8 p.m.: AnTasten – Laufsteg in die Zukunft

International

Ben Kim – United States

It is with an unusual and unusually challenging work that the American Ben Kim is beginning his recital: Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces, miniatures not exceeding 17 measures in length, lead us directly into atonality. They demand intense concentration from the listener, with a narrow dynamic range, at times only from piano to quadruple piano. The Variations op. 9 by the 20-year-old Johannes Brahms are built on a theme by Robert Schumann – and are dedicated to Schumann’s wife Clara, who the young Brahms was desperately in love with. The variation form was always regarded by Brahms as a great challenge; the skilfulness of the alto part, manifested in the inventive voice-leading – now in bass, now in soprano – blends with romantic piano poetics that owe much to the example set by Schumann. “Real” Schumann rounds out the program: the Kreisleriana, inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s brilliant Kapellmeister character, is an eight-part cycle full of contradictory moods ranging from intimate poetry to melodramatic gestures and giving corresponding opportunities for delicate nuance of touch and virtuoso display.

Matei Varga – Romania

Born in Bucharest in 1980, Matei Varga was already attracting attention when, at the age of just 10, he won the 1st prize at the “Citta Di Moncalieri” piano competition in Turin. Many other awards followed: in 2004 he won the 3rd prize at the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona and in 2005 1st prize at the Mannes Concerto Competition, which led to his performing at New York’s Lincoln Center. Matei Varga has given concerts in cities around the world, including Tokyo, Kyoto, Tel Aviv, Washington and Montreal, as well as at festivals in Des Moines (US), Spoleto (Italy), Sintra (Portugal) and Carthage (Tunisia).

Martina Filjak – Croatia

Martina Filjak (born in 1978) began her professional training at the Zagreb academy before moving on to higher studies in Vienna, Karlsruhe and Rotterdam. Since 2004 she has been taking part in the soloist class at the Hannover University of Music and Drama, initially under Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and currently under Prof. Mi Kyung Kim. The young Croatian underlined her huge talent by picking up first prizes at the Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria, the International Keyboard Institute Competition in New York, and at the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona. Her solo recitals have taken her to the Salle Cortot in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Philharmonic Hall in Ljubljana, as well as to Moscow, Berlin, Vienna, New York, Athens, Brussels, Lisbon and Rome.