Nikos Skalkottas and Interwar Jazz

  
SKALKOTTAS YEAR
 
A different Skalkottas

From New York to interwar Berlin and Athens, jazz has left its imprint on the piano works of classical composers, and especially Nikos Skalkottas. Dances like the foxtrot, the tango, and the charleston are traceable in the Greek composer’s music, who seemed to be interested in marrying heterogeneous elements and allusions in his ‘new piano style’, without excluding any of the prevalent genres of his time. The programme of this recital begins and ends with two piano ‘disasters’, both of them hyperbolical and humorous: Suicide in an Airplane by Leo Ornstein (1918–First World War) and Catastrophe in the Jungle by Nikos Skalkottas (1940-Second World War).
Lorenda Ramou, a versatile musician with startling interpretations and unconventional expression, is among the younger generation’s leading virtuoso pianists specializing in contemporary music. Her repertoire ranges from Bach and Mozart to the 21st century, with an emphasis on contemporary Greek works.  

– Leo Ornstein: Suicide in an Airplane                                           
– George Antheil: Jazz Sonata                                                               
– Nikos Skalkottas: Greek Suite                                             
                               Sonatina                                                                     
                              15 Little Variations                      
                              From 32 Piano Pieces: Nos. 3, 4 and 14, 18, 28
– Igor Stravinsky: Tango                                                                        
– Erwin Schulhoff: Blues (from 5 Études de jazz)                                                        

Lorenda Ramou piano