Inon Barnatan Comes to Den Norske Opera This Month

Inon Barnatan will perform at Den Norske Opera this month. The performance is set for 26 January 2024.

Inon Barnatan is a musician with many talents: solo pianist, chamber musician and curator. When putting on a guest performance at the Oslo Opera House, he will primarily be playing Rachmaninoff.

From Baroque to contemporary 

The American media has acclaimed Barnatan, calling him a “player of uncommon sensitivity” and a “true poet of the keyboard”.  As a soloist, he has performed with most of the major American as well as European orchestras. He frequently performs chamber concerts with such musicians as Renée Fleming and Alisa Weilerstein and is also the music director of the La Jolla Music Society SummerFest in California. His repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary music. 

A natural born Schubertian 

The magazine Gramophone has called Barnatan “a born Schubertian”, so Schubert’s melodious Six Moments Musicaux should be in safe hands. These short piano pieces are among the most frequently played of all Schubert’s piano music. 

Rachmaninoff with and without support 

Rachmaninoff was inspired by Schubert and wrote a piece of the same title. Each of these works is a concert piece in its own right, with individual themes and sentiments. 

Rachmaninoff was also a great admirer of Bach and arranged three of the seven movements from Bach’s Violin Partita in E Major, BWV 1006 for piano. Barnatan treats us to what may very well be dubbed as ‘Bachmaninov’. 

The concert concludes on the other end of the scale, with Barnatan performing his own interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. During the pandemic, Barnatan spent his time at home learning a transcription program. This arrangement is based on a recording in which Rachmaninoff himself is playing, his transcription for two pianos, as well as sections from the orchestral score. 

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