Tune in Today: How Balakirev’s ‘Islamey’ Captures Orientalism in Virtuosic Fashion

When Mily Balakirev’s “Islamey: Oriental Fantasy” first premiered in 1869, it quickly gained a reputation as one of the most difficult piano pieces ever composed. Finger-twisting double notes and difficult repeated-note patterns made this work an insurmountable challenge even for seasoned virtuosos. Even Balakirev himself, an accomplished pianist in his own right, admitted that he was […]