Tuesday, November 18, 8:30 PM, Sala 500
Following the success of its first edition, the new Season of Pianisti del Lingotto series starts with the Argentine virtuoso Nelson Goerner on his debut at Lingotto Musica. Known for his ability to balance analytical strictness and expressiveness, his recital in Turin is a journey through two centuries of piano music: from Bach’s counterpoint to the visionary intimacy of Schubert, passing through the poetry of Chopin to Schumann’s emotional storms.
The Argentine virtuoso Nelson Goerner
Born in San Pedro in 1969, Nelson Goerner made his solo debut at the age of just eleven. He was awarded First Prize in the Franz Liszt Competition in Buenos Aires in 1986. This led to a scholarship to work with Maria Tipo at the Geneva Conservatoire, closed with the First Prize at the Geneva Competition in 1990. Since then, his career has taken him to major international concert halls and festivals, including Salzburg, Verbier, the BBC Proms and La Roque d’Anthéron.
Goerner has a strong relationship with the Mozarteum Argentino in Buenos Aires and enjoys a long association with the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, with whom he released several albums of unusual repertoire (Godowsky and Paderewski) on the Institute’s own record label. His award-winning discography includes works by Liszt, Albéniz, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Fauré, Franck and Schumann, testifying his interest for the entire Romantic repertoire and beyond. He recently toured in Spain and France with Martha Argerich in a tribute to Maurizio Pollini on his passing.
Toccatas, Sonatas, and Fantasies from Baroque to Romanticism
The program opens with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata in C minor, BWV 911 (Weimar period, 1708-1717), which combines improvisation and rigorous counterpoint. Franz Schubert’s Sonata in C minor, D. 958, composed in 1828, follows. Part of the trilogy of Schubert’s late sonatas, this piece is a masterpiece of his piano literature, where the minor key gives a dramatic tension in Beethoven’s style.
The second part of the program starts with Fryderyk Chopin’s Fantasie in F minor, Op. 49 (1841), a work that challenges formal conventions with its four-part structure. The recital closes with Robert Schumann’s Fantasie in C major, Op. 17 (1836-1838). As one of the most complex and visionary works in his catalogue, it is characterized by an extraordinary musical-poetic freedom. The Beethovenian theme from An die ferne Geliebte cycle runs through the composition like an obsession, transforming it into a homage to the master of Bonn and a declaration of love to Clara Wieck.