Extravaganza means a freedom of the form, a mix of elements from different arts, originality and eccentricity in the best sense of the word. The festival Piano Extravaganza has for six consecutive years defended its name enriching the audiences' notion about piano music and its place in the world of beautiful and meaningful experiments. The program this year goes across a relatively long period of time and offers solo recitals, chamber concerts, an open day for adults and children and other events. One accompanying event is the premiere for Bulgaria of the documentary film Pianists Street. It features some of the foremost pianists of our time Martha Argerich, Sergio Tiempo, Karin Lechner.

By tradition concerts from Piano Extravaganza festival are given at the Central Military Club in Sofia. This year another important hall has been included - the National Art Gallery. It will play host to the Bulgarian premiere of Jazz before Jazz (on 4 October) - a concert of Mario Stantchev, piano (Bulgaria/France), and Lionel Martin, saxophone (France). On the next day is the recital of the festival's special guest - Prof. Piotr Paleczny (Poland), Piano Extravaganza closes on 23 November at Bulgaria Hall when South Korea's Seong-Jin Cho is holder of the first prize at the 17th edition of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw is giving a concert. Ludmil Angelov tells us more about it:

„The concert that closes Piano Extravaganza is the result of very fruitful cooperation between our festival and the organization committee of "Fryderyk Chopin" - one of the most reputable piano competitions. Thanks to these contacts we were able to invite brilliant young pianist from South Korea Seong-Jin Cho. He will for the first time give a concert in this country. With every new edition of the festival we will invite the winners of the first prize. I myself took part in "Fryderyk Chopin" in 1985 and was among prize winners. This was a turning point in my career as pianist. Going back to Piano Extravaganza, the concerts in fact present quite interesting projects. Romantic Masterpieces for Four Hands will be presented by Italian piano duo Sergio Marchegiani & Marco Schiavo. After a successful concert at Carnegie Hall, Bulgarian pianist Nadejda Vlaeva will arrive from New York especially for the festival. For the first time in Bulgaria she is going to play some works by Sergei Bortkiewicz. Leading jazz pianist Mario Stantchev and French saxophonist Lionel Martin present their album Jazz before Jazz based on music written by Louis Gottschalk. The Day of Open Doors is an educational event targeted at the friends of piano. We have invited professional and amateur musicians from different generations. Mario Stantchev will tell the audience about his career as pianist. Psychoanalyst Prof. Orlin Todorov will give a lecture about the connection between words and music. We also plan multimedia presentations, screenings etc. and we hope to reach younger participants in the event and help them become part of the wonderful world of music.”

English Daniela Konstantinova

Audio file contains the following pieces:

1. Waltz opus 18 in E flat major by Chopin performed by Ludmil Angelov, piano

2. Mazurka No. 2 by Sergei Bortkiewicz performed by Nadejda Vlaeva, piano

3. Cuban Romance performed by Mario Stantchev, piano, and Lionel Martin, saxophone