The program offered Vivaldi, of course, but also rediscovered works by two composers of the same period: Gasparini and Chelleri. The artist gave two encores, including Handel’s “Lascia ch’io pianga.” She was very warmly applauded by the audience from Arcachon.
### Elisabeth Leonskaja on Sunday
On Sunday, April 19 in the afternoon, the international pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja gave a brilliant recital that could be titled “From Vienna to Vienna.” After a short and pleasant Mozart sonata, there was a huge contrast with “Six Little Piano Pieces” by Schoenberg: a breakaway music with dissonances and atonality, difficult to listen to. The “Piano Sonata No. 2” by Shostakovich was easier, although sometimes surprisingly composed. After a short break, Schubert’s “Sonata D. 850 – the 2nd Grand Sonata” was a haven of peace and serenity for the spectators.
Photo: Christophe V.
At 80 years old, Elisabeth Leonskaja demonstrates authority, energy, and dexterity completely dedicated to music, without ostentation or self-promotion. As an encore, after the forty-minute Schubert sonata, the pianist played a piece by Debussy.
As part of the festival, at the invitation of the University of Leisure Time of Arcachon (Utlarc), the musicologist Pierre Dumonchau, who had given a listening key on Schoenberg and Shostakovich last Sunday, will present, on Wednesday, April 22 at 3:00 pm at the MA.AT, “The forgotten women of music,” a conference about eight female composers to (re)discover.
