Dear friend
Happy Valentine’s Day!
St. Valentine’s Saints’ Day has been associated with the tradition of courtly love since the Middle Ages. Love for beauty, for chivalry, for nobility, essentially an experience between desire and spiritual attainment. I hope you have had time for at least a moment of that.
Although the music choice for this Monday is not of the era nor about love in particular, it touches us with its expression of love and yearning. It is a piece with wonderful colors and virtuosity, belying Rachmaninoff’s youth when he composed it. It is played here by the Hermitage Trio with all the beauty and emotion giving us a glimpse into the human expression of noble love.
We have a particular connection to the Hermitage Trio who will be back in Miami next month. The pianist, Ilya Kazantsev, performed with his duo partner Asiya Korepanova this past Thursday in a brilliant concert that had numerous curtain calls. (We recorded it and are anxious to share it with you.) They gave us all a delightful encore of Chopin’s Minute Waltz, transcribed by Asiya for four hands. Below a cellphone video, which will have to do until we have the professional recording.
Have a wonderful week filled with love.
Warmly,
Gabriele Fiorentino
President,
The Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation
Piano Slam
