Martin Stadtfeld - Treffen der Giganten

In the organizer's words:

Pianist Martin Stadtfeld is an exception in today's cultural scene: he mainly gives solo concerts. He can afford to do so, because the albums of the award-winning exceptional pianist Martin Stadtfeld are real bestsellers. The winner of the 2002 Leipzig Bach Competition delights his audience not only with his innovative interpretations of great works, but also with improvisations on existing pieces.

As is so often the case with Stadtfeld, Johann Sebastian Bach is the starting point for his concert. Fréderic Chopin and Franz Liszt, the worldly piano virtuoso composers, were idolized by European high society. Both were among the first to exploit the full artistic potential of the modern concert grand piano, and both are credited with harmonic advances that belied their image as lovers of pompous showpieces. Yet despite these similarities, there were also profound differences between the two. Chopin was the more reserved, more aristocratic, more dreamy poet. Next to him, in the 1830s and 40s, Liszt was an extroverted showman - but perhaps also the greatest technician the piano has ever produced. Liszt's only piano sonata revolutionizes the genre and yet remains a unique piece. Chopin's sonata in the same key, on the other hand, harks back to the classical form.