Robert Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. 9, a cycle of short piano pieces composed in the 1830s will be one of the highlights of the recital. In this work, the composer created an extraordinary gallery of characters meeting at an imagined masked ball. Alongside Pierrot and Harlequin, the cycle features musical portraits of people close to Schumann as well as the great artists of his era. These include Clara Wieck, Niccolò Paganini and Fryderyk Chopin.
The composition is not merely a display of pianistic virtuosity. Each miniature requires the performer to make rapid shifts in mood, character and narrative approach.
The second part of the programme will feature music by Fryderyk Chopin. The Variations in B-flat major, Op. 12, belong to his earlier and particularly brilliant compositions. The work presents the composer as a young virtuoso, a pianist who explores the possibilities of the instrument with remarkable freedom and imagination.
The Mazurkas, Op. 50, will open up a different world for the audience. The three pieces, in G major, A-flat major and C-sharp minor, represent the composer’s mature style. They draw upon the Polish dance tradition, yet go far beyond a simple stylisation of it. The Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 50 No. 3 in particular is regarded as one of Chopin’s most elaborate and highly esteemed works in the genre.
All of this will be performed by Maria Yakymenko, who is studying at the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Lodz in the piano class of dr hab. Wojciech Kubica, Associate Professor at the Academy of Music. The Ukrainian-born pianist is a prize winner of music competitions in Poland and abroad. Romantic repertoire occupies a special place in her artistic activity, including the music of Chopin and Schumann.
Admission to the concerts is free of chargé. However, advance reservation is required.
