A concert as part of the PANTOPIA FESTIVAL Vol. 03 – Neues Erinnern

Program

Sara Glojnarić: Latitudes (2020)

Sergei Zagny: Sonata (1990)

Rebecca Saunders: Shadow (2013)

Magdalena Cerezo says the following about the individual pieces, their meaning and interpretation:

Latitudes – “Latitudes is a piano solo piece reflecting on the intensity of long-distance endurance training. The rigorous nature of the piece sets the player up against an almost grotesque level of virtuosity in which they are bench-marking their technical excellence in a controlled environment. Slight errors kick the player out of the in-ear metric raster, and there are only a few places to breathe. As with any endurance training, the results are more successful when executed consistently and effectively with the least effort.”

Sonata – “To me, this is about artificial intelligence trying to learn human emotions and behaviours, mostly through imitation and constant repetition. The harmony is absolutely “classical”, yet there is always something mechanical about it, so from my point of view the performer should avoid using the usual agogics of the piano language in particular, in order to bring out the true compositional qualities of the piece, so to speak.”

Shadow – “I have been playing Shadow since 2016 and I am still quite fascinated by how from such a seemingly “sound-centric” composition, a performative piece can emerge. The connection between the physicality of the player and the actual production of the sound is very close, also from a dramaturgical perspective. That’s where the numerous quite abrupt changes between long fermatas and wild cluster episodes play an important role: a choreography emerges from this.”