Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will host Eneida Larti, OBU lecturer in music, in a faculty piano recital at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall. She will perform “Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960” by Franz Schubert and “Venezia e Napoli” by Franz Liszt in the free recital.

"I think recitals expose students and faculty to works with which they may not be familiar and to the performer's interpretation of these works," Larti said. "In my case, I hope that my recital will serve as a reminder that while it is necessary to dedicate long hours of practice to our art, it is only through sharing our work with one another that we experience additional artistic growth.

"I chose Schubert's sonata because I found it very introspective and a work that I would have to decode," Larti explained. "The challenge of this process proved very rewarding as it helped me to grow as a musician. Liszt's ‘Venezia e Napoli’ is an entirely different work: light, fun and reminiscent of the composer's time in Italy. I thought the different nature of each work would provide a nicely balanced program."

Schubert’s sonata was the last of a set of three that the musician created before his death in 1828. The composition was largely ignored in the 19th century and then gained recognition for its innovative harmonic language in the 20th century.

"Although its proximity to Schubert’s death has garnered it much attention, its true merit rests in the composer's ability to stretch the boundaries that usually accompanied the harmonic language of the sonata structure at the time," Larti noted.

"Liszt composed 'Venezia e Napoli' in 1859 but the pieces were published in their final version in 1861,” Larti added. “Composed during the composer's stay in Italy, the set of the three pieces (Gondoliera, Canzone, Tarantella) draws from the singing and dancing culture of that country."

The piece by Liszt is directly translated to mean "Venice and Naples." The three sections draw inspiration from different sources: “Gondoliera” is based on the song "La bonding in gondoletta" by Giovanni Battista Peruchini; “Canzone” is based on "Nessun maggior dolore" from Rossini's Otello; and “Tarantella” is inspired by themes by Guillaume-Louis Cottrau.

For more information, contact Larti at [email protected] or (870) 245-5176.

By Jordan Campbell