Ivett Gyöngyösi Presented by Liszt Academy

Domenico Scarlatti was one of the most outstanding and creative composers for the harpsichord during the Baroque period, and his works are still “eagerly consumed” by today’s audiences, as Debussy noted in the early 1900s. Of course, in his praise, we must also suspect a critique, a rejection of the dense and difficult music of the late 19th century. His ideal was to recreate the lightness, wit, and delicate sensuality of the Rococo period, crafting a musical world that he admired in the canvases of the early 18th-century painter Antoine Watteau. One of the most eloquent expressions of this aspiration is the piano piece The Happy Island. Another French figure, the music-loving writer André Gide, found his craving for fresh air fulfilled by Chopin’s Barcarolle. In the middle of the piece, at a crucial formal moment, Chopin writes the performer’s instruction sfogato, meaning “light” or “airy”. “Has any musician ever used this term, felt the need to break the rhythm in this way, to give the composition a new, fresh momentum?” asks Gide the enthusiastic poetic question. On this evening filled with exciting associations, pianist Ivett Gyöngyösi will take the stage. Her name became known to the public in 2014 through the television program Virtuózok (Virtuosos), and in 2019, the international music scene took notice of her when she won the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Geneva.