Francesco returns to France this month to perform in recital at the Nohant Chopin Festival on 16 June. Nohant was the home of the writer (and Chopin’s lover) George Sands, and Chopin and Sands spent summers there between 1839 and 1846. Chopin composed many works at Sands’ house, including his Polonaise in A-flat major. The Nohant Chopin Festival was founded by the pianist Aldo Ciccolini in 1966 and this year focusing on the theme of exile. For his recital, Francesco performs a programme of Debussy’s Images, arrangements of Bach by Busoni and Kempf and Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonata No.2.
The recital follows Francesco’s return to Berlin’s Konzerthaus, where he gives three performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.2 with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and conductor Eliahu Inbal on 7, 8 and 9 June.