Four Cities

Pianist Fiona Wu and cellist Félix Nunes perform Wagner, Strauss, Fazıl Say's Four Cities, and Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata. Four Cities The Master Piano Recital Series welcomes Fiona Wu, piano, and Félix Nunes, cello, in a program spanning Wagner and Strauss, the Turkish influences of Fazıl Say, and the Romanticism of Rachmaninoff. Montreal-based Canadian pianist Fiona Wu has been praised by New York Concert Review for her "complete mastery of contrapuntal detail" and "intense immersion". A laureate of the Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition and prizewinner at the Concours Prix d'Europe, she holds a doctorate from the Université de Montréal and has served on the collaborative faculty at Orford Musique and Domaine Forget. Portuguese-Canadian cellist Félix Nunes performs repertoire ranging from early music to the contemporary avant-garde. A doctoral candidate at the Université de Montréal, he has appeared as soloist in works by Shostakovich and Ligeti, performed with the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon and Orchestre National de Lyon, and served as principal cellist of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2025. Hear Fiona Wu in performance: Four Cities begins, unusually, with two endings. Grainger's Ramble on the Last Love Duet from Der Rosenkavalier and Liszt's transcription of Isoldens Liebestod take the closing music of two great operas by Strauss and Wagner and place it in the hands of the piano alone. Turkish pianist-composer Fazıl Say's "Four Cities" Sonata draws its inspiration from Ankara, Istanbul, Bodrum and Antalya, incorporating Turkish folk and popular music, with the cello at times evoking traditional instruments. The program concludes with Rachmaninoff's Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, one of the great works of Romantic chamber music. Lyrical, sumptuous and virtuosic, it gives piano and cello equally demanding roles. Program • Percy Grainger — Ramble on the Last Love Duet from Der Rosenkavalier (R. Strauss), solo piano • Franz Liszt — Isoldens Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde (R. Wagner), solo piano • Fazıl Say — Sonata for Cello and Piano "Four Cities", Op. 41 • Sergei Rachmaninoff — Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 19 Learn more: MPRS.ca