The programme will feature works by Chopin, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Prokofiev.

 

The Auditorio de Tenerife is showing next Tuesday (12 March), at 7.30 p.m., at the Chamber Hall a concert by the Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski. The musician will perform works by Chopin, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Prokofiev. This programme tackles the wealth of composition for piano through classical forms, especially variations, where melodic invention achieves its greatest expressive intensity.

This concert is part of the Pianísimo subscription, which offers tickets for four piano concerts at a 25% discount, including this one by Trpčeski as well as the concerts of Fazil Say on 23 April, Martín García García on 21 May and Paul Lewis on 11 June.

The programme will start with Frédéric Chopin and his Four Mazurkas. With the eight variations on Come un Agnello, Mozart pays tribute to the Italian musician Giuseppe Sarti, taking a theme from one of his operas and turning it into a great fantasia. Beethoven also finds variations to be a form of expression of great richness where, along with the fugue, they were to be the forms he would most frequently use in his final works. His variations for piano on a Russian dance from the ballet Das Waldmädchen by Paul Wranitzky, stand out for their expressive power and their metric irregularities; and the 32 variations on an original theme, written in 1806, constitute, in a certain way, a kind of demonstration of the technique of variation based on thematic material whose energy is fully concentrated, melodically and harmonically.

The sonata has a representation in this recital through the work of Prokófiev as another great classical form. The composer fully exploited its possibilities by giving back the form its nobility with a harmonic density. Additionally, he incorporated a powerful and engine-like articulation, very characteristic of his piano style. His Sonata No. 7 is probably the most famous of the nine he wrote. The piece was written in 1932 and concluded in the Caucasus during World War II. At the time, Prokofiev was fleeing from the terrors of war. The composition has an innate sense of anguish that runs throughout its three movements, which can be chilling at times. Its rhythmic precision expresses momentum and terror, while still maintaining an intense lyricism, which can be unsettling. This provides a contained calm that is almost threatened by the momentum and ardent virtuosity that permeates the entire work. On the other hand, but with a different freshness and lightness in the harmonic language, the arrangement for piano that the composer, pianist and orchestra composer, Mikhail Pletnev, produced in the nineties of the famous Suite from the ballet The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky matches that rhythmic precision of Prokofiev mentioned before. It has clarity in the articulation and fidelity in the language when it comes to transcribing. This is probably one of the most popular ballets in the history of music.

Simon Trpčeski has been praised for both his mastery and his deeply expressive approach, as well as his charismatic presence on stage. Launched onto the international stage 20 years ago as a BBC New Generation Artist, he has collaborated with over a hundred orchestras on four continents. He has worked with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Cristian Măcelaru, Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Charles Dutoit, Jakob Hrusa, Vladimir Jurowski, Susanna Malkki, Andris Nelsons, Antonio Pappano and Michael Tilson Thomas.

His recordings include the complete works of Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra and the piano concertos by Prokófiev, as well as Poulenc, Debussy and Ravel. More recently, Variations was released, a solo album by works by Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart. His recording of the piano concerts by Brahms with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Cristian Macelaru was released in November 2023.

Born in 1979 in Macedonia, Simon Trpčeski studied under Boris Romanov. Dedicated to promoting his country's culture, his chamber music project MAKEDONISSIMO blends traditional Macedonian folk music with a unique soundscape.

In 2009 he received the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia, and in 2011 he became the first recipient of the title "National Artist of Macedonia”. He was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2001 to 2003, and in 2003 he was honoured with the Young Artist Award of the Royal Philharmonic Society.

The tickets can be purchased at a single price of €15 and 5 for under 30s on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium's box office, or by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There are discounts for students, unemployed and large families.