Rising young Russian piano star, Vitaly Pisarenko, will visit Grahamstown next month as part of his South African tour.
Rising young Russian piano star, Vitaly Pisarenko, will visit Grahamstown next month as part of his South African tour.
His programme will include Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (Pathétique); a selection of three pieces from Ravel’s Miroirs suite; Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre for Piano, Op. 40; and Rachmaninov’s Nine Études Tableaux, Op. 39.
Pisarenko (28) won the 8th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in 2008, kick-starting an illustrious career that has seen him perform in more than 25 countries across Europe, Asia, and North and South America. This is his first visit to the African continent.
He has been described by the New York Times as an “immensely gifted pianist … with prodigious technique, myriad shadings and scrupulous accuracy”. One of the highlights of this tour will be his performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, at Durban’s City Hall on 8 October, under the baton of celebrated German pianist and conductor Justus Frantz.
Born in Ukraine in 1987, he gave his first public recital at the age of six and moved from Kiev to Moscow to continue his music studies under piano maestro Yuri Slesarev.
Pisarenko has also studied at the State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam, Oxana Yablonskaya’s Piano Institute in Italy and at the Royal College of Music in London, where he completed his Master’s degree with distinction last year.
In addition to his South African dates in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Grahamstown, Franschhoek, McGregor and Cape Town, Pisarenko’s 2015 performance roster includes Wigmore Hall and St James’s Piccadilly in London, as well as concerts in Poland, Italy, Mexico and China.
Vitaly Pisarenko will perform in Grahamstown on Thursday, 15 October at the Drill Hall, St Andrew’s College at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at the door. For enquiries, contact 083 442 3322.
This will be the Grahamstown Music Society's final concert of 2015.
Concert programme:
Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
Sonata No. 8 Opus 13 (Pathetique): Grave – Allegro di molto e con brio; Adagio cantabile; Rondo: Allegro.
Ravel (1875 – 1937)
Selection of three pieces from Miroirs: Noctuelles; Oiseaux tristes; Une barque sur l’océan; Alborada del gracioso; La vallée des cloches.
Saint-Saëns (1835 – 1921)
Danse Macabre for Piano Opus 40, arrangement by Franz Liszt.
Rachmaninov (1873 – 1943)
Etudes-Tableaux Opus 39: Allegro agitato; Lento assai; Allegro molto; Allegro assai; Appassionato; Allegro; Lento lugubre; Allegro moderato; Allegro moderato.
