Jan Lisiecki

Night: it can be dreamy or comforting, but sometimes it’s frightening, full of dark secrets. So it’s no great surprise that the long hours of darkness, often spent awake, have inspired so many composers to write some of their most touching works: Chopin’s dreamy Nocturnes, for example, Schumann’s dainty »Nachtstücke«  or Ravel’s spine-chilling cycle »Gaspard de la nuit«, populated by sinister figures and dark premonitions. In his piano recital, the young Canadian Polish pianist Jan Lisiecki, who has already made an astonishing international career for himself at the age of only 22, brings the spirits of the night, both good and evil, to life; in his hands, Ravel’s goblin Scarbo dances and the water sprite Ondine swims through the waves, dangerously seductive.