Bösendorfer Zyklus. Derek Hartman, Klavier

The International Beethoven Competition Winner in a Portrait

Like no other composer, Ludwig van Beethoven deals with the major themes of humanism in his work apart: freedom, humanity and the divine.

So it's not just pianistic skills that are required of a performer, whether young or old, but above all an understanding of the emotional depth and the radical inner struggles that Beethoven waged in his works. Every four years, young artists from all over the world have the opportunity to intensively engage with the Bonn master's pianistic work and to present their interpretation of the works as part of the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna. In May 2025, the young American pianist Derek Hartman was able to qualify from among 300 competitors as an aspiring Beethoven interpreter, not least because of his courage to perform a self-composed cadenza for the G major piano concerto in the final of the competition in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Music Association, accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. We are pleased to introduce you to Derek Hartman as the new Bösendorfer artist in this portrait concert. The young pianist will interpret Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C sharp major BWV848, the Sonata in F sharp major op. 78 (à Thérèse) by L. v. Beethoven, Gaspard de la nuit by Maurice Ravel, Samuel Barber's Ballade op. 46 and the Sonata No. 4 in F minor by Johannes Brahms.