Nicholas Angelich

A great performer of the piano of the 18th and 19th centuries, Nicholas Angelich also defends the music of our age, creating many pieces, including a recent concerto by Baptiste Trotignon. So with his wealth of experience, he proposes an homage to Brahms , “Herr Professor”, with such an imposing beard and stature. Brahms aspired to an art that was “out of time”, not hesitating to transform the Ballade, an explicitly poetic genre, into an exclusively musical piece.

The Variations on a theme by Paganini proceed in the same vein of thematic variation that inhabited Brahms throughout his life and bring together all of the piano's possible pitfalls: scales, arpeggios, massive chords, poly-rhythms, etc.

After this high-wire act, Nicholas Angelich will need all of his talent as an ivory poet to perform the darker parts of the opus 116 , “the pessimist's breviary”.