Simone Dinnerstein, Piano

Friday, September 30, 2016 | 8:00 pm

Baldwin Auditorium

Simone Dinnerstein first vaulted into prominence when her self-financed recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations became an unexpected sensation. A decade later, she is in high demand by concert presenters from the Kennedy Center to the Wigmore Hall, and is celebrated for the “majestic originality of her vision” (The Independent). Her past visits to Duke Performances have bolstered her reputation as a risk-taking artist, from her collaboration with songwriter Tift Merritt to her fresh interpretations of the works of Bach and Chopin.

Dinnerstein returns to Durham with an electrifying program, alternating Franz Schubert’s lyrical Impromptus with modern master Philip Glass’ rippling Études, finding surprising commonalities across the centuries. The evening’s highlight is Schubert’s final Sonata, D. 960, the crowning achievement of his brief career. The Seattle Times gave Dinnerstein’s performance of the Schubert a glowing review, calling it “breathtakingly beautiful in her hands,” while The Washington Post declared that her interpretation is endowed with “an astonishing richness of opulence, brilliance, and quiet clarity.”

Program