On the occasion of European Broadcasting Union (EBU) 2015 meeting (April 30 – May 3), The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York presented on Thursday, April 30, 2015 at The Concert Space in Manhattan, a solo piano recital by Romanian pianist Matei Varga. Located in Midtown Manhattan, close to Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, The Concert Space / Beethoven Pianos is a dedicated space where performed some of the greatest virtuosos of the piano.
The piano recital was organized by RCI New York at the initiative of Radio Romania, as part of a series of artistic events presented on the occasion of European Broadcasting Union (EBU) 2015 New York meeting.
Members of the Romanian delegation, participants at EBU meetings, representatives of American and Canadian public radio, are invited to this piano recital. EBU is an international organization of 72 active members from 56 European countries.
The program featured works by Janacek – In the Mists; Szymanowski – Sheherazade from “Masques” op. 34; Bartok – Suite op. 14, and Enescu – Sonata no. 1, op. 24 in F sharp minor.
“The greatest young Romanian pianist” before the public today (Enescu Festival News, 2013), Matei Varga is firmly established as the true heir of an incomparable pianistic tradition that includes Dinu Lipatti, Clara Haskil, Mindru Katz, and Radu Lupu.
Mr. Varga’s artistry has garnered superlative reviews from critics around the world, who have found his performances “magical” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2009), “colorful, vivacious [and] engaging” (Le Diapason, 2012), “luminous” (ConcertoNet2011), and “spectacular” (Adevarul, 2013).
A “musician who can imbue even the simplest of melodic lines with meaning” (Fanfare, 2012), Mr. Varga is equally at home in staples of the pianistic repertoire and works written by today’s foremost composers, as evidenced by his recent commission to perform the European premiere of Michael Hersch’s “insanely difficult” second piano concerto, which left the audience “astonished” (Neue Musikzeitung, 2013).
A top prizewinner at numerous piano competitions, including Maria Canals and George Enescu, Mr. Varga has appeared as a soloist and recitalist in many of the world’s leading concert halls, among them Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall (New York), Konzerthaus (Berlin), the Auditorium du Louvre, Salle Gaveau, and Salle Cortot (Paris), Royal Dramatic Theater (Stockholm), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), Casals Hall (Tokyo), Rebecca Crown Auditorium (Jerusalem), and the Romanian Athenaeum and Radio Hall (Bucharest).
Highlights of Mr. Varga’s 2014-2015 season include planned appearances in the United States, Europe, and Asia, as well as the release of a new recording.
Mr. Varga holds degrees from the Romanian National University of Music, where he studied with Ana Pitis, Ioana Minei, and Sandu Sandrin, and the Mannes College of Music, where he studied with Pavlina Dokovska.
