Pianissimo Series in Rio de Janeiro

GES-2 House of Culture in partnership with the Pianissimo festival is proud to present a series of concerts at the Copacabana Palace Theatre in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

Programme 

The idea behind the Pianissimo festival, launched in 2017 in Saint Petersburg, is to introduce the younger generation of musicians to listeners in spaces new for academic music. Past Pianissimo concerts have seen young virtuosos and laureates of prestigious competitions perform in remarkable, sometimes unusual locations, from the ballroom of the Kulm Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland to the Petersburg Manege and the State Hermitage. Since 2022, Pianissimo has also been held in Moscow, at GES-2 House of Culture.

For tickets, please contact us at ticketing@v-a-c.org

Illustrationa: Olesya Voronina

Pianissimo concerts feature young winners of prestigious international awards that have performed on the world’s top stages, from Milan’s Teatro alla Scala to Carnegie Hall in New York. The Rio de Janeiro programme includes four remarkable musicians: Jan Niković (Croatia), Can Saraç (Turkey), Massimiliano Grotto (Italy), and Dmitry Shishin (Russia).

Programme

Jan Niković 

25 Apr 2024, 20:00–21:30

Jan Niković (b. 2001, Zagreb, Croatia) is a pianist. He studied piano at the Zagreb Academy of Music under Professor Ruben Dalibaltayan. Alongside this, Niković attended the classes of Professor Eliso Virsaladze at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole and studied at the Internationale Musikakademie in Liechtenstein. He is the winner of international piano competitions in Zagreb and Osijek (Croatia) as well as Gorizia and Trieste (Italy), and many others. Jan Niković has extensively performed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, and Spain.

Programme

Jean-Philippe Rameau
Pièces de Clavecin
Le Rappel des Oiseaux
Les Tendres Plaintes
La Poule

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata no. 2 in F major, K 280
Allegro assai
Adagio
Presto

Claude Debussy
Estampes
Pagodes
La soirée dans Grenade
Jardins sous la pluie

Franz Liszt
Deux légendes, S. 175
No. 1. St. François d’Assise: La prédication aux oiseau

Alexander Scriabin
Sonata no. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30
Andante
Prestissimo volando

Pyotr Tchaikovsky/Mikhail Pletnev
The Nutcracker Suite

Can Saraç

26 Apr 2024, 20:00–21:30

Can Saraç (b. 2007, Istanbul, Turkey) is a pianist. He studied at the Istanbul University State Conservatory with Volkan Akkoç and Fulya Tezer, and is currently continuing his studies in Melina Cuyumcu’s class. In June, 2021 he won a place at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, where he is supervised by Professor Michael Schäfer. Since 2018, he has performed at competitions across the globe, winning numerous prizes in solo, duo, and accompaniment recitals. In spite of his young age, Can Saraç has already performed at Carnegie Hall (New York), Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (Istanbul), and the Bozar in Brussels, to name but a few venues.

Programme

Franz Liszt
Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178

Johannes Brahms
Six Pieces for Piano, op.118
Intermezzo in A minor
Intermezzo in A major

Frédéric Chopin
Ballade no. 1 in G minor, op. 23
Ballade no. 2 in F major, op. 38
Ballade no. 3 in A-flat major, op. 47
Ballade no. 4 in F minor, op. 52

Massimiliano Grotto

2 May 2024, 20:00–21:30

Massimiliano Grotto (b. 1997, Italy) is a pianist, student of the renowned performer Massimiliano Ferrati. He furthered his studies under renowned masters—Jerome Rose, Emanuel Krasovsky, Federico Colli, Riccardo Risaliti, Azumi Nishizawa and Massimo Somenzi. Massimiliano has taken the first places in a number of national and international competitions, including Crescendo (New York, USA), which culminated with a performance at Carnegie Hall, Euregio Piano Award (Heilenkirchen, Germany) and the International Piano Competition in Oleggio (Italy).

Programme

Franz Schubert
Fantasia in C minor, D.993

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata no. 2 in F major, K.280

Franz Schubert
Sonata in A minor, D.784

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata no. 13 in E-flat major, op. 27 no. 1 (“Quasi una fantasia”)

Franz Schubert
Fantasie in C major, op. 15, D.760 (“Wanderer Fantasy”)

Dmitry Shishkin

2 May 2024, 20:00–21:30

Dmitry Shishkin (b. 1992, Russia) is a pianist. He began playing the piano at the age of two. In 2015 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory (class of Eliso Virsaladze). He later studied under Epifanio Comis at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in Catania, Italy, and under Arie Vardi at the Hannover Higher School of Music, Theatre and Media. Winner of the Top of the World International Piano Competition in Tromsø, Norway (2017) and the 73rd Geneva International Music Competition (2018). Prize-winner of the Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy (2013), Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (2016), and the 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition (2019). He has recorded several solo discs of works by Chopin, Wagner, Elgar, Paderewski, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner and Tchaikovsky.

Programme

Johann Sebastian Bach
Chorale Prelude in F minor Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639

César Franck
Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, op. 18

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
“Dumka,” op. 59
“Scherzo à la Russe,” op. 1, no. 1

Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, S. 244/2

Alexandr Scriabin
Piano Sonata no. 2 (Sonata-Fantasy), op.19

Sergei Rachmaninov
Ten Preludes, op. 23
Prelude no. 1 in F-sharp minor
Prelude no. 3 in D minor
Prelude no. 5 G minor
Thirteen Preludes, op. 32
Prelude no. 5 in G major
Prelude no. 8 in A minor
Prelude no. 10 in B minor
Prelude no. 12 in G-sharp minor

Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Sonata no. 2, op. 14