My previous Letter from New York (3/24) paid tribute to my close friend, the late recording engineer Joseph Patrych, who started a weekly series of in-person/livestream piano recitals at Klavierhaus, one of New York’s leading firms devoted to piano sales, restoration and concert services.

Founded in 1993 by Sujatri Reisinger and his late brother Gabor Reisinger, Klavierhaus also provided a space for pianists to rehearse, perform and record. In 2003 I worked with the brothers in conjunction with Fazioli Pianoforti, helping to enlist performers for the New York premieres of the late Daniele Lombardi’s two Symphonies for 21 Pianos, marking the reopening of downtown Manhattan’s Winter Garden. After Gabor’s death, I kept in touch with Sujatri at Klavierhaus’s current location at 790 11th Avenue: check out the newly restored instruments on display there for sale.

In the meantime, under Patrych’s supervision, engineer James Wu began building a state-of-the-art recording and video/livestream facility housed at Klavierhaus. All was in place for the inaugural recital on February 20, 2022, featuring veteran pianist Jerome Lowenthal celebrating his 90th birthday by playing Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata. This led directly into the launch of Salon Concerts at Klavierhaus less than two months later. Over the next year and eight months Joe brought a wealth of emerging and established pianists to his series, while playing host and often holding informative and entertaining post-concert interviews with the artists. To list all of the pianists in Joe’s orbit would take up an entire Gramophone issue, but you’ll get the picture by browsing through the series’ archived concerts: search for ‘Salon Concerts at Klavierhaus’ on YouTube.

Joe died a few days before 2023’s annual holiday concert, and I was called in to host. Afterwards I met with James and Sujatri. We agreed to honour Joe’s bookings through the spring, and to keep the series going under my artistic directorship. James continues to runs the concerts via his production company Mumeneer, while meticulously maintaining Salon Concerts’ website and YouTube channel.

From the start, Joe envisioned his series to provide an inclusive environment and expressive forum for pianists of all generations. While I aim to uphold Joe’s mission, I take a slightly different approach towards programming. For example, Joe’s spring 2023 bookings included three pianists in close proximity, all of whom programmed Schumann’s Fantasie in C major. He also presented two pianists offering Bach’s Goldberg Variations within a similarly tight window of time. For the 2024‑25 season I’ve been working to achieve a judicious mix of repertoire and programming concepts, which I believe will help grow and sustain our in-person and virtual audience.

Like Joe, I invite artists to play what they wish, but I often provide feedback and suggestions. I discouraged one pianist from placing Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variationsand Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody in the same concert half. To juxtapose two variation sets on the same theme in the same key may look interesting on paper, but it makes for tedious programming in reality. Another pianist wanted to play two short Rachmaninov Études after Schumann’s Carnaval. I told her it was a bad call, for anything following Carnaval’s diverse characterisations and triumphal conclusion would necessarily be an anticlimax. Fortunately she took my advice!

Perhaps my concern for programme-building is borne out of my long experience as recitalist, presenter, record reviewer and radio host. Indeed, I’ve always been fascinated how pianists have approached the topic. Vladimir Horowitz, for instance, obsessed over his programmes in regard to work durations, key relationships, mood contrasts and decisions over encores. When Artur Schnabel played Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas in a multi-recital cycle, he took great care in mixing and matching works, rather than opting for a chronological approach. The latter, of course, is plausible, but not necessarily for everyone.

Yet there are occasional grey areas to consider, such as pianists who want to play all of Ligeti’s Études in a single bound. Naturally this concept makes perfect sense on record, certainly for marketing purposes. Having sat through four or five complete Ligeti Étude recitals over the past decades, I invariably get swept away by Book 1, yet grow impatient by the middle of Book 2. However, when I hear one or two of the Book 2 Études out of context and with fresh ears, I’m swept away again. Still, I have to be pragmatic. If a pianist wants to play an integral Ligeti Étude survey on Salon Concerts, I won’t hesitate, because such events guarantee a built-in audience.

And suppose that Joe’s friend Yuja Wang offers to appear on Salon Concerts, but will play only a C major scale and nothing else? I’ll say, ‘add the D flat major scale, and you’ve got a deal!’

This article originally appeared in the North American edition of the October 2024 issue of Gramophone. Never miss an issue – subscribe today