American pianist to perform at Manoel

The first part of the recital begins with Himy’s own arrangement of Gershwin’s popular An American in Paris and Three Preludes written two years earlier in 1926.

In between these two works music by Debussy will be performed, namely La plus que lente, Valse pour piano and Golliwog’s cakewalk. Debussy’s music too will close the first part with La fille au cheveux de lin and L’isle joyeuse. Himy will dedicate the second part of his recital to music by Chopin and Liszt.

his is to mark the second centenary last year of the former’s birth and that one this year of the latter’s. Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu in C  minor, Op. 66, Mazurka Op. 50, N.2 and the Polonaise Heroïque in A flat Op.53 will be performed. These will be followed by the recital’s closing works, namely Liszt’s Liebesträume and the Hungarian Rhapsody N. 2 in an arrangement by Horowitz and Himy.

Himy is a graduate of the prestigious Juilliard School of New York where he studied with Thomas Schumacher, Josef Villa and Adele Marcus. He had started piano lesson aged six, gave his first recital at the age of 10 and at 15 was guest soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Four years later he made his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra under Hugh Wolf. He went on to win several prizes, such as the Gold Medal in the 1988 World Piano Competition (Cincinnati), the Kosciuszko Chopin Prize (New York) and top honours in the 1991 Miloš Magin International Competition (Paris).

Described by the New York Times as “flawlessly poised with elegance and brilliance”, Himy has several CDs to his credit, including a highly acclaimed ones of music by Debussy and Greshwin. His technique and other musical attributes earned him the epithet of “sensual gourmand of sound” by the 2007 Revue musicale de la Suisse Romande while the Washington Post wrote of his “enchanting audiences with his inspired playing matching the brilliance, boldness and unequalled genius inherent in Ravel’s music.” One of his recitals in Paris was seen as one of “dazzling vision which equalled and at times even surpassed some of the more famous interpretations.”

Himy has performed widely all over the USA, in several South American countries, in France, Spain, Italy, Monaco, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Russia and as well as in Egypt and Morocco. In 2008, the Bernstein family invited him to perform during a special gala marking the 90th anniversary of the composer’s birth during the Lukas Moss Music Festival in the Hamptons, USA. Last year, Himy took part in the Marienbad Chopin Festival in the Czech Republic which marked the composer’s birth bicentennial.
 
Booking: [email protected], tel. 2124 6389, fax: 2124 7451
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