In partnership with the Pianissimo festival,
Pianissimo Winter Piano Festival 2024
- Date:
- 17–
25 Jan 2024
- Age restrictions
- 12+
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The idea behind the Pianissimo festival is to introduce the younger generation of musicians to listeners in spaces new for academic music. Among the halls in which festival participants have performed are the State Hermitage, the Petersburg Manege and the ballroom of the Kulm Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Since 2022, Pianissimo has also been held in Moscow, at
Photo: Gleb Leonov
During the years of the festival’s existence, prize-winners of international competitions have taken part (for example, the winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition Dmitry Masleev and Konstantin Yemelyanov, and the winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition Andrei Gugnin) along with young musicians whose great successes still lie before them (Abisal Gergiev, Arseny Mun, Nikolai Kuznetsov). All performers are under the age of 30 at the time they take part in the project.
The 2024 Pianissimo winter programme features concerts by the most outstanding representatives of the younger generation of the piano scene in Russia and abroad—Fedor Orlov and Maxim Lee (Russia), Giordano Buondonno (Italy), and Shiwen Young (China).
Programme
Giordano Buondonno (Italy)
When: 17 Jan, 20:00–21:30
Giordano Buondonno (b. 1995, La Spezia, Italy) is a pianist. She studied at the Conservatorio Giacomo Puccini (La Spezia) under Fabrizio Giovannelli and Folco Vichi, then in London at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire under Sergio De Simone and Deniz Gelenbe, as well as at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Ronan O’Hora and Noriko Ogawa. Buondonno won the International Clara Schumann Competition in 2014 and the PianoLink competition in 2018. She regularly tours in Italy, the United Kingdom, and other European countries.
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685—1750)—Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
Preludio, gavotte and gigue from Partita no. 3 in E Major for solo violin
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Four ballads, op. 10
Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Images, Book I and II
Alexander Scriabin (1871–1915)
Sonata no. 2 in G-sharp Minor, op. 19 (Sonata-Fantasy)
Fedor Orlov (Russia)
When: 18 Jan, 20:00–21:30
Fedor Orlov (b. 2004, Oryol, Russia) is a pianist. He studied at the Kabalevsky Children’s School of the Arts under Olga Korotaeva and is currently a student of the Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow (class of Elena Berezkina). Orlov holds scholarships from the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation and the New Names Foundation. He has won many international music competitions, including the Rachmaninoff International Youth Piano Competition (2023, Veliky Novgorod) and the Manhattan International Music Competition (2020).
Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Sonata no. 23 in F Minor, op. 57 (Appassionata)
Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Gaspard de la Nuit, three poems after Aloysius Bertrand, M. 55 (Ondine, Le Gibet, Scarbo)
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Symphonic Etudes, op. 13
Shiwen Yang (China)
When: 24 Jan, 20:00–21:30
Shiwen Yang (b. 2002, Shanghai, China)is a pianist. He studied at the École Normale de Musique in Paris under Henri Barda, and under Natalia Trull at the Academia del Ridotto in Venice. Young gave his first European tours at the age of 10. He has won prizes at many international piano competitions, has also taken part in master classes by Paul Badura-Skoda, Noriko Ogawa, Janusz Olejniczak, and other outstanding pianists. He regularly performs in China, France, Germany, Italy, and other European countries.
Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Sonata no. 31 in A-lat Major, op. 110
Frederic Chopin (1810–1849)
Fantasy in F Minor, op. 49
Alexander Scriabin (1871–1915)
Sonata no. 2 in G-sharp minor, op. 19 (Sonata-Fantasy)
Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
Sonata in B Minor, S.178
Maxim Lee (Russia)
When: 25 Jan, 20:00–21:30
Maxim Lee (b. 2003, Rostov-on-Don, Russia) is a pianist. He studied at the Experimental Children’s Music School for Gifted Children and the Rostov College of Arts under Marina Flekkel. At present, Lee is a student at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow (class of Andrei Diev). Lee was a prize-winner at the First All-Russian Competition of Scholarship Holders of the New Names Foundation (2021) and the International Classical Academy Forum (Moscow, 2021). Lee won the grand prix at the Grand Piano International competition of pianists and composers (2020, Novorossiysk).
Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Sonata no. 23 in F minor, op. 57 (Appassionata)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
Etudes-Tableaux, op. 39 no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, op. 42