For the first time in the Czech Republic, young sixteen-year-old pianist Alexandra Dovgan will present herself in Ostrava with her recital. Her career started 6 years ago by winning the prestigious Grand Piano Competition.

Sergei Rachmaninov
Variations on a Theme by Corelli Op. 42

Alexander Scriabin
Piano Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, Op. 19

Further programme under discussion

Alexandra Dovgan – piano

The Ostrava recital of Alexandra Dovgan will be the debut Czech performance of this young, only sixteen-year-old pianist. Her promising international career was launched by her success in the prestigious Grand Piano Competition, which she won when she was only ten years old. Since then, she has had the opportunity to perform solo in major European concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In June 2019, she wowed audiences and critics with her recital at the famous Salzburg Festival.

The centrepieces of the Ostrava performance will be two compositions by Russian composers of the late Romantic period. Variations on a Corelli Theme by Sergei Rachmaninoff were written during the composer’s American emigration. The theme he worked on in these variations did not originally come from Corelli at all. Traces of the popular dance tune known as the folia can be traced back to the 15th century. While Corelli used it as the basis for variations in one of his Baroque violin sonatas, Rachmaninoff reinterpreted the theme in his harmonically rich and pianistically brilliant musical language with a wide range of expressive positions.

Alexander Scriabin found inspiration to compose the Second Piano Sonata, sometimes referred to as the Sonata-Fantasy, during his stays by the seashore. Almost impressionistic, the music evokes the calm surface, the sombre waves of the sea depths and the stormy power of the wide ocean.