This year also marks the resumption of the collaboration with the Fondazione Amici della Fenice as part of the VeneziaPianoFestival, which presents both the winners of the latest editions of the Premio Venezia, and pianists who emerged from the “Ferruccio Busoni” International Piano Competition in Bolzano. Ukrainian pianist Antonii Baryshevskyi is among them. A laureate of some of the most prestigious international piano competitions, including the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, the “Premio Jaén,” and the aforementioned Busoni Competition, his career has seen him perform in some of the most prestigious international concert halls and with several of the main European orchestras. At the festival, he will propose a fascinating journey through piano literature between the nineteenth century and the present day, focusing on the form of the étude as a space for technical and expressive research. Although originally conceived as simple technical exercises, Antonii Baryshevskyi reveals here the breathtaking beauty of the studies. Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy reinvented them as virtuosic concert pieces, and Baryshevskyi combines them with contemporary compositions by Ukrainian authors Svyatoslav Lunyov and Maxim Shalygin. With the latter in particular, Baryshevskyi cultivates a close creative bond that has strengthened following the tragic events in their homeland, initiating a new phase of mutual growth that culminated in the creation of new studies highlighting Shalygin’s innovative approach to the solo piano repertoire. The two artists thus inspire each other, and the pianist has become an ambassador for Ukrainian music on the world stage. The four Ballades by Chopin that open the concert represent one of the highest peaks of musical Romanticism. With this cycle, Chopin “invents” a new genre and transforms the instrument into a narrative voice capable of evoking legendary worlds, heroism, and profound melancholy. With Claude Debussy and György Ligeti, the study is transformed into a timbral and rhythmic exploration, moving between irony, color, and sonic complexity, while the pages by Svyatoslav Lunyov and Maxim Shalygin offer a contemporary, intimate, and suggestive gaze. With Franz Liszt, visionary virtuosity returns, rich in natural imagery and transcendental passion. The program closes with two famous Études by Chopin, in which technique and poetry find a perfect synthesis.

Music by Chopin, Debussy, Ligeti, Lunyov, Shalygin, Liszt.