Russian pianist Lilya Zilberstein will stage concerts in Taichung and Taipei today and tomorrow respectively, as part of this year’s International Taiwan Chopin Festival, the event’s organizer told a press conference yesterday.
Since winning first prize in the 1987 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, Zilberstein has established herself as one of the finest pianists in the world.
In the four years following her win, no one else was awarded first prize in the competition.
In her two concerts, she will perform some of Frederic Chopin’s earliest and less popular works, with the first part of the program opening with Rondo in C minor, Op 1, followed by Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op 4 and Brilliant Variations, Op 12.
In the second half of the program, she will explore her Russian roots, presenting Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Six Musical Moments, Op 16 and Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in F sharp minor, Op 23.
Speaking at the press conference in Taipei, Zilberstein said she was very happy to present Chopin’s first piano sonata because the music was not only very beautiful and original, but also showed the world how talented Chopin was.
She said that as a Russian, she always likes to include Russian music in her concerts.
“Some might say Russian music, or Russian tradition, is full of tragedy. But in some way, Russian music is really romantic and is a kind of continuation of Chopin’s music,” she told reporters.
Her two sons, Anton and Daniel Gerzenberg, emerging duo-pianists who will perform with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday next week at the National Concert Hall, will take the stage with her as special guests.
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