"On An Overgrown Path" with Diana Fanning, piano

About the Program

Diana Fanning’s latest program program traces a journey from Classical form to Romantic and Impressionist color. The program opens with Beethoven's Six Variations in F Major, Op. 34, a set that showcases his inventive treatment of a simple theme, followed by Janáček's deeply personal On an Overgrown Path—a folk-inflected work crowded with memories dating back to his childhood in a small Czech village

The second half includes two Debussy preludes—the sensuous Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir and the puckish Minstrels, and concludes with Chopin's passionate and virtuosic Sonata in B Minor, Op. 58.

Ludwig van Beethoven       Six Variations in F Major, Op. 34

Leoš Janáček                          Po zarostlém chodníčku (On an Overgrown Path)                               

Claude Debussy                    Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir                                                                                                (Sounds and perfumes swirl in the evening air)

                                                   Minstrels                                   

Frédéric Chopin                     Sonata in B Minor, Op. 58

About the Artists

Diana Fanning has toured extensively as a solo performer and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and in England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, the Czech Republic, Canada and Germany. In recent years she has performed at the Schloss Leopoldskron (“Sound of Music” castle) in Salzburg, and in Prague at the invitation of the International Dvorak Society.

After a solo recital in Munich, a critic wrote that “Diana Fanning stunned her listeners with the rich spectrum of subtle colors and tonal nuances she revealed. Her recital seized the audience with a veritable deep magic.” Ms. Fanning has performed on numerous occasions as a concerto soloist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. She was featured as soloist in a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in the debut concert of the Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra and was invited back for performances of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Vermont Public Television featured her in a program of works by Scarlatti, Ravel and Chopin. Radio audiences hear her frequently over Vermont Public Radio, and she was interviewed on Radio Prague. She also performed live on “Morning Pro Musica” (WGBH-FM) Boston and on WNYC, New York City.

As a chamber musician, Ms. Fanning has been a guest artist with the Takacs, the Schumann, the Jupiter and the Alexander String Quartets, and with ensembles from Point Counterpoint Music Camp, which she owned and directed for ten years with her husband Emory Fanning. As a member of the Davydov-Fanning Duo with the outstanding cellist Dieuwke Davydov, she has performed widely in the U.S., completed eight concert tours of Europe, and recorded for Radio Netherlands. She has been a featured artist in the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival with musicians from the New York City Ballet Orchestra.

Ms. Fanning’s CD of works by Janáček, Chopin and Debussy received enthusiastic reviews in England and the U.S. She also released a recording of live concert performances with Dieuwke Davydov. Her principal teacher was Ruth Geiger of New York City; she also studied with Marcelle Heuclin at the Paris Conservatory. She is an Affiliate Artist at Middlebury College.