pianoTony Siqi Yun

Program
Johann Sebastian Bach/Ferruccio Busoni
​Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor for violin, BWV 1004
Transcription for piano by Ferruccio Busoni
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Theme with Variations in E-flat Major “Geistervariationen” (Variations of the Spirits), WoO 24
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"
Allegro assai
Andante con moto (D-flat major)
Allegro ma non troppo

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Après une lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata (“Dante Sonata”)
Andante maestoso – Presto agitato assai – Tempo I (Andante) – Andante (quasi improvvisato) – Andante – Recitativo – Adagio – Più mosso – Tempo rubato e molto ritenuto – Andante
Più mosso – Allegro – Allegro vivace – Presto
Andante (Tempo I)

For the first time in Italy, a talented pianist who is establishing himself among the best interpreters of international piano music. He is the young Canadian Tony Siqi Yun, described by Pianist Magazine as “a true poet of the keyboard.” Winner of the First Prize and Gold Medal at the 2019 China International Music Competition, he has already performed with prestigious orchestras in Canada, the United States, and China, as well as in recitals at important international concert halls. In Bassano, he will present Busoni’s piano transcription of Bach’s Chaconne from Partita No. 2, a pianistic masterpiece that remains faithful in its unfaithfulness to the original violin work. This will be followed by Schumann’s mysterious last work before descending into madness, the so-called “Variations of the Spirits,” which, despite the tragic circumstances, affirm the “joyful music” the composer sought throughout his life. From the genius of Beethoven, a cornerstone of his piano output: Sonata No. 23 “Appassionata,” full of powerful emotional and dramatic charge, concluding with Liszt’s Dante Sonata, one of the most challenging pieces in the piano repertoire. Inspired by the Divine Comedy, it depicts three moments of the poem: Hell, the plea of the damned, and the episode of Paolo and Francesca.

Canadian pianist Tony Siqi Yun, Gold Medalist at the First China International Music Competition (2019) and recipient of the 2023 Lotto-Förderpreis from the Rheingau Music Festival, is rapidly becoming a highly sought-after soloist and recitalist.
Following his acclaimed debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra performing Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the 2022/23 season, Tony Siqi Yun made his 2023-2024 season debut at Carnegie Hall with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain, performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
He first met Maestro Nézet-Séguin during the final of the inaugural China International Music Competition in 2019, where he won First Prize and a Gold Medal performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Other recent performances include concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra (Tchaikovsky), the Toronto Symphony and Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain (Clara Schumann), and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris (Beethoven).
Recent engagements include debuts at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, as well as performances in Düsseldorf and Luxembourg.
In the 2024/25 season, Tony will return to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding (Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3) and to the New Jersey Symphony. He will debut with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and Jacek Kaspszyk (Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 3), the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Nashville Symphony, and at the Aspen Festival with Xian Zhang (Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1). In recital, he will debut at the Fidelio Café in London, perform at Washington Performing Arts, and return to Lübeck.