On the evening of January 17^th, the NCPA Piano Virtuosos 2024 was unveiled by piano virtuoso Krystian Zimerman. Maestro Zimerman gave his debut performance at the NCPA, performing Chopin, Debussy and Szymanowski.

At the mention of Krystian Zimerman, people cannot help but associate his name with the “piano poet”, Chopin. From the same country as Chopin, he won the champion in the International Chopin Piano Competition at the age of 19, starting his career as an international performer. Zimerman’s interpretation of Chopin has long been considered authoritative. Furthermore, his interpretation of Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, as well as the composers of the 20^th century, is widely acclaimed. Yet, as a piano virtuoso in the music scene for nearly 50 years, he has hardly given a performance in China. Upon hearing the news that “Zimerman” would soon hold a solo concert in Beijing, music lovers flocked to the NCPA. The tickets were sold out within ten minutes, demonstrating the music lovers’ longing for him.

Zimerman interpreted Chopin’s works in the first half of the concert. As the most Romantic genre to be discovered in Chopin’s oeuvre, the nocturne contains a musical mood that is unique from all the others in the entire Western musical heritage. Chopin wrote nocturnes throughout his life from the Warsaw period until his death. In order to illustrate how Chopin's emotional resonance and creative approach developed and deepened, Zimerman chose four of the composer's best-known pieces, all of which were written throughout separate eras. His incredible tone instantly captivated the audience. The Piano Sonata No. 2 is a masterpiece that Chopin composed in his heyday, one featuring pure tragic theatricality. Zimerman kept a balance between sense and sensibility, giving a clear, vigourous expression of the emotional cue. Relying on his innate musical sensibility, Zimerman went deep into the structure of the work with great detail, offering the audience a dynamic music scene full of various emotions.

In the second half of the concert, Zimerman played Debussy’s Estampes, which was the first composition to establish Impressionist Aesthetics through an innovative harmonic structure. The three pieces, Pagodes, Night in Grenade and Jardins sous la pluie, showed their special brilliance - mysterious oriental charm, strong Spanish romance and childish playing in the rain - with a colourful, beautiful picture unfolding before their eyes as the pianist touched the keys in multiple ways, rendering the pedal clearly and accurately. Szymanowski was a Polish composer after Chopin, known as “The Father of modern Polish music”. Zimerman produced a new album in the year marking the 140^th anniversary of the composer's birth in homage to this extraordinarily respectable old friend of his, whom he has never met. For Variations on a Polish Folk Theme, Zimerman performed it with skill and ease, unleashing his passion for the nation and expressing a hearty longing for his hometown.

NCPA Piano Virtuosos 2024 will be continued with top-level pianists such as Pogorelich, YIN Chengzong, ZHOU Shanxiang, Buchbinder, Eliso Virsaladze, and Lang Lang. Stay tuned!