International Piano Series: Yulianna Avdeeva

Young Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, first-prize winner in the 2010 International Chopin Competition, Warsaw, performs a recital of contrasting key works by Bach, Ravel and Schubert. She opens with Bach's French Overture, a substantial keyboard work which sees Bach writing in the French Baroque style, full of opportunities to display intricate fingerwork and clarity of texture. Next comes Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, three musical scenes of macabre magic. After the interval, Schumann's Piano Sonata No.1 plunges the listener into a world of turbulent romanticism - an impassioned musical love-letter to Clara Wieck, whom Schumann later married, it is by turns effusive, virtuosic and intensely poetic. 'Avdeeva strikes chords with precision, every note perfectly tempered. Her pacing is born of intelligent feeling and clarity of thought.' (The Guardian)