Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

Revisiting the original gesture of Anton Diabelli, who in 1819 composed a waltz and challenged the most prominent composers of the Austrian Empire to offer their variations on the theme of his piece, pianist Rudolf Buchbinder invited twelve contemporary composers to imagine new variations from Diabelli’s theme. Buchbinder’s comprehensive programme covers Diabelli’s original waltz, an interpretation of a selection of variations published in 1824, by Liszt, Schubert and Czerny, new works by composers such as Toshio Hosokawa, Tan Dun and Jörg Widmann, and Beethoven’s monumental 33 Diabelli Variations.