The fifth annual Dublin International Piano Festival (DIPF) runs from July 22nd-30th in venues around Dublin, and promises to be a fascinating glimpse into the art of the piano, with performances, workshops and insights from some of the best and brightest in classical music. Artistic Director Dr. Archie Chen, tells Culture about this year's programme.
One of the highlights for me has to be Boris Berezovsky, who is a technical monster on the piano. I still remember the first time I heard Berezovsky in Dublin in 2009, performing some Godowsky-Chopin Etudes, some of the most virtuosic pieces in piano repertoire. It was unbelievable. Only a handful of pianists in the world have ever attempted to play the Godowsky etudes because of their sheer difficulty. His performance was hugely inspiring to me when, ironically, I was subsequently asked to record two of the same fiendishly difficult Godowsky-Chopin Etudes, with all of 2 weeks notice, for the BBC Movie Loving Miss Hatto. With so little time to prepare, I had to reach deep inside myself to find a way to physically get on top of these two monstrosities, achieving what I would have before thought impossible. Berezovsky was a huge influence for me at that time and is still my idol! Presenting him in our very own Festival is simply a dream come true!
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Berezovsky’s Titan of the Piano concert, on July 25th at The National Concert Hall, is in aid of ChildVision – Ireland’s national centre for the blind and multi disabled. The show will feature an eclectic list of composers from all over the world. I’m a strong believer that Irish audiences will connect to the music of Grieg, which Berezovsky includes in his programme. The Nordic composer’s roots were of Celtic origin in Scotland, his family changing from McGregor to Grieg when they moved to Norway. There’s great potential for further research about the musical language of Grieg which was influenced by Norse folk music traditions. We all know about the Irish/Scottish Viking past, which originates in exactly this Norse region so there’s definitely somewhat of a blood attraction to his music.
Another unique element to DIPF is master of sonic experimentation Francesco Tristano with Piano 2.0, performing in Dublin for the first time with a Steinway + Synthesiser classic/techno combo. Tristano is such an exciting individual musically, bringing something entirely fresh to the classical and club worlds and the Dublin music scene this summer. He’s collaborated with dance music legend Derrick May on numerous occasions and created extraordinary work.
For myself and my wife, Rhona, co-founder of DIPF, the aim of the Festival is to foster relations between pianists from around the world, while sharing what we are both extremely passionate about and what brought us together as a couple in the first place, 10 years ago: The Piano. The festival programme is a brilliant mix of performances, plus a behind-the scenes look at the life of a concert pianist through informative master classes with 6 great maestros at work, as well as engaging seminars. Our summer academy runs simultaneously with 13 bright, advanced international students of piano coming to Dublin to improve their craft.
More information on the 2017 Dublin International Piano Festival here.
