Italian virtuoso Maurizio Baglini will play movements by Liszt and Mozart for the Emily Anderson Memorial Concert next Thursday, October 10.
The pianist is headlining the event at the Emily Anderson Concert Hall in University of Galway’s Quadrangle at 7.30pm, prefaced by a talk by the college’s Head of Music, Dr Aidan Thomson.
Emily Anderson (1891-1962 ), one of the most intriguing alumnae of the University of Galway, is commemorated annually with a concert presented by Music for Galway in partnership with the university.
As daughter of the then president of the university, Alexander Anderson, Emily was brought up in the Quad. Dr Thompson will give a short talk and this will be followed by Maurizio Baglini’s performance of two pieces: The first is Beethoven’s elegant and succinct Piano Sonata Number 13, then the programme features a unique opportunity to hear Liszt’s flamboyant transcription of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Baglini is among the few virtuosos in the world who perform “Beethoven’s Ninith” as the transcendental piano transcription by Liszt. Since 2008 he has been invited to perform this whirling masterpiece in Rome, Milan, Cremona, Paris, Munich, Tel Aviv, Beirut, and Rio de Janeiro, and in 2020 he exceeded the record of one hundred performances.
Emily Anderson appeared on the radar of Music for Galway nearly a quarter of a century ago. This, because of the fact that she collected, deciphered, edited and translated the full correspondence of Mozart, and years later of Beethoven. By doing so, she opened a priceless window into the hearts and minds of these composers for musicians, academics, writers, film makers and music lovers of the English-speaking world.
There was, however, much more behind the life of this remarkable personality. Jackie Uí Chionna’s biography Queen of Codes tells Emily’s life as part of the earliest British code breaking units set up in WWI and subsequently of her work in the same field during WWII.
Tickets €18/22 from www.musicforgalway.ie