
Money, money, money
A story about art and money, about two capricious personalities: Prokofiev and Mozart. Brilliant piano concertos played by brilliant pianists.
Aidan Mikdad: one out-of-the-ordinary talent. In 2013, he was eleven, he won the Royal Concertgebouw Competition. Meanwhile, child prodigy and with whole bulk of prizes in his pocket, he plays on all those sought-after stages. This fall, he filled in at Amare The Hague for an ailing Arcadi Volodos, who was unable to play the second half of his concert. Stormy acclaim from the audience followed. Meanwhile, he is still just studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London – after all, he is only 20.
Earlier this Biennale, Aidan’s contemporary Nikola Meeuwsen played the Fantasy that Schumann dedicated to Liszt. The Sonata you hear now was Liszt returning the favor: he dedicated the work to Schumann. Liszt left many in confusion with his sonata: does it have three or four movements, or just one after all? Is it autobiographical or does it tell a different story? And is it “a tray of noise” (Clara Schumann) or “of unsurpassed beauty” (Richard Wagner)? Judge for yourself!
Franz Liszt – Sonate in b, S.178
Aidan Mikdad, piano
A story about art and money, about two capricious personalities: Prokofiev and Mozart. Brilliant piano concertos played by brilliant pianists.
Rami Khalifé prefers a detour from the usual classical track. He sings, improvises, produces dance rhythms on the grand piano, alternating lyricism with rousing rhythms – as you haven’t heard the piano before.
Nikola Meeuwsen, winner of the GrachtenfestivalPrijs 2022 and “a talent to keep an eye on” (NRC) plays one of the most important piano works of the Romantic era.