Ursula Oppens

Elliott Carter wrote the solo piano masterpiece Night Fantasies over the course of a year and a half, finishing just two months before the premiere in 1980.

by Peter Burwasser

classical

Elliott Carter wrote the solo piano masterpiece Night Fantasies over the course of a year and a half, finishing just two months before the premiere in 1980, by one of four dedicatees, Ursula Oppens. That the other three — Charles Rosen, Gilbert Kalish and the late Paul Jacobs — were among the most important champions of contemporary music at that time, and that the piece continues to fascinate and compel pianists to discover this large and bristling score speaks to its importance as a work of art. Oppens has kept the work under her fingers and will perform it on a remarkable program that includes, in addition to the music of Carter, a man who is approaching 100 years on this Earth and still going, works of Nancarrow (his Two Canons for Ursula) and Picker. Oppens will then be joined by violinist Mathias Tacke and Gail Williams, horn, in a rare performance of Ligeti's Horn Trio.

Sun., Jan. 7, 3 p.m., $8-$16, Curtis Institute of Music, 1726 Locust St., 215-569-8080, www.philadelphiachambermusic.org.