04-10-19 | Songs for Listening | Shai Wosner
Pianist Shai Wosner picked the playlist for Wednesday, April 10 at Songs for Listening. Shai has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire — from Beethoven and Schubert to Ligeti and Missy Mazzoli — reflect a degree of virtuosity and intellectual curiosity that has made him a favorite among audiences and critics; NPR accurately noted his “keen musical mind and deep musical soul”.
Shai has recently been performing a massive new recital program, Schubert: The Great Sonatas, which continues his career-long engagement with the composer’s music. The series comprises Schubert’s last six piano sonatas played over multiple concerts — he's performed the program at the 92nd Street Y, the Phillips Collection, and Duke Performances. His latest solo recording from Onyx Classics, Impromptu, features an idiosyncratic mix of improvisationally inspired works from Beethoven to Ives.
In addition to 'Impromptu, Shai's recordings for Onyx include concertos and capriccios by Haydn and Ligeti with the Danish National Symphony; solo works by Brahms and Schoenberg; works by Schubert paired with new commissions from Missy Mazzoli; and Beethoven’s complete sonatas and variations for cello and piano with Ralph Kirshbaum.
Shai is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. For several consecutive summers, he was involved in the West-Eastern Divan Workshop led by Daniel Barenboim and toured as soloist w/ the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Born in Israel, Wosner studied piano with Emanuel Krasovsky, as well as composition, theory, and improvisation with André Hajdu, and at Juilliard with Emanuel Ax.
'Mass in E-flat, D. 950, Mvt II. Gloria' by Schubert, performed the Bayerische Rundfunk Choir & Symphony, conducted by Walfgang Sawallisch
'Violin Sonata Op. 13, Mvt II' by Faure, performed by Alfred Corot & Jacques Thibaud
'Nichtigall, Op. 97' by Brahms, performed by Victoria de los Angeles
'Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op. 44' by Chopin, performed by Arthur Rubinstein
'Messe de Notre-Dame, Mvt II. Kyrie' by Guillaume de Machaut, performed by Ensemble Organum
