The Piano

Featuring Mitsuko Uchida, Andras Schiff, Alfred Brendel, Ludovico Einaudi, Abdullah Ibrahim, Llr Williams and more

Glasgow's Concert Halls and Tramway, 4th - 27th November 2011

This November, some of the world's finest pianists will perform in Glasgow as part of The Piano - a three week festival celebrating the diversity of the piano repertoire, featuring revered piano legends as well as rising stars of the keyboard. Between 4th - 27th November, pianists including Mitsuko Uchida, Andras Schiff, Abdullah Ibrahim, Ludovico Einaudi, Llr Williams and Francesco Piemontesi will give recitals, with Alfred Brendel appearing in conversation, as part of the festival.

A major highlight of The Piano will be the first Glasgow performance in over a decade by the distinguished pianist Mitsuko Uchida. This highly anticipated recital will feature some of the great Romantic piano repertoire with a programme of Chopin, Schoenberg and Schumann (including Uchida's widely acclaimed interpretation of Schumann's Davidsbundlertaenze).

Hungarian virtuoso Andras Schiff will make his Glasgow debut with a performance of Beethoveen's towering Diabelli Variations - widely hailed one of the greatest works ever written for piano. The programme also features pieces by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Haydn and Schumann.

The Piano will also feature the hugely popular composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi in recital. The Italian musician's ambient compositions have been the soundtrack to a number of films and adverts, and earlier this year BBC Radio 1 listeners helped his piece I Giorni enter the official UK Singles Chart at number 32 following a campaign by DJ Greg James.

The South African jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim will appear in the atmospheric Old Fruitmarket with his trio. Ibrahim's music has long tracked the turbulence of his homeland's history, matching its past struggles and current optimism through music of great hope and deeply reflective soulfulness. His vast musical reserves channel the spirits of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, creating what The Guardian describes as "music of rare eloquence".

The revered Sir Alfred Brendel returns to City Halls following his sold out concert there in 2008, one of his last before retiring from performing, to give a lecture on character in music. He'll bring a lifetime of performing, writing, talking, mentoring and teaching music to his discussion and will illustrate his thoughts at the piano.

Brendel's protege, the young Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi, will give a recital at City Halls. Still in his 20s and already a prominent figure on the international stage, he made a big impact on his visit to Glasgow last season with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and makes a welcome return to perform one of his favourite pieces - Schubert's late Sonata, D.959.

Elsewhere throughout the festival, Rex Lawson's Dead Pianists' Society will feature piano rolls recitals by great pianists of the past including a rare roll of Liszt's B Minor Sonata. Lawson is the foremost authority on and performer of the pianola, a fascinating instrument which plays music perforated rolls. The unique six-piano ensemble Piano Circus will perform the piece which inspired them to form in the first place - Steve Reich's Six Pianos, as well as the composer's Four Organs. The concert will take place in Tramway, following the venue's Piano Drop installation. The programme also features Graham Fitkin's Log - Line - Loud and the world premiere of a brand new piece by the former BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year nominee, Shiva Feshareki, entitled Jack of All Trades.

Llyr Williams will take on Beethoven's stunning Hammerklavier - a piece which is infamous for its scale, intensity and formidable difficulty. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra will perform with international star and high-flying academic Robert Levin as well as US pianist Nicholas Angelich, whilst the BBC SSO are joined by young Russian piano virtuoso Denis Kozhukhin.

www.glasgowconcerthalls.com/glasgowmusic