Italian pianist Alessio Bax, “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone), performs a program of music inspired by, or directly from, his homeland.

Beginning with Bach’s transcription of Marcello’s Oboe Concerto, Bax continues with Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme of Corelli (even though the theme, “La Folia”, was not actually written by Corelli!), a stunning set which shows off Rachmaninoff’s tremendous musical imagination. Following intermission, the “musical notebook for Annalibera,” a gift from Dallapiccola to his daughter, in which vibrant melodic writing combines with finger-bending technical challenges. Two pieces of Franz Liszt round out the program: first, his musical depiction of St. Francis of Assisi preaching to birds, and then his virtuosic Dante Sonata, a wild adventure deep into Dante’s Inferno.