Emre Yavuz, Piano

150th anniversary! This album will be released on the occasion of Maurice Ravel's 150th birthday on March 07, 2025.
The summer before recording my Rachmaninoff album, while sitting under a lighthouse at at the westernmost tip of Anatolia at sunset, with a view of the Aegean Sea, I asked myself: "What next?" Having recently fixed the recording date, the end of my "Rachmaninoff Era" loomed ever closer. Would I ever connect to another composer as deeply as with him? How long would it take for me to connect with another composer this deeply? Furthermore, what was this injury in my hand? Would it heal? Would it now determine what I could play?
The sea has a way of making you feel like you understand certain things the longer you look at it. Despite the condition of my hand, there was one thing I could still play: Ravel. Now, as I watched the waves, Ravel's music was playing in my head (what better match?). The therapeutic power of Ravel's music on both a troubled mind and an ailing body became apparent to me, following, as it does, the natural movements of the human anatomy: for often I have found that the key to playing what was written lay within assuming the most comfortable posture and movement.
The orange of the sun deepened, just like in Rachmaninoff's G-flat Major Prelude. But from that same scenery the second movement of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major also suddenly rang out to me. This subsequent intuition promptly soothed my worries.
The wonders of Ravel's world have accompanied me throughout my life: Sonatine I admired as a child, and the playing of Jeux d’eau helped forget the pain of my injury as wall as the struggles of the past years, and as for that mysterious, Ehrfucht awakening of masterpieces Miroirs... I had often pondered whether I was the type of pianist who could ever play it? The set of skills I had were different from those typically expected in a Ravel pianist.
That same reverence towards the sea now consumed me and it drew me towards it. Beyond the beautiful view, lay both threat and mystery. The sea appeared wise and infinite, and I longed for it.
After the sun had disappeared, the sound of the waves gave the illusion of growing louder. The longer I listened, the more these Ravel reveries took shape – the idea of freedom mixed with danger was incredibly enticing and mirrored the feeling I had upon entering the sea.
Leaving the sea behind me and returning to my car, “what next?” had answered itself.
[extract of the booklet text, incl. some more info about the works and the interpretation]

Emre Yavuz was born in 1990 in İzmir, Turkey. His talent for learning at a rapid pace was evident at an early age, eventually leading to a musical education. He started his education in music in 1998 under the "Educational Act for Prodigy Children", studying with Kamuran Gündemir in Ankara. He continued his studies with Fazıl Say and Sanem Berkalp at the Bilkent University, where he also studied composition. Later studying with Roland Batik in Vienna, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling in Hannover, and with Arie Vardi in Hannover and Tel Aviv. • Starting at an early age Yavuz played with major orchestras performing concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. With his interpretations of Chopin he won prizes in Sicily in 2007, and in Vienna in 2010. He became the first piano student of the Vienna Conservatory to graduate with full grades upon his final recital, performing works by Beethoven, Saygun and Rachmaninoff. In 2013 he performed Beethoven's Concerto No. 3 under the conduction of Zubin Mehta. Emre has competed in a number of competitions: In 2012 he won the 1st prize in the 4th International Rosario Marciano Competition in Vienna where he was designated as an "outstanding artistic personality", in 2015 first prize in the 2nd National Piano Competition in Ankara, in 2016 1st and Schubert Prize at the Vienna International Piano Competition, 3rd prize in Schubert Competition in Dortmund, and lastly 1st prize at Kissinger KlavierOlymp in Bad Kissingen where his unconventional programming with a self-composed piece and works by Scarlatti, Rameau, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Saygun was especially praised. • In 2018 Emre Yavuz launched his "Rachmaninoff International Tour" which lasted one year, perform-ing solo works, chamber music and concertos by Rachmaninoff. He is a Bösendorfer Pianist and lives in Vienna.

CD programme / Tracklist: