Mark Gasser
English Concert Pianist
Sunday August 17, 2008
2:00pm and 7:30pm
St Matthew's Church, Kiewa Street, Albury
Book at Albury Convention Centre
Reserved numbered seating available.
Phone (02) 6051 3051
Each recital: Adult $25 Conc. $20 u18 $15
Ticket prices includes a program and light refreshments
2:00pm recital
On Sunday afternoon Mark will play a mixed program of Classical and Romantic favourites, including two stunning virtuoso works by Maurice Ravel. This will be the perfect opportunity to hear the magnificent Stuart Piano in the hands of an internationally renowned virtuoso performer.
- Ravel: La Valse
- Mozart: Sonata in C Major K545
- Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit: Ondine - Le Gibet - Scarbo
- Schubert: F Minor Fantasy (4 hands with Sarah Regan)
- Liszt: Isolde's Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
7:30pm recital
The same evening Mark will present a rare performance of what many consider to be the greatest piano work of the 20th Century - Olivier Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus. Twenty short pieces totalling almost two hours of the most astonishing and original keyboard writing ever conceived.
Written during WWII, each piece describes a contemplation on the birth of Jesus by such diverse entities as God, The Star, The Virgin, The Cross, The Spirit of Joy, Time and The Angels. The music uses a harmonic and rhythmic language that is unique to Messiaen. Often written on four staves to accommodate all the notes, it evokes a feeling of rapture, mystery, overwhelming power and transcendent beauty that is utterly unlike anything else in Western Music.
In the anniversary year of the composer's birth this rare live performance may be your only chance to ever experience this music in concert, played by one of the world's leading virtuoso pianists.
Biography
Mark Gasser is a Fellow of both the Birmingham Conservatoire and Royal Academy of Music. He studied under John Humphreys, Frank Wibaut, Alfred Brendel and Peter Donohoe. He plays both large scale standard piano literature as well as broadcasting and recording on five continents. He is recognized as having a dramatic affinity for the Viennese Classics (Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert in particular) as well as Ferruccio Busoni and Rachmaninoff and, perhaps most notably, the French Impressionists Debussy and Ravel.
In London in 1997, alongside Peter Donohoe, Dmitri Alexeev, Boris Berezovsky and Nikolai Demidenko, Mark Gasser played at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a 60th Anniversary Gala tribute to legendary British virtuoso John Ogdon.
His repertoire is vast, ranging from the Goldberg Variations of Johann Sebastian Bach to a concerto repertoire of over 70 different works. Gasser is also closely associated with many contemporary composers, and has premiered or recorded many compositions by living and 20th century composers. Shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 he performed a charity concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Gasser has performed in many of the world's leading concert halls and has been a soloist with leading Symphony Orchestras worldwide. He was Bösendorfer Artist of the Year in 2002 and has in recent years performed a great deal on the Australian made Stuart and Sons pianos. He is currently on the staff at Central Queensland University in Mackay.
Sponsorship
Sunday Recital concerts are run for the benefit of the local community, engaging world class musicians to perform at St Matthews Church in Albury. Businesses or individuals wishing to support classical music at the highest level through program advertisements or by direct donation towards concert expenses are invited to contact the promoter, Gregory Lewis, at gregory_m_lewis@hotmail.com.