Musical Perspective

The solo recital by one of Estonia’s most highly regarded pianists, Sten Heinoja, at the Arvo Pärt Centre stands out for its thoughtfully designed programme, which is anything but stereotypical, delicately intertwining elegant virtuosity with enchanting simplicity.

Baroque brilliance and splendour are provided by the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, which the Italian poet Gabriele d’Annunzio compared to a shower of ringing pearls released from a broken necklace, as well as by Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Gavotte et six doubles”, considered the crown jewel of his harpsichord works. In it, the main theme gains ever greater rhythmic energy and ornamentation, culminating in a breathtaking display of technical fireworks.

In contrast, early works by composers of a very different style are also featured — Arvo Pärt’s neoclassical Partita, composed during his conservatory studies, where old musical forms meet an atonal musical language, and the short piano pieces of the distinctive French composer Erik Satie, filled with simplicity, quiet introspection, and timeless serenity.

Programme

Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757)
– Keyboard Sonata in D major, K. 119
– Keyboard Sonata in G major, K. 13

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764)
– “Gavotte et six doubles”

Arvo Pärt (1935)
– Partita (1958)

Erik Satie (1866–1925)
– “Trois Gymnopédies”