Alexandra Dariescu

The celebrated pianist explores short-form pieces of music across the ages with an aural sampler of different composers, culminating in Chopin’s 24 Preludes. Alexandra Dariescu has made it her mission to create concert programmes that give underrepresented female composers equal billing with their better-known male colleagues. In this kaleidoscopic journey through the wealth of music for piano written across the ages and around the world, she places miniature masterpieces by Clara Schumann, Missy Mazzoli, Florence Price and Lili Boulanger, among others, alongside those by Bach, Villa-Lobos and Dariescu’s fellow Romanians Enescu, Ciortea and Silvestri. Dariescu devotes the second half to the ultimate set of miniatures: Chopin’s 24 Preludes, brief pieces that are filled with evocative atmospheres and visceral drama. This event takes place at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall.