One keyboard, four hands, intermingled. Famously Johann Christian Bach, the eleventh son of Bach, and young Mozart treasured their encounter at the harpsichord together. Later the form of Four-Hand Piano arrangements of the latest symphonies swept the 19th-century Europe’s musical and literary culture with contested popularity. Grand symphonies in private sphere, this intimate yet powerful musical pursuit stirred the imagination of many Romantic novelists from Charles Dickens to Thomas Mann, even philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche sat at the piano and composed actual musical works for piano, four-hands. In this concert, I-Hsuan Cheng & Ling-Ju Lai offer three selections from Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms’s most cherished symphonies. Their passion and craft for this unique genre will transport the audience to experience that unusual historical space and time.

Program:
Bach-Liszt: Prelude & Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543
Schumann-Liszt: Liebeslied, Widmung, S566
Mozart: Overture from The Magic Flute, K 620, arr. by LJLai
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, Allegro molto
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F, Poco Allegretto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Allegro con brio