In 1951, Dmitri Sjostakovitsj composed a series of 24 Préludes and fugues in all keys, just as Bach had done with his Well-Tempered Clavier more than two hundred years earlier. Pianist Hannes Minnaar put the series on an excellently received CD in 2022, but really you need to hear this monument of piano literature live in the concert hall. In a sort of mini-marathon for pianists, Minnaar takes you into the wonderful musical world of Shostakovich.

The story goes that Sjostakovitsj was inspired when, as a jury member at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1950, he heard 26-year-old Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva play all of Bach’s preludes and fugues by heart. He expressed his admiration by writing his own cycle, 24 gems that constantly change in tone and atmosphere, from contemplative to playful, from wistful to wry.

Just think about it: playing a – if uninterrupted – 150-minute complex work live in the concert hall. Few pianists dare, Hannes Minnaar will do it. His interpretations of Bach’s Goldberg Variations lived up to them worldwide accolades, and once again Minnaar shows that he is without a doubt one of the leading musicians of our time.