A solo recital by Georgijs Osokins and the launch of his first CD

Georgijs Osokins, piano

Programme: Sergei Rachmaninoff, Domenico Scarlatti, Alexander Scriabin, Frédéric Chopin

Georgijs Osokins is the latest sensation in Latvian musical performing arts. After becoming a finalist at the prestigious Chopin Competition in Warsaw (2015), Osokins was inundated with countless invitations to appear at various concerts; in an interview for the Latvian NRA newspaper, the young pianist said that he had felt almost like a rock star in Poland.

A vivid interpreter, Georgijs Osokins is brilliantly artistic; he enraptures his admirers and challenges the more sceptically inclined listeners. Alongside his studies, Osokins sustains an active concert career; he has performed in many European countries, as well as in Russia, Japan and the USA. May 2016 saw him appear at the Vancouver Playhouse, stepping in for the world-famous Chopin interpreter Nelson Freire by invitation from the Vancouver Chopin Society.

For the concert in Cēsis, Georgijs Osokins has selected a programme featuring the piano gems of the baroque master of filigree Domenico Scarlatti, the manly and sensual opuses of Sergei Rachmaninoff, the starry preludes of Alexander Scriabin, as well as a few of his waltzes and études, and, of course, the music of Frédéric Chopin – Barcarole in F sharp major and the impressive Sonata in B minor.

The concert will also double as the launch of the first solo album by Georgijs Osokins. Recorded in the Netherlands, the CD will be released in June by the British label Piano Classics and features recordings of some of Chopin’s late opuses, from No. 57 to  No. 61 – including the sonata and barcarole to be performed at the concert in Cēsis.

The young pianist studied with his father Sergejs Osokins in Riga and perfected his skills with Mikhail Voskresensky, Dmitri Bashkirov and Georg Friedrich Schenck. He is currently a student in the class of Sergei Babayan at the Juilliard School in New York.