Simone Young

Chief Conductor

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The nocturne, mazurka and waltz: piano forms that conjure entire worlds.

Full of mystery and momentum, Spanish pianist Javier Perianes explores how two towering composers reimagined these forms in strikingly different ways.   

Few composers have defined the sound of their country like Manuel de Falla did for Spain. By incorporating local folktales and dance rhythms into orchestral music, Falla pioneered a national sound that influences contemporary music to this day.  

Celebrating 150 years since Falla’s birth, Perianes has crafted a concert that pays tribute to his countryman through his most evocative and engaging piano music. Described as ‘the most persuasive Falla interpreter since Alicia de Larrocha’ (The Sunday Times), Perianes brings this music to life with rare fluency and feeling.  

Chopin’s music is graceful on the surface, flickering with motion underneath. Perianes brings out its delicacy and depth before culminating in Albeniz’s Iberia, an expressive portrait of Spain. From radiant textures to flickers of light and shadow, Perianes’ renowned fluency projects vivid pictures of his homeland, rendered with colour and care.   

Don’t miss this solo performance of rare insight, performed in the heart of the Sydney Opera House. 

Program

FALLA

Nocturno

CHOPIN

Nocturne Op.27, No.2

FALLA

Mazurka

CHOPIN

Mazurka Op.7, No.2

CHOPIN

Mazurka Op.67, No.1

FALLA

Vals-Capricho

CHOPIN

Valse Op.69, No.2

FALLA

Cancion

CHOPIN

Berceuse

FALLA

Four Spanish Pieces

ALBÉNIZ

Iberia (selections)

Artists

Javier Perianes

Piano

The international career of Javier Perianes has led him to perform in the most prestigious concert halls, with the world’s foremost orchestras, working with celebrated conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Gustavo Dudamel, Klaus Mäkelä, Gianandrea Noseda, Gustavo Gimeno, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Simone Young and Vladimir Jurowski.

The 2025/26 season features an array of high-profile concerts, including San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas and Baltimore symphony orchestras, Bamberger Symphoniker, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paolo, Orquestra Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Teatro Real and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Sydney and Tasmanian symphony orchestras. Perianes returns to Orquestra de la Comunitat Valencia to play-direct all five Beethoven Concerti, and concludes the play-direct Beethoven cycle with Galicia Symphony.

Perianes frequently appears in recitals across the globe, with performances this season at Heidelberger Frühling, Gulbenkian, Ostrava, Barcelona, Alicante, Scherzo Madrid, Bozar, Liege, Künzelsau and Sydney Opera House.  He also appears at prestigious festivals such as the BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival, Argerich Festival, Salzburg Whitsun, La Roque d’Anthéron, Grafenegg, Prague Spring, Ravello, Stresa, San Sebastián, Santander, Granada, Vail, Blossom, Ravinia and the Canary Island Music Festival. As a natural and keen chamber musician, he regularly collaborates with violist Tabea Zimmermann. The duo will tour Germany and North America including dates at Carnegie Hall, Montreal Salle Bourgie, Princeton, Club Musical de Quebec, and Library of Congress.

Career highlights have included concerts with Wiener Philhamoniker, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Washington’s National, Yomiuri Nippon and Danish National symphony orchestras, Oslo, London, New York, Los Angeles and Czech philharmonic orchestras, Orchestre de Paris, Cleveland, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Swedish and Norwegian Radio orchestras, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Budapest Festival Orchestra.

Perianes exclusively records for harmonia mundi. His most recent releases feature a selection of Scarlatti’s Sonatas, Granados’ Goyescas, and Chopin’s Sonatas No.2 and No.3 interspersed with the three Mazurkas from Op.63. In 2025, Euroarts released a documentary recorded with Perianes at the Reales Alcazares in Seville, showing the special relationship between Scarlatti and Albéniz, linked to the city of Seville.

Perianes was awarded the National Music Prize by the Ministry of Culture of Spain and named Artist of the Year at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA).