Roumanian rhapsody

The young London-based Roumanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu is having an excitingly busy patch at the moment. She is following up her debut disc on Champs Hill Records (a solo disc of Schumann, Liszt and Chopin was described by BBC Music Magazine as 'enormously impressive') with a disc of  preludes by Frederick Chopin and Henri Dutilleux which is released in June 2013. And on 7 June 2013, she makes her Royal Albert Hall debut playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 5, Emperor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Greenwood. Then on 14 July she makes her debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in Liverpool, playing Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major conducted by Vasily Petrenko.


Dariescu's new disc is the first of a planned trilogy of discs containing the complete works in the prelude genre by Chopin and Dutilleux. Dutilleux (1916-2013) died recently, on 22 May 2013, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire, going on to win the Prix de Rome. Dariescu's disc includes Trois Préludes (1973–1988) alongside Chopin's 24 Preludes op 28 (1838-1839).

Dariescu was featured as BBC Music Magazine’s Rising Star in June 2011. She has won the Guildhall Wigmore Prize and the Romanian Ambassador‘s prize for her outstanding contribution to promoting Romania’s image in the UK and is currently a YCAT artist. You can see her talking about her RPO debut on YouTube, and also hear her playing Chopin in the music room at Champs Hill also on YouTube. Further information from Alexandra Dariescu's website.