Pro Musica Hebraica ended its seventh season in the packed Kennedy Center Concert Hall with a moving evening of music and poetry, both rendered exquisite by pianist and lover of Yiddish poetry, Evgeny Kissin. Of note is the collaboration with The Kennedy Center with this presentation in the packed Concert. Kissin did not “perform” or “recite” — each note and word seemed to come directly from his soul. There was not a page-turner or cheat sheet in sight.
The pieces selected by Kissin were drawn from the Jewish cultural renaissance in eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century prior to the institution of Stalin’s pogroms. Pro Musica Hebraica has, as one of its goals, the presentation of works seldom heard, especially in the United States. In fact, except for the ‘Piano Sonata, Op. 40” by Ernest Bloch, none of the evening’s four piano pieces had ever been given in concert performance in the United States and rarely anywhere since 1935.
Continue Reading A moving evening of music and poetry on DC Metro Theater Arts