Barbara von Bechtolsheim: Simone, we look forward to your concert on February 15th. Bach Inventions, Philip Glass Etudes, Schubert piano Sonata: how do you design or compose a concert program?

Simone Dinnerstein: This program plays with the differences between Bach and Schubert, using Philip Glass as a bridge between the two.   

Glass is so contemporary. He has created a really distinct aesthetic that to me speaks of the past half century. It’s a really iconic sound world. But when I sit down to play Glass I’m struck immediately by all of the non-iconic elements, the contrapuntal and lyrical qualities of his music, the way that it hearkens back to a world before automation just as much as it evokes a modern soundscape. It’s a wonderful context in which to hear Bach’s inventions.

When we listen to Bach, in this case the inventions, we listen with ears which have heard all the music since Bach - and many sounds Bach could not have imagined too. I really want the program to provide a context that forces us (myself included) to listen without knowing where the music fits exactly. These juxtapositions are an attempt to do that, by providing the odd angle that brings a shock of surprised recognition.

This applies equally to the Schubert, like and unlike Glass, so contrapuntal, polyphonic and songful.