PROGRAM

Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)

Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53
Three Mazurkas, Op. 50
24 Preludes Op. 28 

The creative musical layers of composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), the genius of the Romantic era and the flagbearer of the Polish nation, are still unmistakable today. Interpreting his music is the task and challenge of every professional pianist. It is a task to master the mastery of Romantic music interpretation, a challenge to present to the audience an accurate, yet at the same time individual version of the interpretation of the work. An interpretation that would not only remind us of the passages we have heard, but at the same time would reveal the uniqueness of the relationship between the composer, the performer and the trinity of the audience.

 

The pianist Kasparas Mikužis, who has taken up the task and accepted the challenge, will play the Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53, also known as the Heroic Polonaise, which demands a particular virtuosity. There will also be the Three Mazurkas, Op. 50, Polish dances with a light touch but requiring technical mastery. The heart of the concert will be the 24 Preludes Op. 28, composed between 1835 and 1839. Although in the 20th and recent centuries the integral performance of an opus has become the concert 'norm', in his own time Chopin changed the view of the value of small musical forms with these preludes. Each opus prelude is an independent work, conveying a specific idea or emotion. In this way, the genre of the prelude became not only an introduction to a larger musical form, but also opened up to the nature of improvisational art.

 

The name of Kaspars Mikuzis, an actively performing pianist of the younger generation, is being heard more and more often on the world's great stages, such as the Wigmore Hall in London, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Panderecki Hall in Luslavice, and the Lithuanian National Philharmonic. Earlier this season, the pianist performed with one of Britain's leading conductors, John Wilson, and the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra, followed by a solo recital at Wigmore Hall. His performances have been broadcast on Mezzo TV in more than 40 countries and his radio recordings have been heard in Lithuania and abroad.

 

Kasparas Mikužis is invited to perform on national holidays, such as last year's solo recital for the first couples of Lithuania and Poland in the courtyard of the President's Palace, on 6 July, the day of the coronation of Lithuania's King Mindaugas. He has also been invited to give a solo performance at the home of the legendary actor Ian McKellen, at a private charity concert, and this February he appeared in the Eudon Choi show at London Fashion Week, performing Chopin's Preludes. Kaspar is an Imogen Cooper Music Trust Fellow and has been working closely with pianist Gabriela Montero since 2023. Kaspar is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Christopher Elton and Diana Ketler.