Performance

The music of Robert Schumann and Fryderyk Chopin will come together in a single recital. At the piano – Łukasz Krupiński, a pianist acclaimed for his sensitivity, musicality and ability to shape large-scale works full of tension and expressive depth.

 

The evening will open with Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Op. 16 – one of the composer’s most personal and remarkable piano cycles. Inspired by the figure of the eccentric Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler from the stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann, the work takes the listener through a world of striking contrasts: from impulsiveness and dramatic unrest to moments of lyrical calm. It is music of shifting moods and sudden turns, imbued with the spirit of Romantic fantasy.

 

The second part of the recital will be devoted to the music of Fryderyk Chopin. The subtle Mazurka in F minor, Op. 63 No. 2 reveals his extraordinary ability to transform a simple dance rhythm into music filled with melancholy and intimacy. It will be followed by the Nocturne in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 – lyrical, song-like and elegant, yet charged with an underlying inner tension.

 

Chopin will then reveal his more dramatic side. The Étude in C minor, Op. 10 No. 12, known as the “Revolutionary”, is among the composer’s most recognisable works. Its relentless motion, powerful chords and mounting tension create an image of a musical force in which virtuosity becomes inseparable from expression.

 

The recital will conclude with the Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 – a work of extraordinary dramatic scope that resists simple genre classification. Here, Chopin combines march rhythms, lyrical passages, dramatic climaxes and moments of almost improvisatory freedom. It is music full of contrasts, moving from introspection towards a powerful finale.

 

Łukasz Krupiński’s recital will thus be a journey through the many shades of Romanticism – from Schumann’s feverish intensity and fantasy to Chopin’s intimacy, melancholy and drama. Two great individual musical languages will meet in the interpretation of a pianist for whom virtuosity is never an end in itself, but rather a means of revealing the emotional depth of the music.

 

Łukasz Krupiński is a Polish-British pianist acclaimed for the lyricism, poetic quality and expressive depth of his interpretations. Since his debut at Carnegie Hall, he has performed with leading orchestras around the world and in prestigious concert halls across Europe, Asia and North America. A laureate of numerous international piano competitions, he won the San Marino International Piano Competition and was a finalist of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. In 2015, he was among the 20 semi-finalists of the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. His debut album, Espressione, was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards and received critical acclaim internationally.

 

The concert is presented as part of the “Chopin Effect” project in cooperation with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.