Creativity of encyclopedic proportions, which began its journey of recognition and affirmation only after the composer's death, reached our days during the centuries in which it was rediscovered, listed, transcribed and printed, and interpreted. During his lifetime, Johann Sebastian Bach was famous first and foremost as an unsurpassed harpsichordist and harpsichordist, and after his death as a composer of marvelous genius. , still finding its way back to performers and listeners. In this renaissance of Bach's work, which began already after his death, and reached one of its peaks in the 19th century, led by Mendelssohn, a number of composers and pianists participated, who recognized and spread awareness of the values ​​of Bach's works. One of them was Aleksandar Siloti, a Russian pianist and conductor, one of the most influential participants in the musical life of Russia, and after his emigration in 1918, Europe and the USA, performing and promoting the works of contemporary composers, as well as early ones, such as Bach and Vivaldi. He left behind about 200 transcriptions, among which perhaps the most famous is Bach's Prelude in B minor, based on the original Prelude and Fugue in E minor BWV 855, from the Well-tuned Piano (1722). In Siloti's transcription, an uninterrupted series of sixteenth-note figurations is transferred from the original left to the right hand, with a gentle accompaniment of arpeggios in the left and an altered harmony that preserves something of the unexpectedness and freshness of Bach's progressions and gives them a soft romantic edge, even more prominent in the reprise, in which a new one is born melody among figures and arpeggios.

One of the most famous transcriptions of JS Bach's works is the transcription of the Chaconne from Partita in D minor for solo violin BWV 1004 by Ferruccio Busoni. Originally, it is a piece that is one of the highlights of the violin repertoire, which shows Bach's breadth of knowledge and interests, because although he himself was primarily a maestro on keyboard instruments, he composes equally well for solo violin, showing the skill of polyphony in the solo part of the violin. It is a form of variations that take place above an unchanged bass line. The movement is the climax of the Second Partita, the longest of all, complex, virtuosic, of astonishing beauty, which attracted many in their attempts to transcribe it for the piano. Ferrucio Busoni's transcription is the most successful, because besides managing to preserve Bach's original, he also manages to bring the music to life in the new medium of the piano, using all the possibilities of this instrument and managing to dress it in a new way with an atmosphere of spectacularity and grandiosity.

Frédéric Chopin's etudes are much more than a study of piano technique: they are at the center of Chopin's magnificent piano work, which, with its ethereal, delicacy and tenderness, and the composer's advanced sense of harmony and intuitive insight into musical form, embodies the very core of romanticism.

A total of 27 of them were published in three parts during the thirties of the 19th century. Due to different specificities, they often received nicknames, by which they became widely known. Etudes op. 25 were created in the period between 1832 and 1836. Schumann described the first etude as "a poem, not a study", coming up with the name Aeolian Harp. The second etude is nicknamed Bees because of the constant buzzing of fast triplets. Etude no. 5 is nicknamed the Crooked Note because of the series of fast, dissonant minor seconds. A quick shift in thirds dominates the Sixth Etude in G minor, hence its simple nickname – Thirds. Etude no. 7 stands out from the others, with a focus on the beauty of tone and phrasing, especially in the left hand, which is why it is nicknamed Cello. No. 10 is called Octave, because it is played in octaves in both hands. The eleventh etude in A minor, sometimes called the Winter Wind, opens with the opening bars of the main melody, soon to develop into lush cascades, gusts of sixteenth-note figures in the right hand, which are like the wind. The last 12th etude of this opus is built on a series of ascending and descending arpeggios in sixteenth-note values, resembling waves, hence the nickname of this etude, Ocean.

Poetic contemplation and descriptions of nature, romantic visions and epic drama, philosophical thought and hectic action, all this and a whole spectrum of technical pianistic peaks were brought by Franz Liszt into one of his most popular works, the cycle of twelve Études d'exécution transcendante S.139, or better known, the Transcendental Etudes, in which he responded to the demands that, as a pianist, could only be made by himself at that time. In these etudes, Liszt was guided by transcendental philosophy

Friedrich Schelling, according to which the absolute of transcendental reality is what exists behind the appearance of the visible world, in which music, painting, poetry and theater are connected in an incomprehensible way. The earliest sketches of the etudes date back to 1826, when Liszt was only fifteen years old, and the final version, in which the etudes were thoroughly reworked, containing all the technical innovations of the most brilliant pianist of the time, with the title d'execution transcendante, dates from 1852. The first etude, Preludio , is a furious introduction to the work, while the second etude, Molto vivace, brings a restless commotion of intertwined blows of two hands, in an uninterrupted conquering the keyboard, with big jumps of the right hand, which is why Ferruccio Busoni subsequently gave her the name Rakete. Etude no. 3, Paysage (Landscape), with its peaceful atmosphere evokes images of the landscape that Liszt is said to have admired while traveling by train. The eighth etude, Wilde Jagd (Wild Hunter) rests on strong chords, fast octave progressions and jumps, which are given the impression of majesty and hunting enthusiasm by a punctuated rhythm. The melancholic melodies of the ninth etude, Ricordanza, are filled with a series of elaborate passages, arpeggios and ornaments that require precise and delicate fingerwork. The tenth etude is Allegro agitato molto, composed again with distinct technical requirements, in sonata form, with an explosive coda, which is why it is sometimes called Appassionata, after Beethoven's sonata. Number eleven, Harmonies du soir (Evening Harmonies), is a study in chromatic harmony, sometimes impressionistic, with a series of enormous technical demands. The twelfth etude of Chasse-neige tells about Liszt's inspiration from nature; the swirl of snowflakes is painted with dense tremolos that accompany the soft melody, slowly leading to a powerful snowstorm climax. The fourth etude, Mazeppa, is not the only composition in Liszt's oeuvre that refers to the life of a historical Ukrainian hero, sung in Byron's work. Mazeppa was sung by many others, among them Pushkin and Hugo, and the latter's song inspired Liszt, who, in addition to the etude, also composed the symphonic poem Mazeppa, which grows out of the etude, whose main theme evokes the gallop of Mazeppa on his horse.

Biography:

"At the age of 19, the Israeli pianist Yoav Levanon already shows tremendous strength and maturity," commented the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the young pianist's impressive performance at the Europa Open Air 2022 in Frankfurt, where he performed Chopin's Second Piano Concerto with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alain Altinoglu. The televised concert was held in front of 25 people in the audience and almost half a million viewers around the world.

After debuts in the Boulez Hall Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Settimane Musicali di Ascona and the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, as well as the Tonhalle Zürich and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, this season he performs again in the prestigious Elbphilharmonie, as well as in the Vienna Konzerthaus. He performed all Franz Liszt's piano concertos with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and recorded for Warner Classics under the direction of Michael Sanderling.

Previous performances include a solo performance at the Martha Argerich Piano Summit at the Château de Elmau, followed by a recital at the Festival Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse and a recital at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.

In early 2021, Yoav Levanon participated in a recording session with Daniel Barenboim, and soon after signed an exclusive recording contract with Warner Classics. His debut album A Monument for Beethoven was released in May 2022 to many excellent reviews.

Yoav Levanon first appeared on stage at the age of 4 and soon won his first National Piano Competition in Israel. A year later, he won a gold medal at the International Piano Competition in the USA and performed on the prestigious stage of Carnegie Hall in New York. He is the winner of a number of prestigious international awards. During 2018, Yoav performed Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the Israel Philharmonic. In 2019, Yoav appeared as one of the youngest pianists ever in the festival history of the renowned Verbier Festival and was hailed as a "discovery".

Yoav Levanon is guided by top piano teachers in Israel and abroad. He had the privilege of working with top pianists such as Murray Perahia and Sir Andras Schiff, at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH arranged by A. SILOTIA: Prelude in B minor (based on Prelude in E minor, BWV 855a)

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH arranged by F. BUSONI: Chaconne (from Partita No. 2 for violin in D minor, BWV 1004)

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN: Etudes, Op. 25

No. 1 Aeolian harp
No. 2 Bees
No. 5 Wrong note
No. 6 Terce
No. 7 Cello
No. 10 Octaves
No. 11 Winter wind
No. 12 Ocean

Pause

FRANZ LISZT: Transcendental etudes, S139

No. 1 Crazy
No. 2 (Molto Vivace)
No. 3 Paysage
No. 8 Wilde Jagd
No. 9 Ricordanza
No. 10 (Allegro agitato molto)
No. 12 Chasse-neige
No. 4 Mazeppa