Int’l Piano Festival to draw German, Russian, local virtuosos

Organized by New Aspect International Cultural and Educational Foundation as part of its 30th anniversary celebration, the festival started last month with a series of concerts by acclaimed pianists from Taiwan, Germany, Ukraine, the United States, and Russia.

Renowned German pianist Gerhard Oppitz will enthrall Taipei audiences tomorrow, while Russian pianist Oxana Yablonskaya and local talent Andrei Yeh will take center stage on Saturday.

Bavarian-born Oppitz started playing the piano at the age of five and gave his first public concert at the age of 11. He was the first German to win the coveted Arthur Rubinstein International Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1977. Known for his special affinity for Brahms, Oppitz’s repertoire includes Beethoven’s Sonata No. 17 in D minor, op. 31/2 and Sonata No. 32 in C minor, op. 111, as well as Brahms’ Concerto No. 1 in D minor, op. 15.

“Beethoven and Brahms maybe are the composers who have played the most important roles in my own musical life,” said Oppitz during a press event yesterday.

“I’ve always been very curious to explore exotic repertoires. But despite this, I feel a magnetic kind of force that attracts me always back to the old masters like Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, and Schubert,” he continued.

This is the second time that Oppitz will perform in Taiwan after a 29-year absence. He will perform alongside the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Gernot Schmalfuss.

The German pianist and recording artist also noted that tomorrow’s mixed recital and concerto is a rare program that he only performs about once every two years. “This was something that was quite usual some 100 to 150 years ago in the times of Beethoven but not nowadays anymore,” he noted.

A native of Moscow, Yablonskaya’s music career spans over three decades, with highlights including the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition and the International Beethoven Piano Competition Vienna, as well as solo performances with Russia’s Bolshoi Orchestra and the Moscow Stars series. Yablonskaya has also taught at The Juilliard School in New York City.

For her concert, Yablonskaya will play Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, op. 35, which she has previously performed with the Moscow Philharmonic at the Kremlin.

Yablonskaya, who turns 70 this year, has influenced Taiwanese musicians enormously, and many of Taiwan’s music teachers today have been her students, said Fan Man-nong, chairperson of New Aspect.

“I really feel at home in Taiwan. My Taiwanese students are the best! They are so warm and so nice, like my family,” said an enthusiastic Yablonskaya.

Yablonskaya will share the stage with up-and-coming Taiwanese musician Yeh, who began playing the piano at the age of 7 and trained in Moscow for seven years. Yeh will perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, op. 30, known as one of the most technical and demanding pieces in the standard piano repertoire. The National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO) with conductor Roger Epple will accompany them.

“I’m very honored to be able to participate in this event and to be able to share the same stage as Ms. Yablonskaya,” said Yeh, whose concerto this weekend marks his first collaboration with the NTSO.

Tickets for the events range from NT$400 to NT$2,500 (certain categories have already sold out), with special discounts for tickets purchased for both events. More information is available by calling New Aspect at (02) 2577-2568 or by visiting the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center’s NTCH (National Theather & Concert Hall) Ticketing System at www.artsticket.com.tw.

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