Michael Houstoun

No musician is more popular in Waikanae than Michael Houstoun, so we are delighted to welcome him again with another of his appealing and well-crafted programmes.

The Fantasy and Fugue in G minor, one of the most magnificent of Bach’s organ works, will be heard here transcribed by Liszt for piano. Liszt, the leading musical figure of his generation, was very generous in transcribing and performing the works of other composers in order to promote their music, aiming to encourage appreciation and performance of music by composers who at that time were often under-appreciated. Liszt’s transcription is very faithful to Bach’s original, miraculously capturing the grandeur and richness of this magnificent work.

The programme continues with a selection of Liszt’s own works, displaying contrasted facets of this complex composer’s skill, ranging from the colourful and extroverted Concert Etudes to the deeply contemplative Bénédiction.

Chinese composer Gao Ping has very strong connections with New Zealand. His “Outside the Window”, a set of three short pieces, provides a charming interlude before we return to the music of the romantics with Chopin’s famous and very beautiful Sonata in B minor.