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Roman Rabinovich performs Chopin's Ballade No. 4 Op. 52.

Today we'll hear from 2009 Honens Laureate Gilles Vonsattel. In this episode, Gilles performs Louise Farrenc’s Air russe Varié Op. 17.  Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn could be counted among Farrenc's admirers and for good reason; Farrenc wrote in an imaginative and knowledgeable international style, prizing transparency and clear forms. Enjoy!

Today is the final episode of the Honens @ Home: Meet the Quarterfinalists series. In this episode, we meet Dominic Muzzi. Dominic is no stranger to winning competitions—he started winning when he was only a teenager. He is currently enrolled in the doctoral program at Indiana University, where his teacher, 2003 Honens Laureate Roberto Plano, might have put the Honens bug in his ear. In this video, Dominic shares the third movement, Vivo, from Grażyna Bacewicz's Piano Sonata No. 2.  Let's listen. - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

You might recognize today's featured Quarterfinalist from the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition—Austrian pianist and 2018 Semifinalist Philipp Scheucher has returned for the 2022 Competition. Today, Philipp shares with us his own arrangement of Radetzky March by Johann Strauss. Philipp says: "We are exposed to so much negative news, the joy of music and music making can be healing." We couldn't agree more.  Enjoy.  - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

Today, we hear from Honens Quarterfinalist Zhora Sargsyan with a performance of Rachmaninov's Étude-tableau Op. 39 No. 5. Zhora poetically describes this piece as very dramatic and a little bit Wagnerian: symphonic and polyphonic. He suggests listening for the single melodic line pitted against the mass of chords. The melody has to overcome the heaviness and insist on its existence. In the end, Zhora says the drama resolves and through the storm the spot of light can be seen, symbolizing hope for survival. Let's listen. - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

This week, we are pleased to feature KaJeng Wong. KaJeng, born in Hong Kong, has studied in the US, UK, and Sweden. He is the Artistic Director of Music Lab (a non-profit organization in Hong Kong that believes in the value of performance and its power to connect with people), and is interested in collaborative projects involving dance and theatre. He's also the subject of an award-winning documentary about his growth as a young musician called KJ: Music & Life. Today we hear KaJeng perform an arrangement of J.S. Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring by Dame Myra Hess. Enjoy. - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

In this episode, enjoy J.S. Bach's theatrical Toccata in D Major BWV 912 performed by Italian pianist and Honens Quarterfinalist Danilo Mascetti.  Since 2014, Danilo has been the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Arte Solidate Festival at Lake Como, an annual international classical music festival and charity in Italy. In addition to supporting young artists, the festival collaborates with local social organizations to support minors in need, a cause close to Danilo's heart.  Let's listen.  - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

Today we meet 2022 Honens Quarterfinalist Lorenzo Soulès. Lorenzo, born in Lyon, France, completed his studies in Cologne. Lorenzo has chosen a selection from Isaac Albéniz's Iberia to share with us. Iberia is one of the great masterpieces for piano, evoking the colours and atmosphere of Spain. It's a suite divided into four books, each made up of three pieces. Lorenzo performs El Albaicin, named for a district in Granada, in this podcast. Let's listen. - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

Today, we are pleased to feature a pianist all the way from Australia! Honens Quarterfinalist Alexander Yau is a multi-talented musician. He's a skilled clarinetist, a classical tenor, and additionally, he composes and arranges his own pieces.  In this podcast, Alexander makes his debut as a conductor from the keyboard. Enjoy this performance of the slow movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major K. 488. - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

This week, 2022 Honens Quarterfinalist Timofey Dolya invites us into his living room in Austria for a performance of Scriabin's Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor. This piece takes us from a quiet night on the seashore to the turbulence of a stormy ocean.  Enjoy! - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

This week, we are pleased to share two miniatures from Russian pianist and 2022 Honens Quarterfinalist Dmitry Yudin. The first piece is a familiar work by Mendelssohn, transcribed by Rachmaninov, and the second is a work by the less well-known early 20th century composer Sergei Lyapunov. These two pieces are ones Dmitry never tires of playing. He says each has "its own unique character: a mysterious, elegant, and ironic scherzo, and a very temperamental and virtuosic Russian dance, the Lezghinka." Let's listen. - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here. 

In this episode, enjoy a performance of Chopin's Scherzo No. 3 Op. 39. Italian pianist and 2022 Honens Quarterfinalist Federico Gad Crema began playing piano at nine years old. The first piece he learned was by Chopin, a composer whose music Federico continues to learn, perform, and love.  - Watch the video edition of this excerpt here.