Closing Night

Alas all good things must come to an end... and what a way to finish with the husband and wife team of Natasha Vlassenko and Oleg Stepanov.

The recital was book ended by two duets starting with the Debussy Petit Suite and finishing with a wonderful performance of the Ravel Rhapsody Espagnole.

In between we were treated to a feast of solo Liszt repertoire including in the first half - the Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude, Liebestraume and Hungarian Rhapsody performed by Oleg and in the second half the Sonetto di Petrarca No 123, Trancendental Etude no.12, Sposalizio and Hungarian Rhapsody No.11 played by Natasha.

All concerts have been recorded by Radio New Zealand for broadcast later this year.

This morning, as I write, I have been flooded with calls and emails from people with positive feedback on the week’s festivities. Please feel free to comment and offer any constructive advice – at the end of the day we are not concert promoters but merely piano enthusiasts with a desire to provide a valuable music experience to the New Zealand community.

Post by John Eady
NZIPF Chairman

Move Over Boris?

Well not entirely perhaps, but Sofya Gulyak’s recital at the Concert Chamber last night was simply astounding. What else would you expect from a young rising Russian megastar performing the greatest repertoire from Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostokovich?

From the very fist melodic notes of the Rach five pieces Op.3 we knew that it was to be a wondrous and magical night and Sofya certainly didn’t disappoint.

It was very hard to pick a favourite with such fantastic music. C# minor prelude of course but I was particularly taken with the two short Poemes Op.32 by Alexander Scriabin.

At this point I would like to give a heart felt thanks to Prof. Tamas Vesmas, the NZIPF Artistic Director for providing us with such fantastic talent. These truly are pianists of a quality that we have not heard in New Zealand before and I can’t wait to see who he sources for future festivals.

Post by John Eady
NZIPF Chairman

China's Loss New Zealand's Gain

Having recently taken up a position at The New Zealand School of Music in Wellington it became very obvious as to why Jian Liu is creating quite a stir amongst the NZ music community.

Despite having injured his wrist the previous Friday, Jian gave a masterful performance of a very taxing programme. His intellectual prowess was matched by his equally formidable technique and in particular his interpretation of the Liszt B minor (one of my personal favourites) brought out facets of the music which I had not previously heard. Once again you could hear a pin drop in the Concert Chamber as every ear was glued to model D Steinway.

As I write this blog Jian is conducting his masterclass at the Lewis Eady showroom and it is fascinating to get an insight into the minds of these fantastic performers and how they put together the architecture of the music.

Post by John Eady

NZIPF Chairman

Oh My God

... the piano gods that is!

I need to buy a new Thesaurus as I’m about to run out of superlatives.

Tonight’s recital was a concert of THREE halves - the first half followed by the second half, followed by the SIX encores and TWO standing ovations in the third!

For those of you who couldn’t make it... you just missed possibly one of the best piano performances we are likely to see in New Zealand.

As one awestruck concert goer said ‘imagine how good he would have been if he hadn’t been suffering jet lag’.

As luck would have it though, we still have three fabulous concerts to go, including another up coming Russian superstar.

Don’t miss this one!

Post by John Eady

NZIPF Chairman

NZIPF Opening Night

The New Zealand International Piano Festival saw Wellington pianists Richard Mapp and Emma Sayers performing a mixed piano duet and piano duo programme.

Much of the programme was perhaps not repertoire that we were familiar with, however, that is the beauty of festivals such as these where one can be pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Last nights performance was definitely one of those occasions and the favourite for me was the Lutoslawski - variations on a theme of Paganini which brought the recital to a fitting close.

Richard and Emma not only commanded the keyboard but a spellbound audience.

Here’s looking forward to Boris Giltburg this evening.


Post by John Eady
NZIPF Chairman

Scallop Garnished Soup, Chardonnay & Schubert...

All came together in the first of three delightful dinner-concerts at Mollies Boutique Hotel featuring pianists from this year’s New Zealand International Piano Festival.

Diners were treated to a ‘sensory extravaganza’ which consisted of a three course meal matched with wines supplied by Kemp Rare Wines.

In between courses concert pianists Richard Mapp and Emma Sayers performed a selection of the duet programme that they will be playing at the Concert Chamber this coming Saturday.

The food was divine, the wines from Purriri Hills sublime and the dulcet tones of the Steinway grand completed a magical evening.

Well done Mollies and looking forward to the next one.