Piano Concert

On this evening, we will witness an exceptional performance. Elisabeth Leonskaja from Vienna and Mihály Berecz from Budapest will meet halfway to give a joint concert at our festival.

 

Elisabeth Leonskaja, a Georgian-born Russian pianist, has long been one of the most celebrated pianists of our time. While still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, she won prestigious international piano competitions, including the Enescu Prize, the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition, and the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Prize. Her musical development was significantly influenced by her collaboration and friendship with Svyatoslav Richter.

Leonskaja left the Soviet Union in 1978 and made Vienna her home. Since then, she has performed as a soloist with the world’s finest orchestras and worked with numerous renowned conductors. She is a regular guest at many international festivals.

 

In her second home, Austria, she is an honorary member of the Vienna Konzerthaus. In 2006, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, for her outstanding service to the country’s culture. This is Austria's highest award. In 2016, she was named the Priestess of the Arts in Georgia, which is the country’s highest artistic distinction. In 2020, she received the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Mihály Berecz, a pianist and fortepiano artist, is an active participant in Hungary’s concert life despite his young age. He is a winner and laureate of numerous national and international competitions. In 2017, he won first place at the Debut Berlin and the II. Manhattan Music Competition. In 2018, he won the Royal Academy of Music’s Harriet Cohen Bach Prize in London. He completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with exceptional performance. In 2021, he was awarded the Liszt-Bartók Special Prize at the Anda Géza Competition in Zurich and received the Junior Prima Award in the same year. Since January 2022, he has been a professor at the Chamber Department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. In February 2022, he received the Cziffra Foundation Talent Award. He won first place at the 2023 Kissingen Piano Olympics.