The 9th Vilnius Piano Festival, which will open on November 15 at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society (LNPhS), traditionally promises impressive encounters with top-level pianists. Recitals make up the majority of the festival program. According to the festival’s founder and artistic director Mūza Rubackytė, in keeping with tradition, this year the audience is invited to Parisian soirees and an afternoon to enjoy recitals by renowned masters – Denis Pascal, Philippe Cassard, and French piano legend Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, as well as recitals by winners of prestigious competitions: James Zijian Wei, winner of the 2024 Cleveland Competition, Evren Ozel, winner of the 2024 Cleveland and 2025 Van Cliburn competitions, and Anna Geniušienė, winner of the 2022 Van Cliburn competition.
“Thanks to the efforts of the festival’s artistic director, pianist Mūza Rubackytė, the 9th Vilnius Piano Festival Diptichas Čiurlioniui (Diptych for Čiurlionis), dedicated to Čiurlionis, will once again become a centre of attraction for piano music lovers and enrich the cultural life of the capital with high-level concerts featuring renowned Lithuanian and foreign performers,” says Rūta Prusevičienė, director general of the LNPhS.
Five of the nine festival concerts will be recitals. Continuing the tradition of introducing the winners of prestigious competitions to the festival audience, the National Philharmonic will host Winner’s Recital on November 18, featuring young Chinese pianist James Zijian Wei. He is the first prize winner of the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, third prize winner of the 76th Geneva International Music Competition, and recipient of the Rose-Marie Huguenin Special Prize. As a winner of the Cleveland Competition, the pianist will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York this year and at the Tonhalle in Zurich in 2026. For his concert in Vilnius, Wei brings a particularly diverse and colourful programme, featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ferenc Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Maurice Ravel, as well as works by 20th-century Chinese composer Lü Wencheng and, most notably, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis.
The festival’s tradition of double recital will continue this year on November 25 with the concert The Winners’ Tandem, featuring two pianists who won silver medals at prestigious competitions in the United States: Evren Ozel, winner of the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition and the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and Anna Geniušienė, winner of the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. They will offer a panorama of diverse genres and styles from various eras: works by Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy, Domenico Scarlatti, Ludwig van Beethoven, Béla Bartók, and, of course, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, thus contributing to the festival’s dedication to Čiurlionis.
A special festival recital series has become known as Parisian Soirees in Vilnius. These are French music programmes performed by French piano masters. On November 20, the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Concert Hall will be the setting for a programme dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Erik Satie, performed by one of the most original French pianists, Denis Pascal. It is said that this pianist is one of the few who has managed to unravel the mystery of Satie. Pascal is renowned for his highly authentic musical performances, which preserve the historical understanding of the repertoire. A strict and consistent ethic of musical interpretation is one of this performer’s core values. At the Vilnius Piano Festival concert, Pascal will complement Satie’s works with pieces by Claude Debussy and Frédéric Chopin – both composers are also important symbols of the Parisian piano repertoire, contextualising Satie’s work.
Another Parisian Soiree in Vilnius is scheduled for November 23 in the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Chamber Hall. It will be more of an intimate afternoon, with maestro Philippe Cassard inviting the audience to enjoy the music of Claude Debussy in a chamber ambiance. The pianist attracted the attention of music connoisseurs by playing four recitals in one day, featuring all of Debussy’s works for piano. Later, Cassard repeated this enormous cycle in London, Dublin, Lisbon, Vancouver, and elsewhere. The pianist will treat the audience of the Vilnius Piano Festival to a part of this gigantic programme of Debussy’s piano works – compositions illustrating various natural phenomena. Incidentally, on November 21 at 10.00, this pianist will lead a master class on French music at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
The Parisian soirees will culminate in a recital dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel, on November 27 in the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Concert Hall. The stage will be graced by French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, already familiar to our audience, having performed with the Manchester Camerata orchestra at the National Philharmonic a couple of years ago. According to the Financial Times, “he makes you listen to music as if you are discovering it. Eureka!”. At the concert in Vilnius, Bavouzet will present a selection of works by Maurice Ravel, French impressionist. Ravel’s work is his element; his recordings of Ravel’s piano concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra have won awards from both Gramophone and BBC Magazine.
The full program of the 9th Vilnius Piano Festival can be found on the websites www.nationalphilharmonic.lt and www.vff.lt. The festival is sponsored by Allianz Lietuva, with support from Vilnius City Municipality, Vilnius Club, Saulius Karosas Charity and Support Foundation, Urbo Bank, and the French Institute. We look forward to seeing you at the concerts!
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