Image: Zeybap Ucbasaran
One of the highlights of Santa Barbara Music Club’s concerts is the opportunity for audiences to hear great music from a variety of historical periods, with a diversity of musical forms, performed by excellent artists. This concert features music for piano four hands from the Romantic and Contemporary periods, performed by Zeynep Ucbasaran and Sergio Gallo.
Program Details
Piano Four Hands
(1849-1895)
Arr. Preston W. Orem
(1818-1893)
Transcr. Hans Engelmann
Transcr. W. P. Mero
(1838-1875)
Arr. Preston W. Orem
(1811-1886)
- Der nächtliche Zug (The Nocturnal Procession)
- Mephisto Waltz No. 1
(1892-1974)
Notes on the Program
by Betty Oberacker
One of the highlights of Santa Barbara Music Club’s concerts is the opportunity for audiences to hear great music from a variety of historical periods, with a diversity of musical forms, performed by excellent artists. This concert features music for piano four hands from the Romantic and Contemporary periods, performed by Zeynep Ucbasaran and Sergio Gallo.
The program opens with Max Reger’s Introduction and Passacaglia, an imposing work from the German expressionist composer who held the post of Music Director and Professor at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig. As expected, the music is complex and at times cerebral, but always exhibiting a Brahmsian solidity and Wagnerian grandeur.
A tender lullaby follows: Benjamin Godard’s elegantly compelling “Berceuse” from his opera Jocelyn, in an intriguing arrangement by Preston W. Orem. The plaintive character of this contemplative work perfectly captures the charm of the opera highlight.
Ucbasaran and Gallo next present two compositions from Charles Gounod’s opera Faust: the handsome “Melodie d’amour” (Love Song), transcribed by Hans Engelmann, and the captivating “Waltz,” transcribed by W. P. Mero. Salon favorites, these two operatic works are also often performed in their versions for piano solo as well as numerous instrumental combinations.
The Overture from Georges Bizet’s ever-popular opera Carmen provides striking contrast with its brilliant Spanish-inspired composite of the opera’s major thematic material. The arrangement of P. W. Orem definitely does Bizet’s wildly effective orchestration justice.
Next, the piano duo interprets Franz Liszt’s “Episode from Lenau’s Faust: Mephisto Waltz No. 1.” Liszt composed four Mephisto Waltzes — Nos. 1 and 2 for orchestra, Nos. 3 and 4 for piano solo. Liszt arranged the first two for piano solo, piano duet and two pianos, with No. 1 being the most performed and recorded. This version displays the composer’s bold dramatic flourishes, stunning emotional contrasts, and sure pianistic virtuosity.
Concluding the program will be Le boeuf sur le toit, Op. 58 (The Ox on the Roof), by Darius Milhaud. The title is that of an old Brazilian tango, one of close to 30 Brazilian tunes quoted in the composition, and the chamber orchestra score was originally written for a surrealist ballet (Pantomime farce) with scenario by Jean Cocteau and stage designs by Raoul Dufy. The lively and joyful spirit of the music inspired Milhaud to compose an arrangement for piano four hands.
The Performers
Zeynep Ucbasaran, pianist, was born in Turkey, began music studies at age four at the Istanbul Conservatory, and has her Concert Artist Diploma from the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. After advanced studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Freiburg, Germany, she obtained her MA and DMA Degrees in Piano Performance from USC. Her honors include the American Liszt Society Award, and she was a prize-winner in the 1996 and 2000 Los Angeles Liszt Competitions. She has concertized in many countries, and has recorded for Eroica Records and Naxos International to critical acclaim; her discography includes the music of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Scarlatti and Schubert, as well as twentieth-century composers such as Bernstein, Muczynski, and Saygun, and she has recently completed her project of recording the complete set of Mozart’s Variations for Piano. Her performance of works that Liszt played in Istanbul in 1847 was broadcast by the European Broadcasting Union to all of Europe in 2011; a compilation of these selections was released in 2013 under the title, Liszt in Istanbul. Dr. Ucbasaran has given master classes and lecture-recitals throughout the U.S. and in Brazil, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey, has toured with pianist Sergio Gallo, violinist Cihat Askin, and performed with the Trio Troy and the Smyrna Woodwind Quintet. Further information can be found on her website: www.zupiano.com.
Sergio Gallo, pianist, was born in Brazil and received his Diplôme d’Excellence from the Conservatoire Européen de Musique de Paris, his Postgraduate Certificate from the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, his MM Degree and Artist Diploma from the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, and his DMA Degree from UCSB. Specializing in the repertoire of the Romantic period, he has also championed the work of Brazilian composers. He has performed with orchestras throughout the Americas and worldwide, and given recitals in Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Korea, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the U.S. Honors accorded him include a grant from the Henry Cowell Incentive Fund at the American Music Center (NY) to record works by the composer, and a Challenge America Fast-Track Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. A Steinway Artist, he has recorded several CD’s for Eroica Records, receiving high praise from American Record Guide, BBC Magazine, and Gramaphone Magazine, with forthcoming projects on the Naxos Grand Piano and Quartz labels. Dr. Gallo is Associate Professor at Georgia State University, Atlanta, and is appointed to the affiliated artist staff of the Rocky Ridge Music Academy in Estes Park, Colorado. Further information can be found on his website: www.drsergiogallo.com.
