Piano Recital: METAMORPHOSIS

🦋When you see a butterfly ... remember the quiet power of change🦋 ©Xenia E. Zilli, SIGNPOSTS

Metamorphosis is a uniquely conceived programme tracing a journey from inward transformation to emergence and flight, following the image of the butterfly through centuries of piano music.

The first half is devoted entirely to Philip Glass’s Metamorphosis I–V. Across five interconnected pieces, repeating patterns gradually shift, expand and transform, creating a hypnotic landscape in which change happens almost imperceptibly. Rather than arriving suddenly, transformation unfolds from within — through repetition, movement and subtle alteration. The music evokes something of the mystery of the chrysalis: an apparent stillness concealing a profound process of becoming.

After the interval, metamorphosis takes flight.

The butterfly emerges as the central image of the second half, appearing and reappearing across centuries of musical imagination. Beginning with the elegance and ornamentation of François Couperin’s Le Papillon, the programme moves into the changing characters and miniature worlds of Robert Schumann’s Papillons, Op. 2, followed by the buoyant Schmetterling (Butterfly) of Edvard Grieg.

The journey then leads to the less frequently encountered Le Papillon, Op. 18 by Calixa Lavallée — a brilliant and technically demanding work that brings a different kind of virtuosity to the butterfly’s flight — followed by Moritz Rosenthal’s Papillons, a sparkling virtuoso miniature alive with movement and flight. The journey then reaches the contemporary musical world of Alexis Ffrench’s Papillon.

Across different periods, musical languages and sensibilities, the same image continually transforms. From the inward world of Glass to the butterflies that emerge after the interval, Metamorphosis explores change not simply as an event, but as a process — from stillness to movement, from becoming to being, and finally, to flight.

This recital marks the beginning of a wider journey for Metamorphosis. The programme will continue its own journey through concert halls across Europe, Japan and Taiwan.

𓂃 ˖ ♡˚˖🦋˖˚♡ ˖ 𓂃

Entrance is by donation - pay what you can - all in a continuous effort to bring music and art closer to people from all walks of life, and to people with different means.

07/11/2026 at 19:00

Maria João Pires Hall

PROGRAMME

FIRST HALF

Philip Glass

Metamorphosis I, II, III, IV, & V

INTERMISSION / PAUSE (15 minutes)

SECOND HALF

François Couperin

Pièces de Clavecin, Ordre 2: "Le Papillon" (The Butterfly)

Robert Schumann

Papillons, Op. 2 (Intro, 1-12)

Edvard Grieg

Lyric Pieces Op. 43, No. 1 "Schmetterling" (Butterfly)

Calixa Lavallée

Concert étude Le Papillon, Op. 18

Moritz Rosenthal

Papillons

Alexis Ffrench

Papillon (Solo Piano Version)

© Alternative Approach to Music: Inspiring - Healing - Empowering, Xenia Elizabeth Zilli