92Y’s Soundspace season begins with this fresh look at the salon concerts of the 19th century by pianist Jessica Xylina Osborne. In juxtaposing works by Clara Schumann, Agathe Grøndahl and Chopin, we hear the variety of expression common in these intimate concerts, which often included transcriptions — here represented by excerpts from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Selections from Ruth Crawford Seeger’s revolutionary piano preludes precede Messiaen’s “Kiss of the Baby Jesus,” a meditation that is part lullaby, part exultation. Finally, we experience the ecstatic upward journey towards universal fire in Scriabin’s Vers la flamme.

Program
C. Schumann, Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann
Grøndahl, Concert-Etude No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 11
Grøndahl, Sketch No. 4 in A-flat Major, Op. 19
Chopin, Andante Spinato and Grande Polonaise Brilliante in E-flat Major, Op. 22
Wagner/Schiller, Prelude, from Tristan und Isolde
Wagner/Liszt, Isolde’s Liebestod, S. 447
Seeger, selected Preludes
Messiaen, Le baiser de l’Enfant-Jésus, from Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus
Scriabin, Vers la flamme, Op. 72