Live at Toorak: Piano gran turismo, Andrey Gugnin

"Possessing an extraordinarily versatile and agile technique, pianist Andrey Gugnin is rapidly gaining international acclaim as a passionately virtuosic performer.” - Gramophone

1st prize winner of the Sydney International piano competition, the Amsterdam-based superstar of the piano makes his much anticipated Australian return for a tour-de-force recital at the stunning Toorak Synagogue with the works of Rachmaninov.

Immerse yourself in the rugged passion, delicate poetry and broad emotional range of the music of Rachmaninov as Andrey takes you on a fast paced journey through all the preludes of the great master. Even the greatest virtuoso has to rise to their double challenges of athleticism and poetry in these works. Set in the beautiful architecture and golden acoustics of the Toorak synagogue, this will be an unforgettable evening!

Programme:

Rachmaninov: 24 preludes

In 2024, Andrey Gugnin won first place at the Classic Piano International Competition in Dubai, claiming the grand prize with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. In 2020, the BBC Music Magazine Awards named Gugnin the winner of the Instrumental Award for his recording Shostakovich: 24 Preludes - Piano Sonatas 1 & 2 (Hyperion). Since winning the prestigious Sydney International Piano Competition in 2016, Gugnin has gone from strength to strength in concerts and recordings which exhibit his impassioned interpretations.

In addition to winning in Sydney, Gugnin also received prizes at this illustrious competition for Best Overall Concerto, Best 19th/20th Century Concerto, Best Violin and Piano Sonata, and Best Preliminaries for his first-round recital. He won the Gold Medal and Audience Award at the XCI International Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in 2014, and second prize at the 2013 Beethoven International Piano Competition in Vienna.

Increasingly in demand as a concerto soloist, Gugnin has been invited to perform as a guest artist with notable orchestras worldwide, such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish Radio Orchestra, the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony, and has performed under the distinguished batons of Maestro Valery Gergiev, Jaap Van Zweden, Reinbert de Leeuw, Daniel Raiskin, Stanislav Kochanovsky and Asher Fisch. He has also collaborated in a more chamber context with the Asko Schönberg ensemble, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Jerusalem Camerata and Camerata Salzburg and on several occasions as the duo partner of violinist Tasmin Little.