Lewisburg, WV (WVDN) – Carnegie Hall’s Classics Series is a three-concert series hosted by Steinway “Legend” and Lewisburg resident Barbara Nissman, designed to introduce classical music and Carnegie Hall to new audiences, as well as inspire and entertain current classical music enthusiasts. The Classics Series third season kicks off celebrating Franz Liszt, Superstar! on Saturday, October 26, at 7 p.m. in the Hamilton Auditorium.
Barbara kicks off her series with Franz Liszt: Superstar! Liszt certainly qualifies as our very first “rock star.” He was a 19th century version of Elvis Presley with women swooning, fainting and tearing at his clothes even before he played a note on the piano. And what a virtuoso he was at the instrument! Nobody could play the piano better than the great Franz Liszt. Barbara introduces us to her favorite “friend” as she shares the secret of his greatness and stardom. You won’t want to miss this fun evening.
Steinway “legend” and recent 2023 West Virginia Music Hall of Fame inductee, Nissman invites the listener to travel with her to explore the composers’ world. She makes listening easy and music meaningful, and she shares her joy and passion for her composer “friends” and their great music with all of us. No education is required— just a set of ears to listen and an open heart to receive the joys of music!
“What a joy for me to return for another season of great music performed on the beautiful Steinway at our wonderful Carnegie Hall,” exclaims Nissman. “With this series we are expanding the audience for classical music, and it is so gratifying for me to share with my community the music that I love so much. We all need more joy in our lives these days, and music has the power to transport us into a magical world.”
Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most prolific and influential composers of his era, and his piano works continue to be widely performed and recorded.
Liszt gained renown during the 1830s for his skill as a pianist. Regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the time, he toured Europe during the 1830s and 1840s, often playing for charity. In these years, Liszt developed a reputation for his powerful performances as well as his physical attractiveness. In a phenomenon dubbed “Lisztomania”, he rose to a degree of stardom and popularity among the public not experienced by the virtuosos who preceded him.
During this period and into his later life, Liszt was a friend, musical promoter and benefactor to many composers of his time, including Hector Berlioz, Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Richard Wagner, among others. Alongside Wagner, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the New German School, a progressive group of composers involved in the “War of the Romantics” who developed ideas of programmatic music and harmonic experimentation.
Liszt taught piano performance to hundreds of students throughout his life, many of whom went on to become notable performers. He left behind an extensive and diverse body of work that influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated 20th-century ideas and trends. Among Liszt’s musical contributions were the concept of the symphonic poem, innovations in thematic transformation and impressionism in music, and the invention of the masterclass as a method of teaching performance. In a radical departure from his earlier compositional styles, many of Liszt’s later works also feature experiments in atonality, foreshadowing developments in 20th-century classical music.
Barbara Nissman is an internationally renowned concert pianist and since 1989 has been a West Virginian “by choice,” residing on a farm in Greenbrier County. Hailed as “one of the last pianists in the grand Romantic tradition of Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Rubinstein,” Nissman has performed as soloist with some of the world’s leading orchestras. and has worked with some of the major conductors of our time. Inducted into the inaugural class of Steinway Legends chosen from more than a century of Steinway Artists, Nissman is regarded as one of the world’s great concert pianists. With a mission to bring her passion and joy to audiences around the world, Nissman continues to inspire and uplift people through her music.
In 2014 she formed her own record label, Three Oranges Recordings (threeorangesrecordings.com) that now includes a discography of over 30 recordings with many more projected for the future. In 2017 the Three Oranges Foundation was established to further its mission of making classical music accessible to a wider audience and to promote Barbara’s various educational projects including a series of educational video master classes.
For more information on Barbara Nissman please visit www.barbaranissman.com.
Tickets are $25/adults and $20/students. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.carnegiehallwv.org, call 304.645-7917, or stop by 611 Church Street, Lewisburg, WV.
The Carnegie Classics Series is made possible with support from the James F.B. Peyton Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts and the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. Additional funding is also provided by Eugene and Annie Jeffus.
Carnegie Hall WV is a nonprofit organization supported by individual contributions, grants, and fundraising efforts such as TOOT and The Carnegie Hall Gala.
