08 September 2017
|
Argerich & Babayan
In her first-ever Cleveland appearance, she teams up with friend and colleague Sergei Babayan
In her first-ever Cleveland appearance, she teams up with friend and colleague Sergei Babayan
The Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC) announces that it will present legendary pianist Martha Argerich in a piano duo performance with her friend and colleague Sergei Babayan on Monday 30 October at 7.30 pm in Severance Hall. It is a first-ever Cleveland appearance for Argerich.
The two virtuosos, who have been performing together for several years, will present a spectacular program that includes works for two pianos by Mozart and the US premiere of Babayan’s two-piano transcriptions of works by Prokofiev.
Watch this wonderful 10-minute film about their musical partnership:
Martha Argerich is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Born in Buenos Aires in 1941, she has garnered an extraordinary list of accolades, culminating in December 2016 with a Kennedy Center Honors recognition of lifetime artistic achievement.
Sergei Babayan was born in Armenia in 1961. He came to the United States for the first time as a contestant in the 1989 Cleveland International Piano Competition (formerly the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition). He won first prize, and chose immediately to remain in Cleveland, making it his permanent home. He is a pianist and teacher of worldwide renown with a robust solo career.
‘I remember once standing in line for hours for tickets to see Martha Argerich when I was a young piano student,’ said CIPC President and CEO Pierre van der Westhuizen. ‘We’re absolutely delighted to present her in Cleveland – and having her play with a CIPC winner who has gone on to have his own spectacular career makes it beyond special. “Once in a lifetime” is so overused, but in this case the words really apply.’
No doubt tickets will sell like hotcakes! Ranging from $30 to $120, they will be available to purchase from clevelandpiano.org from 1 June.
The concert is part of the 2017 CIPC Concert Series, a full year of concerts that is presented in the year following either the Cleveland International Piano Competition or the CIPC for Young Artists competition.
PROGRAMME:
Mozart
Sonata for Two Pianos K 448
Larghetto and Allegro for Two Pianos K deest.
Prokofiev trans. Babayan
Suite from Romeo and Juliet Op 64
Selections from incidental music to Hamlet Op 77 (US Premiere)
Selections from incidental music to Eugene Onegin Op 71 (US Premiere)
Film music from Queen of Spades Op 70 (US Premiere)