“From the fiery beginning of the Allegro movement of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D (Op. 70, No. 1), pianist Nadia Shpachenko’s brilliant clarity and pearly trills set the tone for the velvety sound of cellist Matthew Johnson and the lyrical violin of Tobias Steyman.”
“From the fiery beginning of the Allegro movement of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D (Op. 70, No. 1), pianist Nadia Shpachenko’s brilliant clarity and pearly trills set the tone for the velvety sound of cellist Matthew Johnson and the lyrical violin of Tobias Steyman.”
“When one of Washington’s leading art museums, The Phillips Collection, opened the much heralded exhibit “Modigliani: Beyond The Myth” on February 26, it scheduled a “lecture-recital” for the following day, titled “Music and Modigliani” and featuring pianist Nadia Shpachenko. Phillips is known for its modern art exhibits, as well as its concert series, but this coupling of the two art forms was a first for the museum, as its music program director told the audience in introducing the Ukrainian-born pianist... Ms. Shpachenko prepared a program of piano pieces by composers who were part of the circle of musicians, writers and artists in the Montparnasse area of Paris, where the Italian-born artist Amedeo Modigliani, the quintessential bohemian artist in early 20th century Paris, was known as “The Prince of Montparnasse.”
“When one of Washington’s leading art museums, The Phillips Collection, opened the much heralded exhibit “Modigliani: Beyond The Myth” on February 26, it scheduled a “lecture-recital” for the following day, titled “Music and Modigliani” and featuring pianist Nadia Shpachenko. Phillips is known for its modern art exhibits, as well as its concert series, but this coupling of the two art forms was a first for the museum, as its music program director told the audience in introducing the Ukrainian-born pianist. Ms. Shpachenko prepared a program of piano pieces by composers who were part of the circle of musicians, writers and artists in the Montparnasse area of Paris, where the Italian-born artist Amedeo Modigliani, the quintessential bohemian artist in early 20th century Paris, was known as “The Prince of Montparnasse.” As Ms. Shpachenko explained in the “lecture” introductions to the music selections, they were modern, light pieces, the kind that this group of artists would hear at concerts or while they dined and drank late into the night in the local clubs and restaurants in Montparnasse. On the program were “Cold Pieces,” “Truly Flacid Preludes (for a dog),” and “Three Distinguished Waltzes of a Jaded Dandy” by Erik Satie, who, along with Jean Cocteau, was a dominant force in the avant-garde music scene in Paris, Darius Milhaud’s suite of dances “Nostalgia for Brazil” and a tango from his “The Ox on the Roof,” as well as pieces by Francis Poulenc and other composers of that period.”