PIOTR ANDERSZEWSKI

On Tuesday 7th March, Polish maestro Piotr Anderszewski comes to Dubai Opera for a concert forming part of InClassica 2023. The pianist opens with Bach’s famed Partita No. 6, the last of a group of six keyboard suites released in 1731. Marking Bach’s last, and most technically demanding, set of suites, the Partita No. 6 is seen by many as the set’s crowning work, with rich melodic embellishment and an intense emotional expressiveness. Next comes Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s Mazurkas, Op. 50, released between 1926 and 1931 in a series of five brochures containing four mazurkas each. The mazurka is one of five Polish national dances, and is based on stylised folk dances in triple metre, usually performed at a lively tempo, as Anderszewski will show from the selection presented this evening. After an interval, the pianist returns with Webern’s Variations for piano, an intriguing piece in three movements. Despite the title, only the last movement can be clearly defined as a set of variations, with some considering the work to be closer to a sonata or solo piano suite. The programme concludes with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 31, a work overflowing with rich emotional expression that was met with great acclaim by contemporary critics, and continues to be among the most popular of Beethoven’s last sonatas to this day.