Setlist:
J. S. Bach: Goldberg-Variationen BWV 988 – Thema und Variation (Duo)
György Ligeti: Étude Nr. 4 “Fanfares” (Gerstein)
Improvisation (Mehldau)
György Ligeti: Étude Nr. 5 “Arc-en-ciel” (Gerstein)
Improvisation (Mehldau)
Brahms/Busoni: Nr. 9 & 10 “Herzlich tut mich verlangen”, aus: Elf Choralvorspiele op. posth. 122 (Duo)
B. Mehldau: Après Fauré Nr. 1 (Gerstein)
G. Fauré: Nocturne Nr. 4 in Es-Dur op. 36 (Mehldau)
B. Mehldau: Après Fauré Nr. 2 (Gerstein)
G. Fauré: Nocturne Nr. 12 in e-Moll op. 107 (Mehldau)
B. Mehldau: Après Fauré Nr. 3 (Gerstein)
G. Fauré: Nocturne Nr. 13 in h-Moll op. 119 (Gerstein)
B. Mehldau: Après Fauré Nr. 4
G. Fauré: Klavierquartett Nr. 2 in g-Moll op. 45 (Auswahl) (Mehldau)
B. Mehldau: Always August (Duo)
Zugabe: Bach/Kurtág: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit BWV 106 (Duo)
Brad Mehldau is a jazz great, but his love also belongs to classical music. After his breakthrough in the Joshua Redman Quartet, he caused a sensation with his own trio, for example at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2001. As an avowed fan of the “three Bs” (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms), however, he also likes to take sideways paths in the direction of classical music, and was inspired, for example, by Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations to create a chamber music cycle. Now he meets the jazz-savvy classical pianist Kirill Gerstein to exchange ideas on two pianos about music by Brahms, Fauré, Ligeti and his own pieces. Mehldau answers the originals with improvisations, Gerstein plays Fauré-inspired Mehldau pieces, and together they jam over jazz numbers.