Pianists with a strong international reputation in a unique setting.
The 2025 edition of the Torre de Canyamel Piano Festival stood out for the quality of its performers and the diversity of its programs. Over four evenings, the audience was able to hear pianists of solid international stature in a unique setting, where the acoustics of the Tower and the closeness to the artists fostered an attentive and participatory listening experience. Each recital offered a different way of understanding the piano, ranging from intellectual exploration to lyrical intensity and the most demanding virtuosity.
Murray McLachlan (United Kingdom). The Scottish pianist, with a long career as a concert performer, more than forty recordings, and a recognized teaching role at Chetham’s School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music, opened the festival on August 31 with Fantasies and Anniversaries. His program explored how different composers have reorganized pre-existing musical material for the piano. Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, with its surprising use of chromaticism, was presented alongside the operatic fantasies of Busoni and Stevenson, the elegance of Satie, Ravel’s refined Sonatina, and Schulz-Evler’s virtuosic bravura. McLachlan explained each work with warmth and clarity, making a conceptually demanding program accessible. His dynamic, carefully structured recital balanced intellectual reflection with communicative energy, offering the festival a new model of presentation.
Giulia Contaldo (Italy / USA). Trained at the “Luigi Cherubini” Conservatory in Florence, the Accademia Pianistica di Imola, and the Royal Northern College of Music, where she graduated with the highest honors, Giulia Contaldo has won prizes at various international competitions. On September 1, her concert Myths, Legends, and Tales was a display of precision and virtuosity rarely heard at the Torre de Canyamel. Beginning with the piano transcription of Gluck’s Melody, she continued with landscapes from Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage: the serene Pastorale, the crystalline brilliance of Au bord d’une source, and the drama of St. Francis of Paola Walking on the Waves. Debussy’s impressionistic Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and Szymanowski’s evocative Metope rounded out a program rich in timbral color. Contaldo combined technical mastery, clarity of articulation, and a coherent narrative that sustained expressive tension throughout, delivering radiant virtuosity.
Irena Radić (Croatia). A graduate with distinction from the Royal College of Music in London and a prizewinner in several British competitions, Irena Radić presented on September 3 the program Between the Tangible and the Dreamed. Rachmaninoff’s three Preludes, Op. 23, displayed her command of character contrasts, from somber intensity to expansive luminosity. In Debussy’s La cathédrale engloutie she created a broad, suspended sonority that subtly evoked the legend of the submerged city. Medtner’s Skazki, with their narrative and chromatic language, served as a bridge to Chopin’s monumental Sonata No. 3, which she performed with a blend of formal rigor and poetic freedom. Her ability to shape sound and imbue silence with meaning gave rise to moments of collective hypnosis — an atmospheric interpretation of exquisite delicacy that fused sound and silence into a near-meditative listening experience.
Denis Burstein (Russia). Born in Tver and trained at Moscow’s prestigious Gnessin School, Denis Burstein has built an international career as both soloist and pedagogue. On September 4, he closed the festival with Lyrical Miniatures: from Folk to Dream, a true journey through piano miniatures. He began with Grieg’s 19 Norwegian Folk Songs, where melodic simplicity was enriched by nationalistic harmonies. He continued with four Preludes from Rachmaninoff’s Op. 32, alternating intimate lyricism and emotional intensity. Scriabin’s late works, with their ethereal atmospheres and unstable harmonies, led into Medtner’s Novellettes and Fairy Tales. It was a veritable pianistic marathon and a masterclass in register control, a dense and absorbing recital that recalled the great pianists of another era and fascinated those who seek the deepest interpretation.
This year’s festival confirmed the artistic growth of the Canyamel event. Each recital offered a distinct personality, and together they gave the audience a broad, stimulating panorama of today’s piano world: from McLachlan’s intellectual exploration to Contaldo’s luminous virtuosity, Radić’s hypnotic delicacy, and Burstein’s expressive depth. A week that left a lasting impression and reinforced the festival’s standing as a meeting point for demanding performers and listeners alike.
