Shriver Hall Concert Series Presents Polish Pianist Piotr Anderszewski

In the continuation of its 2022-23 season, Baltimore's premier presenter of chamber music ensembles and solo recitalists, Click Here (SHCS), presents the Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 5:30pm at Shriver Hall. A pre-concert talk takes place with The Peabody Institute's Anna Celenza at 4:30pm and is open to all ticket holders.

Anderszewski makes his long-awaited return to Shriver Hall after his debut in 2012 and presents audiences a stunning program of works: Johann Sebastian Bach's Overture in the French Style in B minor, BWV 831 is a slow, majestic introduction to the suite, replete with flourishes. Karol Szymanowski's Twenty Mazurkas, Op. 50, of which Anderszewski plays selections from, illustrates the creative renewal sparked by the composer's discovery of folk music from Poland's Tatra Mountains in the 1920s. Szymanowski fused traditional elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm with his own distinctive brand of modernism. Anton Webern's Variations, Op. 27 (1936) take just about six minutes to play and have a rigorous twelve-tone structure. They possess nuances of timbre, attack, pedaling, and tempo that contribute to the music's delicacy and subtly expressive lyricism. Finally, Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110, a late-period work by the composer, juxtaposes passages of great tenderness and lucidity with lacerating eruptions of raw energy and emotion. According to The Guardian, "Every time Anderszewski plays Op. 110, his performance seems even more coherent, more perfect; it's an exceptional experience".

Piotr Anderszewski's 2023 tour will mark his first U.S. performances since January 2020. Regarded as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation, he is a recipient of the prestigious Gilmore Award, and appears regularly in all of the world's major concert halls, both collaborating with leading orchestras and in solo recital. His recordings have received numerous accolades such as the Choc du Monde de la Musique, two BBC Music Magazine Awards (2012), two Gramophone Awards (2015 and 2021), and Grammy nominations for his Bach Partitas 1, 3 and 6, as well as a recording with works by Karol Szymanowski.

Shriver Hall Concert Series' 22-23 Subscription Series at Shriver Hall continues with the Tetzlaff-Tetzlaff-Dörken Trio on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 5:30pm in their first North American tour since 2019 and Grammy-nominated quintet Imani Winds on Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 5:30pm.