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Ilya Yakushev
The following description was submitted by the event organizer.
Prepare for a recital that doesn’t just showcase music but offers a journey that will leave your soul richer. Back by popular demand, acclaimed Russian pianist Ilya Yakushev brings unparalleled energy and poetic depth to Portland Piano International in a program designed to move you profoundly.
The afternoon unfolds with Mozart’s Fantasy in D Minor, K. 397, a piece that feels like an intimate conversation between the composer and the listener. Suspended between shadow and light, its haunting opening unfurls with almost improvisatory freedom, drawing you into a world of mystery before resolving in a whisper of elegance. Yakushev then ignites the stage with Beethoven’s fiery “Pathétique” Sonata. Through its stormy drama and tender lyricism, he channels Beethoven’s genius for capturing the raw complexities of human emotion — one moment restless and fierce, the next whispering serenity directly into your heart. Prokofiev’s spirited Sonata No. 2 follows. Its rhythms burst with life and its melodies intertwine charm and wit. The music dances with an infectious vitality, beckoning the audience to revel in its unstoppable energy. The recital crescendos with Mussorgsky’s monumental Pictures at an Exhibition, a suite that takes you on an extraordinary journey through soundscapes so vivid, they feel like living artworks. With every passage, Yakushev transforms the piano into a storyteller, each note painting scenes that seem to leap off the keys and into your imagination.