The Russian pianist and pedagogue Boris Berman dedicates a masterclass to a rare work from Claude Debussy’s late creative period.
Boris Berman is known in more than fifty countries as one of the best piano teachers of our time. Before appearing with the Major orchestras, he was a student of Lev Oborin, an eminent professor at the Moscow Conservatory who trained many high-classed pianists such as Vladimir Ashkenazy. Then, Berman made himself known as a soloist and recitalist travelling the Soviet Union and working with renowned contemporary composers. He gave the first Russian performances of Schönberg's, Stockhausen's, Berio's or Ligeti’s works. Since 1979, he has lived in the United States where he has taught at Brandeis, Boston or Indiana University, but also at the Yale School of Music where he is currently posted.
He clearly showed mastery in this masterclass dedicated to a rarely performed work of the French composer Claude Debussy, named Pour le Piano. This suite in three movements is composed by a prelude, a sarabande and a toccata. Started in 1896 and completed in 1903, it is the testimony of a certain evolution in the composer’s more confident style. Indeed, at the end of his career, Debussy finally acknowledged its beauty, writing other brilliant piano pieces, including masterpieces such as Estampes composed in 1903.
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