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FREDERICK HISTORICAL PIANO COLLECTION

A House Concert 
at the
Historical Piano Study Center
30 Main Street, Ashburnham, MA, 01430

Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 7:30 pm


Amira Acre, piano    Amira Acre, piano


Sonata in D, Op.10 No.3 (1798)
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
1. Presto
2. Largo e mesto
3. Menuetto: Allegro
4. Rondo: Allegro
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Sonata in f, Op. 57 “Appassionata” (1804-5)

Beethoven

1. Allegro assai, Piu allegro
2. Andante con moto
3. Allegro ma non troppo
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Sonata No. 20 in A, D. 959  (1828)
 
Franz Peter Schubert
(1797-1828)

1. Allegro
2. Andantino
3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace
4. Rondo: Allegretto

About the Pianos
The c.1805-1810 Katholnig piano, with its six octave range, FF to f 4, shows how quickly pianos at this time were growing larger and louder. It represents the last kind of piano tone Beethoven would have been able to hear clearly as his deafness worsened. Like the “Unsigned” piano, c.1795, it has ebony natural keys, and white sharps. Purchased from Count Manfred von Schönborn, whose wife was an Eszterházy, this piano is reputed to have been part of the entailed estate at the Eszterházy palace at Eisenstadt. It was almost certainly played by composer-pianist Hummel (former child prodigy pupil of Mozart and of Clementi), court music master there from 1804 to 1811, as successor to Haydn. Hummel may even have chosen the piano at the shop. The Katholnig piano’s four wooden pedals are, left to right, una corda, bassoon stop, moderator, and damper. The “bassoon” stop placed paper against the bass strings for a buzzing effect in a kind of popular music. (It has been temporarily removed.) The moderator works like the one on the “Unsigned” piano, c.1795.

All pianos played in the concerts are from The Frederick Collection.
The Historical Piano Study Center, 30 Main Street, Ashburnham, MA, 01430. The building is wheelchair accessible.

About the Musician
A native of Montreal, Amira Acre began her piano studies at age three. At four she had her first professional engagement on radio, and at age five she won her first piano competition.  She studied with Abbey Simon at the Juilliard School, in New York City, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees, and later returned to the US to earn her doctorate in piano performance at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In Canada, she taught and performed both solo and chamber music. In both nations her concerts have been well received: "This is a pianist who adores the instrument and who demands we listen to her ideas... a real talent and a name to remember." (The Montreal Gazette) "Expertise and grace... Deftly illuminating interpretations and quite exciting". (NY Times)

She has received many scholarships and awards including three Canada Council Grants, and Fellowships to Tanglewood, Fountainebleau, and Banff. She was awarded full tuition scholarships at Juilliard from the William Petschek Piano Fund, and has won scholarships from La Fondation des Amies de l'Art.  She received first prize at the Artists International Auditions in New York and was a winner of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra competition.

Ms. Acre gave her New York debut in 1984 at Carnegie Recital Hall, which led to many engagements across Canada and the United States. She has performed in France, England, Belgium, Italy and other European countries. Besides performing internationally as a solo artist, Ms. Acre, a distinguished chamber musician, has performed in that role numerous times at Lincoln Center in New York City as well as in many music festivals in North America and Europe.

After being focused on music from age three, she turned her focus to raising her two surviving triplet daughters and her younger son. She is now happily returning to her career and sharing her love for the piano.

Amira’s playing can be heard online with several performances posted on YouTube, including the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2, recorded at Jordan Hall in Boston; also Liszt’s b-minor Sonata with our 1846 Streicher piano, and Ravel’s Jeux d’eau on our 1877 Erard, recorded during our concerts.

Her third performance on our Historical Piano Concerts series will open the Fall 2017 season on September 3rd. She will be repeating today’s program, but playing our Tröndlin piano of Leipzig, made about 1830 – a significantly different instrument from the Katholnig.

Amira resides outside of Boston with her children and Jace, a shepadoodle.

About the House Concerts
Our House Concerts are fundraising events, to help defray such annual expenses as replacing slate tiles on the roof, insuring the pianos, etc. Admission to the concerts is by freewill donation. Any amount is most welcome, and all donations to our 501(c)(3) organization, Historical Piano Concerts, Inc., are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged in writing for your tax records.

Seating is very limited, and announcements are sometimes on very short notice. If you are interested in attending (or simply being informed by email about) an upcoming house concert it is necessary to contact the Fredericks by phone or email. See the Contact Page for details.

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