MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7th at 8.00 PM
KOLARAC ENDOWMENT
IVO POGORELIĆ, PIANO
Frédéric Chopin
Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat major, Op. 61
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58
Allegro maestoso
Scherzo: Molto vivace
Largo
Finale: Presto non tanto
***
Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49
Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57
Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60
The legendary pianist Ivo Pogorelić, whose concert performances were rated by the New York Times as creations that stands 200 years ahead of its time, is certainly one of the most intriguing and significant classical musicians of today. With his interpretations of piano literature based on a combination of high intellectualism and unsurpassed technique, Pogorelic distinguished himself at the beginning of his career with the originality of his musical ideas, which provide the audience with completely new and unexpected insights into the works of the composers he performs.
Born in Belgrade 1958, he began his musical education in his hometown, and as an exceptional talent, he continued his education in Moscow, where he graduated from the prestigious P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. The crucial influence on Pogorelic’s artistic development however, was achieved by his latter, long-term collaboration with prominent Georgian pianist Alisa Kezheradze, who as a pedagogue, imparted to him the knowledge of the Liszt-Ziloti piano school. Pogorelic was the winner of several international piano competitions, among which those in Terni (Italy, 1978) and Montreal (Canada, 1980) stand out, but his participation in the prestigious Chopin competition in Warsaw in 1980 was of particular importance in his biography, when, as one of the favorites, he was eliminated before the final stage of the competition. This controversial decision by the jury caused a scandal and a split in which several members left the competition in protest, while pianist Martha Argerich explained her personal decision to withdraw from the jury with the publicly stated claim that Pogorelic is a genius!
On the wave of huge interest that he attracted at the Chopin competition with his astonishing technique and innovative approach to interpreting literature, Pogorelić began an intensive career with performances on the world’s biggest music stages, as well as with renowned orchestras, such as: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philarmonic Orchestra and Los Angeles Philarmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, etc.
His performances on the world’s prestigious stages (Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Musikverein, Tonhalle, Theater Colon, Suntory Hall, Elbe Philarmonic, etc) are accompanied by his commitment to studio recording. As an exclusive artist of Deutsche Grammophon, between 1981 and 1998 Ivo Pogorelic released 14 albums of anthological value, united in a set of editions which, upon publication in 2015, were crowned with the French Diapason d’Or Award for overall contribution to the discography of classical music. After more than twenty years of exclusive dedication to live concerts, Pogorelić returned to the studio in 2019 as an exclusive artist of the record company Sony Classical with the long-awaited album with sonatas by Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the same year. At the beginning of the current year 2022, his second album for this publisher was released with recent interpretations of Frederic Chopin’s works.
In an addition to a rich and wide-ranging professional practice that has been on the world stage for more than forty years, Ivo Pogorelić’s activities are also accompained by notable involvement in the fields of humanitarian work and assistance to young artists. He is the founder and sponsor of the Fund for Young Musicians in Zagreb in 1986, the International Music Festival in Bad Vörishofen (Germany) in 1989 and the International Piano Competition in Pasadena (USA) in 1993. For his merits in the field of promoting the highest values of culture and art, Pogorelić is the first classical musician in the world to be awarded the title of UNESCO Ambassador in 1988.At the end of 2016, the Manhattan International Music Competition was launched in Carnegie Hall, the main award of which bears the name of this artist (Ivo Pogorelić Award), while in 2018, in addition to numerous musical institutions, the Japanese state television NHK joined Pogorelić's double jubilee - 60 years of life and 40 years of career - by making a feature-length documentary film dedicated to this iconic pianist. In the previous season, Ivo Pogorelić made notable performances at the festivals, such as: Schleswig-Holstein, Ruhr and Mito, then on numerous European stages, as well as in the United States and Canada. In the current 2022/2023, in addition to the announced realizations of new studio recordings, concert tours await him in Europe and the Far East (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China), where he will perform a recital program with the works of Frederic Chopin and piano concerts by romantic artists.
Ticket prices: 5000, 4000, 3000