In his recital, top Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki will focus on preludes from Baroque to modern music, which gave them new content and expression. At the age of 27, he is a guest on the world’s most important stages.

Frédéric Chopin
Prelude No. 15 in D major from the cycle of 24 Preludes Op. 28

Frédéric Chopin
Prelude No. 26 in A flat major, Op. 86

Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude and Fugue in C major from the cycle Well-Tempered Piano I BWV 846

Sergei Rachmaninov
Prelude No. 3 in D minor from the cycle Ten Preludes for Piano Op. 23

Karol Szymanowski
Nine Preludes Op. 1 (selection)

Olivier Messiaen
Preludes for piano (selection)

Frédéric Chopin
Prelude No. 25 in C sharp minor, Op. 45

Sergei Rachmaninov
Prelude No. 2 in C sharp minor, Op. 3

Henryk Górecki
Four Preludes for solo piano Op. 1 (selection)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude and Fugue in C minor from the cycle Well-Tempered Piano I BWV 847

Sergei Rachmaninov
Prelude No. 5 in G minor from the cycle Ten Preludes for Piano Op. 23

Frédéric Chopin
Preludes Op. 28

Jan Lisiecki – piano

Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, at only twenty-seven years of age, is one of the world’s top virtuosos and is often invited to guest perform on the world’s most important stages. He is praised for his technical sophistication and mature artistic expression. He has developed his piano skills in collaboration with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, as well as such personalities as Claudio Abbado, Michael Tilson Thomas and Manfred Honeck.

In his Ostrava recital, Lisiecki will focus on preludes written across the centuries. This free musical form, in which composers could give free rein to their imagination and musical imagination, found popularity among composers as early as the Baroque period. The cycle of preludes from Bach’s Well-Tempered piano became a model for future generations. A romantic parallel to Bach’s cycle is Fryderyk Chopin’s 24 Preludes Op. 28, which were continued in their virtuosic piano stylisation by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov. Modern music has given the preludes new content and expression. Karol Szymanowski conceived his Nine Preludes as a selection of early piano miniatures, while the French composer Olivier Messiaen experimented with special tonal modes in his Prelude cycle, and the avant-garde Polish composer Henryk Górecki gifted his Four Preludes with an uncompromising and fierce virtuosity.