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Mao Fujita
Mar 16, 2025 — 3:00 PM
Overview
Don’t miss this chance to hear one of today’s fastest-rising stars, as Japanese pianist Mao Fujita celebrates the music of Mozart — whose complete sonatas he recorded — along with pieces by Beethoven and Chopin. “It was obvious from the very beginning,” writes The Guardian of his Wigmore Hall debut, “that he does have something personal and fresh to bring to these works.”
Program
Chopin
Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 28
Mozart
Variations on Ah vous dirai-je, maman, K. 265
Beethoven
32 Variations on an Original Theme in C Minor, WoO 80
Beethoven
Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata)
Rachmaninov
Prelude in D Major, Op. 23, No. 4 [Encore]
Mendelssohn
Songs Without Words in F-sharp Minor, Op. 67, No. 2 [Encore]
Performers
Sponsors & Partners
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.
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Both Mozart and Beethoven are great composers of variations, said pianist Mao Fujita, who will include works by both composers in his SCP debut, but "their approaches are quite different."
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Over time, popular lore has attributed "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to no less than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who used the melody as the basis for his Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je, maman, K. 265 (1785).
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French pianist Alexandre Kantorow’s concert appearances and initial recordings show a special affinity for composers who also figure in his upcoming SCP Piano program: Brahms, Liszt, Bartók and Rachmaninov.
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