Pedal Piano Concert

Pedal Piano Concert

Pianist Roberto Prosseda is not only fleet-fingered, but fast-footed too. Much like a traditional church organ, the bass notes on the pedal piano, a descendant of the pedal clavichord and pedal harpsichord, is played with the feet on a pedal board. Roberto Prosseda revived the pedal piano in 2011 when he played the first modern performance of Charles Gounod’s Concerto for Pedal Piano and Orchestra. Other pedal piano pieces in his repertoire include compositions by Robert Schumann, Alexandre Pierre François Boëly and Charles-Valentin Alkan, as well as more contemporary works by Ennio Morricone, Michael Nyman and Cristian Carrara. In today’s broadcast, Roberto Prosseda plays Schumann’s 4 Skizzen für den Pedalflügel and 6 Studien in kanonischer Form für den Pedalflügel, Op. 56, Boëly’s Fantaisie et Fugue Op. 18 No. 6, and Alkan’s Benedictus Op. 54 pour piano-pédalier in d minor.