Georgian classical pianist Mariam Batsashvili performs Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B minor (German: Klaviersonate h-moll), S.178, a sonata for solo piano. Recorded at the Muziekcentrum Van de Omroep, Hilversum, Netherlands on November 20, 2016. Published by AVROTROS Klassiek.

Mariam Batsashvili performs Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B minor

Liszt noted on the sonata’s manuscript that it was completed on February 2, 1853, but he had composed an earlier version by 1849. It was dedicated to the German composer and influential music critic Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856), in return for Schumann’s dedication of his Fantasie in C major, Op. 17 (published 1839) to Liszt.

Mariam Batsashvili

Mariam Batsashvili
Mariam Batsashvili

Born 1993 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Mariam Batsashvili first studied with Natalia Natsvlishvili at the E. Mikeladze Central Music School in her hometown, before continuing at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar with Professor Grigory Gruzman. In 2011 she won First Prize at the International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar, and received the prestigious Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Award in 2015. Mariam Batsashvili is a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

She first received international recognition at the 10th Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht 2014, where she won First Prize as well as the Junior Jury Award and the Press Prize. “Winner Batsashvili turns every phrase into something special”, headlined Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, and the international Jury called her a “complete artist” with a “tremendous touch” and “sincere emotion”.

Following this success, she gained her first experiences with leading symphony orchestras, including the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of James Gaffigan in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1), the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Rafael Payare (Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1) and the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra (Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2). Mariam has also given recitals in more than 30 countries – among these China (including the NCPA in Beijing and the Shanghai Concert Hall), South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, the United States, South Africa, France, Spain, Norway, the Baltic countries, Benelux and Germany. She has been the guest of many international festivals, such as the Beethovenfest Bonn, Pianofortissimo Festival Bologna and the Delft Chamber Music Festival.

Mariam Batsashvili has been nominated by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) as ‘Rising Star’ for the 2016/17 season, and will perform in the most significant concert halls throughout Europe, including the Philharmonies of Paris, Cologne and Luxembourg, the Vienna Musikverein, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Müpa Budapest, L’Auditori in Barcelona, the Stockholm Concert Hall, the Southbank Centre in London, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and will return to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. She will also give her recital debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall and the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, appear with the Staatskapelle Weimar under the baton of Kirill Karabits, with the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne under Gábor Takács-Nagy and perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Wurttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra Reutlingen under Norichika Iimori in Munich’s Herkulessaal.

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres

Published by M. Özgür Nevres

I am Özgür Nevres, a software engineer, a former road racing cyclist, and also an amateur musician. I opened andantemoderato.com to share my favorite music. I also take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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