JS Bach French Overture BWV 831
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op.109
Maurice Ravel Gaspard de la nuit
JS Bach arr. Busoni Chaconne in D Minor BWV 1004

Michael Houstoun, iconic Kiwi pianist, returns to Christchurch's The Piano to present a programme of masterpieces from the solo piano repertoire. His ‘Music To Defy Time’ programme features Bach’s French Overture, a collection of Baroque dances, followed by Beethoven’s magnificent Sonata in E, Op.109, a spiritual document of great beauty and power. In the second half Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit brings his peerless understanding of the piano’s technical potential together with an exquisite poetic sensibility. The concert closes with the best of all the Bach transcriptions, Busoni’s faithful realization of the great Chaconne for unaccompanied violin, in which the glory of a concert grand piano is fully explored and presented.