Tableaux and Miniatures – Music Room Chamber Players Series

Stéphan Sylvestre is back at The Peggy Corkum Music Room on Wednesday, September 23, for Tableaux and Miniatures. It's the opening night of the Music Room Chamber Players Series, presented by the Scotia Festival of Music, and it's a solo piano recital that does exactly what the title suggests: a curated look at miniature forms in the hands of some of the greatest composers. Sylvestre has played the room before, and he's returning to kick off the new season.

The programme is a run of shorter pieces rather than long, sweeping sonatas. He opens with Beethoven's Six Bagatelles, Op. 126, followed by Rachmaninoff's Études-Tableaux, Op. 39. From there, he moves into Debussy's Préludes, Book 1, specifically La cathédrale engloutie—the sunken cathedral—and closes with Brahms' Fantasien, Op. 116. It's a wide stretch of ground, from the lean lines of Beethoven to the lushness of Rachmaninoff and the atmospheric wash of Debussy, all held together by that focus on the smaller, self-contained form.

Sylvestre is one of Canada's finest pianists, and his playing is often described as elegant, with a style that draws comparisons to the great pianists of earlier times. He's a returning face at the Music Room, and this recital is his way of opening the series.

This is the first of 21 concerts in the Music Room Chamber Players Series, which runs from September through May and brings a full season of chamber and classical music to Halifax, featuring a mix of local and visiting performers. The evening is sponsored by several patrons, including an anonymous donor in memory of Walter and Valda Kemp. The concert runs from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Peggy Corkum Music Room, 6181 Lady Hammond Rd, Halifax, NS B3K 2R9.