Société Pro Musica: Maurizio Baglini and the Symphonic Piano

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Italian pianist, Maurizio Baglini, will make his Montreal debut with a recital at the Société Pro Musica on Sunday, May 12, 2024. “It’s the first time that I will play in Canada, I see this as an important debut,” underlines the artist, who won the Monte Carlo Piano Masters at the age of 24, and has since seen a rich international career.

Baglini will present an unusual program, including Franz Liszt’s transcription of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The rarely heard work played a pivotal role in Baglini’s career. In 2008, Radio France invited the pianist to perform the transcription at the Musée D’Orsay in Paris. With less than two months’ notice, Baglini took on the Herculean challenge of learning Liszt’s 96-page score by heart.

“I remember the adrenaline rush after accepting this invitation,” says Baglini. “It was a turning point in my human and artistic development,” particularly because of the rising number of professional engagements that ensued, and the start of his collaboration with the Decca record label.

Lasting over an hour, Liszt’s transcription of Beethoven’s ninth is “an intellectual, emotional, and almost philosophical, intervention, not only material. It is not an orchestral reduction, but a re-elaboration of the themes on the part of Franz Liszt,” explains Baglini. Transcriptions have fascinated the Italian pianist for decades, particularly because of their innovative potential. Derived from an orchestral work, a good transcription “can provide a different option to the performer. It should be considered Franz Liszt’s Ninth symphony” and not a literal transposition of Beethoven’s original work, says Baglini.

Liszt transcribed all of Beethoven’s symphonies, over the course of thirty years. While the Ninth Symphony has been arranged for piano by other composers, Liszt’s 1864 version, published 40 years after the premiere of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in Vienna on May 7, 1824, is Baglini’s favourite.

Baglini will perform this grand work on a Steinway piano in Salle Pierre Mercure, at the Center Pierre Péladeau. “I’m a very curious person,” he says. “I like to play, try, discover and compare different kinds of piano.” On tour, pianists should ideally be allowed to choose their instrument, but should also be able to adapt to and “develop their own creativity” on any piano, concludes Baglini. A once-in-a-lifetime event not to be missed by Montreal piano lovers!