On Sunday 23rd July, Dubai Opera will welcome pianist Alessandro Taverna (Italy) for a special recital presented by SAMIT Event Group as part of the VIP Classical concert series.

Organised under the auspices of the Embassy of Italy in the United Arab Emirates, the evening will open with Frédéric Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante, before Taverna presents a rendition of Alexey Shor’s Piano Sonata No. 1, a three-movement piece composed in 2019 displaying a stunning combination of mellifluous tonality and technical brilliance.

Next comes a piano transcription of Isolde’s final aria ‘Mild und leise’, from Richard Wagner’s famous 1865 opera Tristan und Isolde, which was prepared by Wagner’s father-in-law, Franz Liszt, in 1867.

This is followed by another opera-inspired work from Liszt, namely his Paraphrase de concert sur Rigoletto, a glittering virtuoso work that draws upon three themes found in Giuseppe Verdi’s 1851 opera, Rigoletto.

After, the recital turns to the Études-Tableaux, from Sergei Rachmaninoff, with Taverna presenting the Nos 1-6, and No. 9, before the evening is brought to a close with George Gershwin’s lively 1924 work, Rhapsody in Blue, a popular piece that combines elements of classical music with jazz influences, widely hailed as a key composition of the Jazz Age.