Daniel Penfield via Wikimedia Commons

Since 2000, the Horowitz Piano Series has brought some of the world’s finest pianists to Yale’s Morse Recital Hall, preserving the art of the piano recital at a time when such performances are becoming increasingly rare. 

According to Boris Berman, the artistic director of the Horowitz series, the series is the only of its kind in the country dedicated exclusively to piano recitals. 

“There used to be a time when there were piano recitals everywhere. They kind of vanished, and we are hopefully holding the fort,” he said. 

For over 20 years, the series has brought some of the world’s most celebrated pianists to Morse Recital Hall, including Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia and Emanual Ax.

The concert series’ ability to invite globally acclaimed pianists is largely due to the esteem of faculty and the reputation the series has built since its inception.  

“It helps that I or some of my colleagues know many of these pianists personally. We respect them, and they respect us,” Berman said. 

The upcoming half of the season will feature recitals from faculty artists Wei-Yi Yang MUS ’04, Melvin Chen ’91 and Berman. In addition to regular faculty performers, the series will welcome two distinguished guests: Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon and renowned virtuoso Yefim Bronfman. 

Bronfman is currently one of the most acclaimed pianists in the world, sought out by leading concert venues and prestigious music festivals. Since his Carnegie Hall debut in 1989, he has commanded audiences with his beautiful lyricism and irreplicable technique. 

The first concert of the year is scheduled for Jan. 29, where Bronfman will perform a lively Mozart piano sonata, the second set of Debussy’s vividly evocative “Images,” and Tchaikovsky’s often-critiqued and certainly underperformed Grand Piano Sonata in G Major. In April, Bronfman will deliver the same program to a New York audience in Carnegie Hall. 

Following this diverse, period-spanning program, Yang will perform on Feb. 12 with a recital dedicated to the enigmatic French composer Ravel. The program demonstrates the versatility and breadth of Ravel’s repertoire, blending his affinity to classical structure aesthetics and use of impressionist harmonies.  

For pianist Lyndon Ji ’16 MUS ’29, a current student of Yang, what makes the Horowitz Series such a treasure is not the guest artists but the faculty concerts. According to Ji, the big names will sell out the most prestigious venues, but these halls aren’t always the most generous to the quality of sound. 

“[Morse Recital Hall] lends itself to a nice balance between the intimacy and details you would get in and having the acoustics and nice reverberations of a larger space,” he said. 

Ji believes that because of their experience in the hall, the faculty understand the piano and the space better than the guest artists, which allows for more powerful performances. 

“It’s very inspiring to see what’s possible for these pedagogues even with teaching responsibilities, that they’re still able to perform at that level,” he said.  

Ji remembers being completely blown away as an undergraduate when he heard Yang perform for the first time. This experience, he said, heavily influenced his connection with music. 

Yang, who studied at Yale and joined the faculty in 2005, has always played in these concerts with great pride, partly due to the lifelong impact a moving performance can have on its listeners. 

“It’s a serious undertaking to play in front of the audience, some of whom I know, the students, colleagues, and the local audience who are very faithful to this series. So, I always try to do my best in my preparation each time I offer a performance on campus,” said Yang. 

Yang decided on the program last summer when he was performing at a music festival in France. He realized that a recital celebrating Ravel’s 150th birthday would be a lovely homage to his ingenious writing.

In preparation for the concert, Yang has been listening to the late composer’s orchestral works such as Daphne and Chloe and selected vocal music.

“I find these works very curious and inspirational, just in terms of the breadth of his imagination in sound and texture,” he said. Additionally, he has been revisiting “The Art of French Piano Music” by Roy Howat to inform his playing. 

Two weeks later, Chen will perform a recital with an undetermined program, followed by Várjon’s April 16 performance, which will include Bach’s first Partita, the late Beethoven Sonata op.109, Brahms Seven Fantasien, op.116, and Bartók’s Dance Suite. 

To close out the season, Berman will perform on May 7 to make up for a concert he was forced to reschedule in the fall due to a finger injury. The program includes four masterful Schubert Impromptus, op.142, and three works by Debussy. 

Subscriptions for the series start at $109, $87 for faculty and staff and $51 for students.

ORION KIM
Orion Kim covers admissions, financial aid and the School of Music. He is a freshman in Ezra Stiles College from St. Paul, Minnesota, majoring in Ethics, Politics and Economics.