Star of the show: Japanese pianist Mari Terada will perform a solo concert called Autumn Dreams on Friday in HCM City. — File Photo

HCM CITY (VNS)— Japanese pianist Mari Terada will perform works by Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, Liszt, and Mussorgsky in a solo piano concert this weekend called Autumn Dreams.

She said at a press conference yesterday that the concert is expression of gratitude to her spiritual homeland - Germany.

"The country is an indispensable part of my life," she said, explaining that she had grown up and studied music in Germany.

The concert will start with Chopin's Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op Posth. 66.

The next piece will bring in an autumn atmosphere with Chopin's Sherzo No 2 in B-flat minor, Op 31.

The third song is one of the most beloved items that Brahms composed in 1893, expressing his secret and unilateral love to Clara Schumann, a German composer and one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era.

A happy note will be struck next with C. Debussy's Clair de Lune and F. Chopin's Waltz in E-Flat Major, Op. 18 Grande Valse Brilliante.

This will be followed by two works of Liszt, who Mari called "a pioneer in piano performance style".

The second part of the concert will be taken up by M. Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

This part will have a "secret" combination between music and painting, and "I hope the audience will like this", Mari said.

The concert will take place from 8pm on Friday, November 1, at the Music Conservatory, 112 Nguyen Du Street, District 1, HCM City.

Terada completed her performers' course at Folkwang Hochschule fuer Musik in Essen, Germany, in 1991, and from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris in France in 1994.

She received the Debussy prize at Albert Roussel International Piano Competition in Bulgaria in 1994, the C. Frank Prize, medal and diploma at the Rome International Piano Competition.

On her debut, she was chosen as one of three most talented upcoming piano artists in Japan by music magazine Ongaku no Tomo.

Her second solo CD, Debussy (2006), was chosen as "the most recommended Disc" by Rekord Geijutsu and Chopin magazines.

She made her Viet Nam debut in 2006 with the Vietnamese National Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart's piano compositions in Ha Noi.

German month

Dr Hans-Dieter Stell, consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany, said October can be described as the German month of this year in Viet Nam.

It began with a celebration of the Day of German Unity and was followed by the famous Oktoberfest, a festival of beers, which entertained thousands of Germans and Vietnamese residents in HCM City.

Several high-ranking delegations visited Viet Nam, during the month, with one of them led by Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit.

"The month will conclude with a cultural highlight – an evening of classical music," Hans-Dieter said.

"Her Autumn Dreams fulfills a double purpose. It reflects the current seasonal atmosphere in Germany, and at the same time will certainly succeed in getting audience into the mood of this calm time of the year," he added.

He noted that all 500 free tickets to the concert have been delivered, and that he hopes the concert will "see a meeting of people from three countries". — VNS