Only 20th Century. Mini concert
Program: Debussy, Rautavaara
On April 14, pianist Tähe-Lee Liiv will perform presenting mini-concerts that launch both the new concert series “Only…” and the fresh “mini-concert” format. These concerts last up to half an hour, offering a small but meaningful taste of the musical experience.
On the same day, there will be two mini-concerts: at 5:00 PM “Only 21st Century” and at 5:30 PM “Only 20th Century.” This schedule allows early attendees to also enjoy the next concert, providing a flexible format for fast-paced culture enthusiasts, tourists, and school students—who might be experiencing their first proper concert. By attending multiple consecutive mini-concerts, one can enjoy a much richer and more complete musical experience.
The new “Only…” series emphasizes a specific theme in each concert. The mini-concert “Only 20th Century” focuses on two very different 20th-century composers. From the French Impressionist Claude Debussy, a three-part cycle Images I will be performed, alongside etudes by Finnish modernist Einojuhani Rautavaara. The musical worlds of these two composers reveal the diversity of 20th-century piano music—from impressionist richness to modernist intensity.
The concert will take place just before Tähe-Lee Liiv’s recording session for the label Da Vinci Classics, which will release her second CD of Finnish piano music. The album will feature works by Jean Sibelius, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and Magnus Lindberg. The mini-concert thus offers the opportunity to experience 20th-century piano music in a fresh, concentrated form, immediately preceding an important international recording project.
“Liiv’s impressive interpretations demonstrate a clear and nuanced understanding of what Arvo Pärt’s music is about, in both its spiritual and material forms.”
– Gramophone Magazine, April 2024
Born in 2003, Tähe-Lee Liiv is regarded as one of Estonia’s brightest rising stars in piano. The winner of numerous piano competitions at home and abroad, she has performed in solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and as soloist with orchestras in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S.
In the 2024-2025 season, Tähe-Lee was nominated by Sir András Schiff to take part in his Building Bridges initiative, performing recitals in Europe’s capital cities. This season she is delighted to return for the third time to Flagey in Brussels. Other highlights include debuts at the Festival Afekt and in Musikdorf Ernen as well as a collaboration with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, playing three Bach keyboard concertos.
She has made solo appearances in music festivals such as Lockenhaus, Austria; the Sibelius Festival and the Mänttä Music Festival in Finland; the Menuhin Festival Piano Academy in Gstaad, Valdarno and Palermo festivals in Italy. She has collaborated with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Camerata Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, the Kremerata Baltica Orchestra, the Jerusalem Kamerata Orchestra, among others.
The concertos that Tähe-Lee has performed encompass classical concertos by Beethoven, Grieg, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Haydn and Mozart, as well as such lesser-played works as Chopin’s Rondo à la Krakowiak, Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto for Piano, Violin and orchestra, Fazil Say’s “Silk Road”, as well as the Piano Concerto and Variations for Piano, Clarinet and Orchestra by Ester Mägi, often hailed as the First Lady of Estonian Music.
Tähe-Lee’s debut CD in 2023 with Estonian Records Productions label presents the complete piano works of Arvo Pärt, the celebrated Estonian composer of contemporary classical music, and received excellent reviews internationally. In 2026 her second CD featuring the works of Sibelius, Rautavaara, and Lindberg will be released on Da Vinci Classics.
Tähe-Lee is honoured to be RCM scholar. A graduate of the Tallinn Music High School, Accademia Perosi and the Sibelius Academy’s Young Musicians International Class, Tähe-Lee’s teachers include Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann, Ivari Ilja, Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna, Dmitri Alexeev, Konstantin Bogino. Since 2022 she has studied with Sir András Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.https://kammermuusikud.ee/syndmused/only-20th-century-2025-2026
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