Michael wonders why some music has stood the test of centuries and still speaks so powerfully to us. Bach, Beethoven, Ravel, Bach-Busoni

Piano recital by NZ’s foremost pianist of the last 40 years, showcasing the wisdom which comes from living with these masterpieces.

Michael Houstoun, iconic Kiwi pianist, returns to The Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts to present a programme of masterpieces from the solo piano repertoire. His ‘Music To Defy Time’ programme features Bach’s French Overture, a collection of Baroque dances , followed by Beethoven’s magnificent Sonata in E, Op.109, a spiritual document of great beauty and power.

In the second half Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit brings his peerless understanding of the piano’s technical potential together with an exquisite poetic sensibility. The concert closes with the best of all the Bach transcriptions, Busoni’s faithful realization of the great Chaconne for unaccompanied violin, in which the glory of a concert grand piano is fully explored and presented.