Bozeman Magazine

The Bozeman Symphony is proud to continue our 13th season presenting world-class pianists in recital. Nationally acclaimed pianist Robert Henry will be performing a recital at 7:30 PM on Friday, January 22rd at MSU Reynolds Recital Hall on a Steinway model D grand piano, jointly owned by MSU and the Bozeman Symphony. The concert will be the first of the Bozeman Symphony Piano Series performances in 2016. “Robert Henry is top notch. His sound brings to mind the great pianists of the past, for whom beauty of tone was integral to the structure of the phrase.” Henry’s reputation for delivering stunning performances of the most demanding repertoire and for presenting overlooked masterpieces to the public, from Bach to Babajanian, precedes him. Complimenting his prowess of the piano is Robert Henry’s aptitude for nocturnes. Henry has a special knack for uncovering these short, romantic, compositions including one by the Russian composer Alexey Stanchinsky, written in 1907. Stanchinsky was well-known in his day, but died tragically young and was largely forgotten until Henry premiered Stanchinsky’s long forgotten “Nocturne” in 2010 as part of his album, Twelve Nocturnes and a Waltz. When asked about his discovery of the previously unrecorded piece Henry explained: It is unusual to find a piece that has yet to be recorded. Nevertheless, Alexei Stanchinsky’s forgotten “Nocturne” from 1907 has somehow slipped under the radar for over 100 years. It is indeed unrecorded and the sheet music is long out of print. Perhaps the treacherous difficulty of this piece has scared pianists away; this is easily the most difficult Nocturne of the CD, if not the entire repertoire. Or, perhaps the suicide of the 26-year-old Stanchinsky invites an unwelcome element of macabre. Whatever the reason for the neglect, it is undeserved; Stanchinsky was considered by his colleagues and professors to be potentially a greater talent than fellow classmate Rachmaninoff. With this world premiere recording of Stanchinsky’s “Nocturne,” I hope to have surfaced a long buried treasure, and helped to restore Stanchinsky’s prestige as an immensely talented young composer. (Henry) Following the release of this excellent album would seem a daunting task to some, but Robert Henry made it clear in 2013 that Twelve Nocturnes and a Waltz was an impressive passage in his recording career, but not the finale. He released his single, Albumblatt in A Minor, another world premiere recording followed by As the Songbird Sings: Music of Schubert and Brahams in October 2015. During Piano Series II, Robert Henry will perform Franz Liszt’s “Löse, Himmel, meine Seele,” from his latest album as well as complex and challenging numbers by Haydn, Boulanger, Brahms, and more. Consistent with his reputation for premiering pieces by world-renowned composers like Brahms and Stanchinsky, Henry’s programming for Piano Series II is intentional.