Juho Pohjonen

Juho Pohjonen, who is only in his early thirties, is currently one of Scandinavia's leading pianists. His career started early: as an eight-year-old he was already admitted to the talent class at the Sibelius Conservatory. No less a figure than András Schiff described him as one of his favourite students. These days, he performs all over the world, with a highly varied repertoire packed into his musical suitcase: Bach, Salonen, Mozart, Takemitsu, ... Pohjonen's quick fingers take it all in their stride. For his debut at deSingel, this Finnish pianist will once again be stepping out in front of the footlights with a wide-ranging programme. With a series of highlights from the sonata canon in quick succession. First stop Mozart, whose C Minor Fantasie was an unofficial prelude to his Sonata in C Minor, KV457. The same tension between the sonata structure and the free flow of imagination lies at the heart of Beethoven's opus 27 no. 1, and of Scriabin's Second Sonata: subtitles like 'Quasi una Fantasia' speak volumes. Or how about Liszt's 'Dante Sonate', a free musical fantasy based on Dante's 'Divina commedia'?