the palace in downtown waterbury
the palace theater was the location for poets of the piano - a night at the theater. the second concert in this series features music written for the stage, transformed in some way or other to be played on the piano.
one of the great finds i put on this program was a Stephen Hough arrangement of ‘my favorite things’ from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Sound of music. he did three R&H arrangements in the 80’s, and it seems amazing to me that it took a pianist that long to realize the potential. but still they are excellent concert pieces.
it just goes to show that musicians of the past, were far more engaged with the music of their time, than what you might see today. the addition of these R&H pieces, true to the originals but in that virtuoso concert tradition, is invaluable, not only for expanding the repertoire but for reaching the audience in a different way.
somebody asked me after the concert, if it was possible that so many years down the line, we would see virtuoso arrangements of the pop songs of today.. some of that already exists, thinking of Christopher O’Reilly and Coldplay; the artists he mentioned were elton john and billy joel, well billy joel does have an album of piano solos out, published by Schirmer. but who knows. maybe their music will be the transcriptions of the future.
to my surprise the bar at the Palace was open for my concert, and Fiona arranged for a martini to be sent over as soon as i was finished. brava