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Date
21/9/2026
Location
Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall
Time
8 pm
Doors Closed
7.55 pm
End of Concert
approx. 10.05 pm
Dress Code
dark suit
Programme Series
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Fryderyk Chopin
Fryderyk Chopin
Fryderyk Chopin
Artists
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Since winning the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2005, Rafał Blechacz has established himself as a leading figure on the international concert scene and is recognised as one of the greatest performers of Chopin’s works of his generation. The Polish pianist is celebrated worldwide by audiences and critics alike for his profound and virtuosic interpretations. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, given every four years to an extraordinary concert pianist regardless of age or nationality.
Blechacz has performed with renowned orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Camerata Salzburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. He gives recitals in major concert halls worldwide, including Philharmonie Berlin, Prinzregententheater Munich, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Wiener Konzerthaus, and BOZAR – Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, as well as throughout the USA and Asia.
He begins the 2024/2025 season with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra under Kent Nagano and will also perform with the SWR Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. His solo recitals will take him to Milan, Geneva, Berlin, and Paris, along with extensive tours of Japan and China. As a chamber musician, he focuses on his duo with Bomsori Kim.
Blechacz is an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon. His debut recording of Chopin’s Préludes achieved Platinum Record status in Poland and earned both a German ECHO Klassik Award and the French Diapason d’Or. His recording of both Chopin piano concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Jerzy Semkow received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. In 2012, his album of works by Debussy and Szymanowski was named Recording of the Month by Gramophone magazine and Solo Recording of the Year by ECHO Klassik. His recent albums, including Chopin’s Polonaises, works by Bach, and his duo album with Bomsori Kim, have been well received by audiences and critics alike. His latest recording, featuring works by Frédéric Chopin, was released in March 2023 and is dedicated to the composer who has shaped his career.
Born in 1985, Blechacz began studying the piano at the age of five, continuing his education at the Arthur Rubinstein State School of Music in Bydgoszcz. He graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz in 2007, studying under Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń. In 2016, he received his doctorate in music philosophy.
source: LIU KOTOW International Management & Promotion
photo © Marco Borggreve
About the Programme
Twenty-one years ago, Rafał Blechacz won the International Chopin Piano Competition in a manner the prestigious event had not seen for a long time. He swept every first prize, including the audience award. The jury underscored his victory by not awarding a second prize at all – the gap between the then 20-year-old pianist and the rest of the competitors was simply too great – and piano music devotees began picturing him as a successor to the legendary Krystian Zimerman.
More importantly, the Polish pianist has since built on his earlier triumph with a successful career. He has established himself as the foremost interpreter of Chopin in his generation, with a lyrical and colourful style that is perfectly aligned with the composer’s music. The same can be expected of Beethoven’s dreamlike Moonlight Sonata, in which the moonlight seems to radiate directly from the piano through Blechacz’s hands. A Bach-inspired opening recalls the fundamental source of modern European music, whose universality remains open to almost any interpretation. An evening with Rafał Blechacz leaves audiences feeling almost intoxicated and enlightened by rays of eternity.
With thanks to all who supported this concert
Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall
The Rudolfinum is one of the most important Neo-Renaissance edifices in the Czech Republic. In its conception as a multi-purpose cultural centre it was quite unique in Europe at the time of its construction. Based on a joint design by two outstanding Czech architects, Josef Zítek and Josef Schultz, a magnificent building was erected serving for concerts, as a gallery, and as a museum. The grand opening on 7 February 1885 was attended by Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, in whose honour the structure was named. In 1896 the very first concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra took place in the Rudolfinum's main concert hall, under the baton of the composer Antonín Dvořák whose name was later bestowed on the hall.