Aglaia Koras, piano
Aglaia Koras, piano Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY November 5, 2009
Pianist Aglaia Koras suffered through a car accident on her way to her concert on November 5th, so it wouldn’t be fair to go into detail about technicality, memory or specifics of her program. It must be said, however, that her sold-out, full-house crowd was happy to hear her, and I felt that she gave some of the most thoughtful, touching playing of Beethoven and Chopin I have heard her play. She was the come-back kid, and she should be proud to have had the courage to put on a program that many others would have canceled.
This is her fifth consecutive season sponsored by Mid-America Productions. On March 1st, 2010, Ms. Koras will perform an All-Chopin 200th Birthday Tribute recital at Weill Recital Hall.
Ms. Koras loves Chopin, and it shows; she received a top prize in the International Chopin Young Pianists Competition, and in recent seasons, she was invited to perform an All-Chopin recital in Mexico City.
Ms. Koras has been a frequent performer at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, but she has also performed in a special program for the United States Ambassadors in Washington, DC; in recitals at the Kennedy Center; in programs in Spain, Greece, and Brazil; on the Smithsonian website; and in concerts sponsored by the Curtis Alumni and Leschetizky Associations.
As a prize-winner, she also won the International American Music Scholarship Association Piano Competition; the International Concert Artists Guild Competition’s “Fine Artistry and Musical Excellence Award”; and first prize at the National Young Musicians Foundation and Koszciusko Foundation Competitions, among others.
Resilience and courage were the words of the day, and her show-must-go-on-mentality was very much appreciated by all in attendance. Her tradition of Chopin also goes on at Weill Hall on March 1st, and I look forward to it.
