Would you like to experience a truly exciting classical concert? With a pianist with surprises in store? If so, come to the recital by Gabriela Montero. This Venezuelan beauty is one of the few classical pianists with an incredible talent for improvisation. It was an art quite natural to such nineteenth-century piano virtuosos as Chopin, Liszt and Paderewski, but it has been completely lost.
Montero was already an avid improviser as a young girl. Her piano teachers were constantly telling her that this sort of thing was simply not done on the concert platform. Until no less a musician than Martha Argerich encouraged her to come up with a few improvisations as an encore after her recitals. This was received so well that nowadays improvisations make up the larger part of her concerts. At this concert too, Montero will ask the audience to make requests. It can be anything from melodies from symphonies or operas to pop songs. Or even the signature tune from Sesame Street! Starting from the given theme, Montero fantasises superb compositions on the spot. In the style of Bach fugues, Mozartian classics or sound landscapes like those of Debussy.
You won’t believe your ears. It’s simply astonishing!