“Octopus” is not your everyday piano quartet – two pianos, four musicians, eight hands, and an interesting mix of music both ancient and brand-new. In their next concert, on September 10, the ensemble will premiere a new work by Israel Prize laureate Tzvi Avni, written for four pianists and oud.
Octopus was founded in 2013. The members, like the music they play, are an eclectic bunch, coming from different nationalities and backgrounds. The ensemble started by performing classical works arranged for eight hands, but have since become so well-liked that some of Israel’s most prominent composers have begun writing for this ensemble. Josef Bardanashvili’s Perpetuum Mobile, which premiered in 2014, was written especially for Octopus, and the group performed Eran Ashkenazi’s Capriccio Ashkenazi for the Israeli Music Festival.
The evening’s program will open with Johannes Brahms, Serenade No. 2, Op. 16, interwoven with Alex Ansky’s readings of selections from Brahm’s letters. Following an intermission, the second part of the concert will open with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565. The world premiere of Tzvi Avni’s new work, composed for oud and four pianists will host Taiseer Elias. Oud and violin master Prof. Taiseer Elias is a leading figure in Classical Arabic Music in Israel, Head of the Eastern Music Department at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and Professor of Musicology at Bar Ilan University, as well as performing and recording with several ensembles. The evening will close with Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9.
The concert will take place on September 10 at 20:30, at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Tickets cost 120 NIS, with discounts for senior citizens, students, soldiers and other audiences. Tickets may be purchased online at Kupat Bravo or call: 072-275-3221 or *3221.
