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The Polish pianist’s Gilmore recital traverses suites by Beethoven, Chopin, Szymanowski, Bartók and Bach, benefitting from thoughtful interpretation.

Nikita Mndoyants proved his adeptness in shaping small musical forms and meaningfully connecting them.

Maurizio Pollini demonstrated why people still flock to hear him perform in sonatas by Beethoven and miniatures by Schoenberg.

Freshness and intensity were brought to Beethoven's later piano sonatas, including a convincing Hammerklavier, together with a welcome performance of his last work for solo piano.

A dark thread ran through Yevgeny Sudbin’s recital at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, from the sombre B minor sonata by Haydn to Scriabin’s infamous “Black Mass” sonata and Saint-Saens’ virtuosic Danse macabre.

In the first half of the 19th century, the piano was still very much a developing instrument, and the composers were often pushing its limits both mechanically and sonically. 

The story of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations is well known. The composer and publisher Anton Diabelli wanted to promote his new firm, and chose to do so by inviting fifty composers of varying fame to write a variation on his own waltz theme. Beethoven was, of course, the dominant figure in Vienna at the end of the 1810s, and his variation was to be the highlight.

Après Elisabeth Leonskaja, c’était au tour de Dénes Várjon d’enchanter le cloître des Jacobins de compositions hongroises. Le Festival Piano aux Jacobins, dans sa 38ème édition, choisissait pour son deuxième concert le virtuose formé à la Franz Liszt Académie de Budapest.