The UAE’s majestic Dubai Opera will be graced with the presence of the legendary French/Cypriot pianist Cyprien Katsaris on Monday 12th February, as the maestro, a winner of the International Cziffra Competition and Queen Elisabeth Competition, recipient of the Albert Roussel Foundation Prize and the Alex de Vries Foundation Prize, and founder of the Katsaris Piano Quintet, travels to the emirate to take part in the 2024 InClassica International Music Festival, organised by SAMIT Event Group. Showcasing all of his inimitable talents, Katsaris will be delivering a solo piano recital and, throughout the course of the evening, will interpret a number of works chosen from across the whole spectrum of classical music, presenting music from the pens of historic giants all the way up to contemporary musical geniuses. The programme will open with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude in C minor, BWV 921, also known as Fantasia, before moving to Joseph Haydn’s Sonata No. 48 in C major Hob. XVI:35, followed by Franz Liszt’s transcription of Franz Schubert’s Klavierstück No. 2, D. 946. Next comes the Alexey Shor-Mikhail Pletnev Piano Sonata in A minor, a contemporary work composed in collaboration between the famed pianist and the renowned award-winning composer, Alexey Shor, after which Katsaris will present three pieces from Frederic Chopin – the Valse in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2; Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66; and Polonaise in A-flat major "Heroic", Op. 53. The pianist shall then put forward his own arrangement of Liszt’s Czárdás obstiné, which will be succeeded by a spontaneous improvisation on four notes given by the audience as well as on various themes. Finally, Katsaris will conclude the lengthy programme with two related works, starting with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Six Variations on a Theme from The Ruins of Athens in D Major, Op. 76, before a performance of Franz Liszt’s Fantasy on Motifs from Beethoven's Ruins of Athens.
