The Art of Recital Programming: A History of the Development of Solo Piano Recitals with a Comparison of Golden Age and Modern-Day Concert Programs at Carnegie Hall

Abstract

ABSTRACT The art of recital programming is a never-ending discovery, and rediscovery of hidden gems. Many things go in and out of fashion, but the core composers and repertoire played on piano recitals have remained the same. From antiquity to the twenty-first century, pianists have access to over tens of thousands original and arranged works for the keyboard, yet less than one-tenth of them are considered to be in the standard performance canon. From this, a fascinating question forms: why are pianists limiting themselves to such narrow repertoire? Many noted pianists of the twentieth and twenty-first century specialize in a certain composer or style. This is not to say that concert pianists are not playing other works. The typical programming of the “tour of styles” is so prevalent that within the last hundred years, the structure wavered little from the standard Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann set with their recitals. My research concentrates on iconic pianists from two eras: the Golden Age and the twenty-first century. Because of its prestigious position in the classical performance world, this study will focus on solo recitals performed at Carnegie Hall. Since 1891, countless performances have been presented in the hall and it is still considered one of the most sought-after venues for concert pianists. Through the analysis of pianists and their repertoire from the Golden Age and modern-day, I demonstrate what has and has not changed in over a century of recital programming. The increasing specialization of one composer or style contributes to the mundane state of most modern day piano recitals. By tracing the evolution of the recital and examining iconic musicians’ repertoire choices, student-pianists of the twenty-first century could draw inspiration and bring back some of the lightness and charm from the Golden Age.