Celebrated Serbian pianist Aleksandar Madžar gave an exceptional performance at BEMUS on Wednesday, November 10, 2021, in front of the full hall of the Kolarac Endowment. He held the first of eight planned concerts dedicated to all of Beethoven's sonatas.

The programme included Beethoven's compositions: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1; Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2; Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3 and 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120.

On the eve of the concert, Aleksandar Madžar announced in a statement for RTS that he would perform 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas in a series of eight concerts at Kolarac, which was the composer's Magnum opus. Madžar pointed out that Beethoven's symphonies and string quartets were very important in the historical sense, but that piano sonatas ‘carried a gram more’ when it came to further development of the piano repertoire, as well as the history of music in general. In addition to the sonatas, he announced variations on the theme of Diabelli's Waltz and several trifles that he had added to the programme.  

When asked what Beethoven's music meant to him personally and how he approached it, Madžar answered that such music was approached with a certain amount of modesty, curiosity, and analytically, because such a work should be understood, adopted and felt. He said that Beethoven stood at the crossroads of styles, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, which set him apart from other composers, because he had created music at a time of great turmoil and the beginnings of romanticism.    

The artist emphasized that Beethoven was a composer who had been politically engaged what made him special. He pointed out that the Ninth Symphony was a supreme example of how a certain work throughout history had received a different reception in each generation. ‘However, for most of us, it is enough to hear Beethoven’s incredible harmonies, melodies and structures, as well as mathematics, which he used in his music like few others,’ said Madžar.

At the first performance of Alexander Madžar this year, the audience, as always, enjoyed the virtuosity of the artist who is rightly considered one of the best pianists in the world today.

At the concert within the BEMUS ENCORE Festival programme, on November 14, we will again listen to the brilliant Hungarian who will present the Piano Sonata Op. 49 No. 1 and 2, Op. 7, Op. 111.

Aleksandar Madžar was born in Belgrade in 1968. He began studying piano with Gordana Malinović, and he studied in Novi Sad, Belgrade, Moscow and Brussels. He has won awards at major international competitions in Geneva, Leeds, Bolzano (Ferruccio Busoni) and Milan (Umberto Micheli). Madžar made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of maestro Iván Fischer in 1990. He regularly performs throughout Europe, paying equal attention to recitals, performances with orchestras and chamber music. He has also toured North and South America, South Africa and the Far East. Aleksandar Madžar is a professor at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Brussels and at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre.