The energy of youth and the maturity of experience meet at the ongoing 18th edition of ppIANISSIMO. The international forum for contemporary piano music opened on 16 April.

More about the festival's first night and the surprise that came with Balázs Szokolay, from the forum's CEO Prof. Stella Dimtirova.

„It has turned out he is the son of renowned Hungarian composer Sandor Szokolay and played some of his father's works. The pianist had also included in his program Bela Bartok, Hungary's great pride. In 2015 the international cultural community celebrates his 70th death anniversary. To his Hungarian repertoire Balázs Szokolay had added works by the French composers Claude Debussy, Erik Satie and Francis Poulenc.”

As part of ppIANISSIMO, Swiss Gilles Grimaître will present tonight an emblematic work by Pierre Boulez, Sonata No. 1, honoring the forthcoming 90th birthday of the great French composer. The festival's playbill for 18 April accentuates two Bulgarian composers. 

„One of them is renowned Bulgarian contemporary music composer Lazar Nikolov. We are going to listen to his Requiem for mezzosoprano, violin and piano, and the rarely performed Metamorphoses No. 2 trio. This year marks ten years since the demise of the maestro, and the fifth death anniversary of Julia Tsenova. She was among Bulgaria's top women-composers. We have selected to present her work entitled That is the Question”, Stella Dimitrova further explains.

On the same night the audience will have the chance to enjoy the performance of pianist Krassimir Taskov. He will play his own music and will draw parallels with works of famous composers. His special present to ppIANISSIMO is the premiere of his Sonata No. 5.

As many as fifteen performers will be in concert on 19 April:

„From the very start ppIANISSIMO has prioritized young performers and new Bulgarian works”, Prof. Stella Dimitrova explains. “In this edition we have been comparing unknown or early works by 20 c. composers of serious music and young composers. In fact the three of them are graduates of the National Music Academy that has been very helpful to the festival.”

On 19 April a tradition is revived to include a jazz concert in the ppIANISSIMO program. Despite his youth Todor Petkov has been named a rising star by Prof. Dimitrova, and his improvisation talent has been appreciated by both critics and audiences. 

You can see the full programme of the festival here

English Daniela Konstantinova