Piotr Anderszewski, Piano

Saturday, April 6, 2019 | 8:00 pm

Duke Performances’ presentation of pianist Piotr Anderszewski, scheduled for Saturday, April 6 at 8 PM in Baldwin Auditorium, has been CANCELLED due to illness. The recital will not be rescheduled this season.

In order to exchange your tickets for one of the remaining Duke Performances offerings in the 2018/19 season, please contact the Duke University Box Office at 919-684-4444 — 11AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday — by 5 PM on Tuesday, April 9.

Otherwise, tickets purchased with a credit card will be refunded to the card of purchase within ten business days. Tickets purchased via check payment will receive a check reimbursement sent to the address on record within eight weeks.

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In 1990, during the semi-finals of the Leeds International Piano Competition, pianist Piotr Anderszewski abruptly walked off the stage. Though he had been a favorite to win, he was dissatisfied with his sound that day and decided to disqualify himself. This uncompromising choice catapulted his career, staking his spot as one of the world’s most intriguing new pianists. He has since won the rare Gilmore Artist Award and a Royal Philharmonic Music Award. He has pursued a deliberately limited repertoire, working and reworking pieces until they approach perfection.

Bach and Beethoven are Anderszewski’s touchstones. In Durham, he begins with selections from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach’s consummate set of keyboard preludes and fugues. Anderszewski ends the night with what may be his greatest obsession, Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, an endlessly dynamic exploration of an 1819 waltz by Anton Diabelli. Anderszewski played the Diabelli on that fateful day in Leeds and kept with it, endlessly honing his interpretation. His vivid reading of Diabelli is spellbinding, delivered with technical dexterity and deep emotional understanding.