Werk: Sechs Bagatellen für Klavier, Op.126

Après Elisabeth Leonskaja, c’était au tour de Dénes Várjon d’enchanter le cloître des Jacobins de compositions hongroises. Le Festival Piano aux Jacobins, dans sa 38ème édition, choisissait pour son deuxième concert le virtuose formé à la Franz Liszt Académie de Budapest.

Nikita Mndoyants proved his adeptness in shaping small musical forms and meaningfully connecting them.

Maurizio Pollini demonstrated why people still flock to hear him perform in sonatas by Beethoven and miniatures by Schoenberg.

Freshness and intensity were brought to Beethoven's later piano sonatas, including a convincing Hammerklavier, together with a welcome performance of his last work for solo piano.

A dark thread ran through Yevgeny Sudbin’s recital at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, from the sombre B minor sonata by Haydn to Scriabin’s infamous “Black Mass” sonata and Saint-Saens’ virtuosic Danse macabre.