FROM DAWN TO DARKEST NIGHT . . .
"The piano vanishes and music appears" was how German poet Heinrich Heine described the playing of Franz Liszt. In "From Dawn to Darkest Night..." Roberta Swedien ends her musical saga of a day or perhaps a lifetime with the hair-raising 'Funerailles' by Liszt; the stage in darkness, only her silhouette visible.
The program starts in the dim light of early dawn with the words of Pablo Casals and the music of J.S. Bach, then after a high noon story of Beethoven improvising in Vienna, she performs his rarely heard Op. 77 'Fantasia'. The wild and virtuosic 'Toccata' by Prokoviev is next and finally we reach the evening dusk and autumn memories with words of Jean Cocteau and the music of Debussy - before the night is upon us . . .
“She unleashed a sound raging with a power and instinctual drive that were unforgettable.”