Gabriele Strata

Creating a concert program is a delicate process of “composition.” This is demonstrated by the recital in Bologna by Gabriele Strata, a 26-year-old from Padua, winner of the Rio de Janeiro and Montréal competitions, who recently performed at London’s Wigmore Hall. The structure of the concert rests on four pillars formed by Chopin’s piano music: the four Mazurkas, Op. 30, a carefully selected set of Preludes, Op. 28, and two monumental works: the Sonata, Op. 35, and the Polonaise, Op. 44. Within these historic Chopinian genres, Strata identifies three possible “contemporary” resonances: the Mazurka by Thomas Adès, the Preludes by Giacinto Scelsi, and George Crumb’s two Makrokosmos.