Petrarca + Liszt = Poetry in Music

Join Tuesdays at the J for “Francesco Petrarca + Franz Liszt: Poetry in Music,” a lecture-recital by concert pianist Elias-Axel Pettersson.

Fourteenth-century Italian poet and scholar Petrarca wrote more than 300 sonnets (Shakespeare wrote 154), all dedicated to Laura, whose true identity has never been confirmed, only surmised. Upon his travels to Italy, Liszt became inspired by Petrarca’s poetry and composed three pieces based on Sonnets Nos. 47, 104, and 123. Dr. Pettersson will take his listeners through the mind of each great artist and show how poetry was turned into music that moves the soul.

The program starts at 10 a.m. with refreshments and the lecture-recital will start at 10:30 a.m.