Mariam Batsashvili

The Georgian pianist Mariam Batsashvili has made a name for herself particularly as a Liszt interpreter. She initially studied with Nataly Natsvlishvili in Tbilisi and later with Grigory Gruzman at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar. Her victory at the Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar in 2011 was followed in 2014 by First Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht.

Liszt’s Sonata in B minor
With Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, S 178, Batsashvili turns her attention to a key work of Romantic piano literature. Liszt conceives the sonata as a large-scale, cohesive composition featuring virtuoso passages and lyrical moments. This will be preceded by Joseph Haydn’s Sonata in D major, Hob. XVI/37, followed by Mozart’s Fantasy in D minor, K. 397.

Schubert and Liszt again
After the interval, Schubert’s Impromptu in F minor, D 935/1, will be performed. The programme concludes once again with Liszt: in his Fantasy on themes from »Le nozze di Figaro« and »Don Giovanni« he weaves themes from two of Mozart’s operas into a concert piece that is technically demanding for the pianist.