PRESS RELEASE Brno, October 1, 2025
For twenty-five years, Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say has been captivating audiences and critics around the world. He captivated the Brno audience in the spring of 2014. “His concert was hopelessly sold out, so for the first time in the modern history of the philharmonic, we seated listeners not only in the auditorium, but also on the podium, in close proximity to the soloist. The ovation was endless. We still remember it to this day. That evening, we also christened our new Steinway concert piano,” said Marie Kučerová, director of the Filharmonie Brno.
Say is one of the most prominent pianists in the world today. “He has built up a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach to contemporary music, including his own compositions, for which he receives commissions from leading orchestras and institutions around the world,” emphasized musicologist Jan Špaček. He added that Say’s recordings have won many prestigious awards, including four Echo Klassik awards and a Gramophone Classical Music Award.
The Turkish soloist returns to Brno this time with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor. “Of Beethoven’s five concertos, the Third is his most typical. The work is based on two contrasting themes, the first heroic, epic, even rhapsodic, and the second gentle but firm. In some textbooks, the first and second themes of the sonata form are referred to as masculine and feminine,” noted Špaček.
The second half of the evening will feature Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 in A major, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest symphonists of the 20th century. It is one of his few symphonies that does not offer a clear interpretation of what it is about. The motifs and other components of the individual movements are not arranged in a logical progression, but rather in a colorful mosaic.
The concert, which will take place on Thursday and Friday, October 2 and 3, will open the first subscription series at the Janáček Theater and thus end the opportunity to purchase tickets. With a subscription, listeners save approximately 40% compared to the price of individual tickets and receive other benefits, such as discounts on other concerts and festivals, seat reservations for the next season, and a program catalog delivered directly to their mailbox.
The last few tickets and subscription seats are available online at filharmonie-brno.cz, at the philharmonic box office on Besední Street, or at the venue before the concert begins.
Media contact: Kateřina Konečná, +420 775 426 040, katerina.konecna@filharmoniebrno.cz
