Performer
Sergei Babayan, Piano

Carnegie Hall audiences last heard Sergei Babayan in jaw-dropping concerts with his protégé, Daniil Trifonov. The veteran pianist returns in a recital comprising some of his most-celebrated repertoire. It begins with Liszt’s second ballade, as notable for its aching restraint as its thunderous eruptions; short piano works by Rachmaninoff, a composer especially close to Babayan’s heart; and a fantasia by Vladimir Ryabov, which, after a recent performance by Babayan, was called “the most startling discovery of the evening … something strikingly novel” (Bachtrack). The second half of the concert takes on a softer tone, with Schubert’s serene Piano Sonata in G Major bookended by Liszt’s piano transcriptions of songs by Schubert.

Program
LISZT Ballade No. 2 in B Minor
VLADIMIR RYABOV Fantasia in C Minor
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in E-flat Minor, Op. 39, No. 5
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in C Minor, Op. 39, No. 1
RACHMANINOFF Allegretto in E-flat Minor from Moments musicaux, Op. 16, No. 2
RACHMANINOFF Maestoso in C Major from Moments musicaux, Op. 16, No. 6
LISZT “Der Müller und der Bach” from Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert
SCHUBERT Piano Sonata in G Major, D. 894
LISZT “Erlkönig,” S. 558, No. 4, from 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert