurt, who also has performed piano
duets with his son, Michael, the fourth mem-
ber of the quartet. The two just returned from
a piano recital in Turkey. "It's very rousing
for the audience and for us, too.
"The audience does not need a special
knowledge to enjoy this program. Emotion-
ally, the music runs the gamut; some num-
bers are dramatic and forceful, while others
are light-hearted."
Michael Gurt, assistant professor of piano
at Louisiana State University, received his
early training from his father and went on
to graduate from the University of Michigan
School of Music and Juilliard.
He has performed with the Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Utah and Chicago symphonies
and with orchestras in Australia, South
Africa, Japan and Greece.
The youngest of the group, Michael Gurt
analyzes the unique qualities each performer
will bring to the concert.
"Fedora is very energetic and pays atten-
tion to the sweep of the music, while my dad
values the intimacy of the works," he said.
"Louis Nagel is the thinking man's pianist;
he always has interesting ideas. I like to take
chances and capture the spirit and excite-
ment of the music.
"When all of it comes together, we all play
a little bit differently. We listen to each oth-
er and make instant adjustments."
"The World According to Liszt" will be per-
formed at 3:30 p.m. April 10, at Orchestra
Hall. For information, call 357-1111. ❑

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