PHILADELPHIA, (Matthew Bengtson Official Website) - Coupling piano with strings has become a forte of pianist Matthew Bengtson.
In September, Bengtson teamed up with world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell for performances on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" and XM Satellite Radio's "Classical Confidential." And in October, he played a recital with violinist Nancy Jan and cellist Stephen Goodnight at Cumberland Community College featuring the trios of Beethoven, Turina and Dvorak.
On November 9 at 8 p.m., Bengtson appears with cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York City, performing Bach's Goldberg Variations and Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata in G minor.
This marks Bengtson's fourth appearance in Weill, and his rendition of the Goldberg Variations helps celebrate the 25th anniversary year of the La Gesse Foundation. Five years ago on the Foundation's 20th anniversary and in his second visit to Weill, Bengtson performed Beethoven's "Diabelli Variations." La Gesse Foundation was founded in 1981 by Princess Cecilia de Medici to promote outstanding young American musicians.
Early next year, Bengtson will perform on fortepiano with violin, cello and voice in celebration of Mozart's 250th anniversary year.
Skoraczewski is a native of Poland and was recently named associate principal cellist with the Baltimore Symphony. A semifinalist at the Eleventh International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and a winner of numerous other competitions, Skoraczewski has been a featured soloist with the Columbia, Montgomery, Alexandria and Santa Barbara symphony orchestras, and most recently with his own Baltimore Symphony.
Bengtson has appeared as soloist with a number of symphony orchestras in addition to being a regular recitalist and participant in worldwide piano competitions. He has a growing number of compact discs to his credit, having recorded the complete mazurkas of Szymanowski and works of Beethoven, Brahms, Bartok and Scriabin. In a recent review of Bengtson's recording of Scriabin sonatas, the American Record Guide stated, "Bengtson is a remarkable artist
... Big-boned pianism, rich tonal colors, and dazzling technique are on display here. Has Scriabin ever been played better? Only Horowitz and Richter can compare to what Bengtson achieves on this disc."
