Between dreams and travels. The charm of the unknown
By Luca Cossettini
Despite being only sixteen years old, Sophia Liu, a Chinese-Canadian pianist, has gained recognition for her exceptional musical interpretations and maturity. She has won numerous international competitions and is frequently invited to perform in concert halls worldwide, often collaborating with top-level performers and orchestras. In 2023, she won First Prize at the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition, where she performed with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of David Robertson. Later that year, she was awarded multiple prizes at the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Competition in Brescia, where she won the Second Prize, the Award for youngest semi-finalist and the Audience Award.
Sophia’s talent, nurtured by pianist Dang Thai Son’s guidance, will take her on tours across Europe, the USA, and Asia in the 2024-25 season, where she will be a guest at prestigious festivals and concert seasons.
I am lost for words. I listened by chance to Sophia intrigued by Prof Paleczny saying that she was a name to watch. That must be the understatement of the century!
Christopher Axworthy
Pëtr Il’ič Čajkovskij
(Votkinsk, Russia, 1840 – San Pietroburgo, 1893)
Suite da Lo Schiaccianoci, op. 71a
Trascrizione di Mikhail Pletnev
I. Marcia
II. Danza della Fata dei Confetti
III. Tarantella
IV. Intermezzo
V. Trépak. Danza Russa
VI. Danza cinese
VII. Pas de Deux. Andante Maestoso
Franz Liszt
(Raiding, 1811 – Bayreuth, 1886)
Da Années de Pèlerinage II, S.161:
n. 6, Sonetto 123 del Petrarca
Réminiscences de Norma, S.394
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Fryderyk Chopin
(Żelazowa Wola, 1810 – Parigi, 1849)
Fantasia in fa minore, op. 49
Rondò à la mazur in fa maggiore, op. 5
Variazioni su “Là ci darem la mano” dal Don Giovanni di W.A. Mozart, op. 2