Antti Siirala

"Magnificent, but without fuss", wrote the De Standaard after Antti Siirala's first recital in Belgium a few years ago. This young Fin combines ultimate finger control with a finely-tuned poetic ear. A pianist after our own heart, who puts the music in the foreground and leaves out any form of self-projection. In his first recital in deSingel, Siirala performs both old and new music from his homeland. We will hear the 2005 'Ballade' by Kaija Saariaho, an exercise in balancing fluctuating textures. Jean Sibelius is not generally known as a great piano composer. He called the piano "a disappointing instrument that cannot sing and is governed only by Chopin". Yet Sibelius left behind a beautiful collection of piano miniatures, from which Siirala chooses. To finish, he selects the commanding Third Sonata by Chopin which, due to Dinu Lipatti, has since become a cult piece for pianists.