Matei Varga is the 2021 recipient of the Romanian - American Fine Arts Award, conferred by the Romanian government. His artistry has garnered superlative reviews from critics around the world, who have found his performances “magical” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), “colorful, vivacious [and] engaging” (Le Diapason).
Mr. Varga is a top prizewinner at several international piano competitions such as “Maria Canals”, “Premio Mozart” and “George Enescu”. He is a recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant in New York and the Vendome Virtuoso prize in Lisbon, a recognition given by legendary pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja. In 1994, he was awarded a “High Commendation” by Diana, Princess of Wales and in 2002 he was invited by Gian Carlo Menotti to appear at the “Festival dei Due Mondi” in Spoleto (Italy).
Matei Varga has appeared as a soloist and recitalist in many of the world’s leading concert halls, among them Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, Konzerthaus Berlin, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Rebecca Crown Auditorium in Jerusalem, National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and the Auditorium du Louvre, Salle Cortot and Salle Gaveau in Paris. In 2016 he was chosen by prima ballerina Alina Cojocaru to perform Liszt’s Piano Sonata in Frederick Ashton’s “Marguerite and Armand”, presented during the “Fall for Dance” Festival at City Center (New York).
Mr. Varga has collaborated with conductors such as Otto-Werner Mueller, Elio Boncompagni, Antoine Marguier, Adrian Sunshine, Christian Reif, Gabriel Bebeselea, and frequently accompanied the great Romanian soprano Mariana Nicolesco. He has performed with the “George Enescu” Philharmonic, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony, Orchestre des Nations (Geneva) and many others. His discography includes releases for Naxos, Electrecord, Sono Luminus, AIX Records and Coviello Classics.
After graduating with a Bachelor's degree from the National University of Music in Bucharest (where he studied with Ana Pitis, Ioana Minei and Sandu Sandrin) he earned a Master's degree from Mannes College in New York.
PRESS
"With his infectious enthusiasm and seemingly effortless technique, Varga makes light work of soaring leaps, cascading runs at breakneck speed and delightful trills, all with precise attention to detail.”
Lisa MacKinney
Limelight"[A] grand and wonderfully lugubrious new release from the young Romanian pianist Matei Varga... [Dumitrescu's] nine piano preludes recorded here are largely vivacious and full of dense keyboard intricacies that Varga exploits splendidly... Janácek’s swirling, Impressionist masterpiece...gets an appealingly fluid performance. The slow movement of Bach’s D-Minor Concerto...closes out the disc like a serene funeral benediction."
Joshua Kosman
San Francisco Chronicle"The performances are exquisite... they show a fine sense of shaping a lyrical melodic line with perfect tonal control”
Rob Haskins
American Record Guide"[an] excellent pianist”
Robert Gottlieb
The New York Observer"[H]is every phrase conveyed intelligence and a burning sense of musical mission. . . . Mr. Varga played with consummate care and fidelity without ever sounding fussy or pedantic . . . listeners were rapt, utterly motionless and silent. . . . there was clearly an exceptional mind at work.”
Rorianne Schrade
New York Concert Review2025-26 RECITAL PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Concerto No. 3 in D minor BWV 974
*based on an oboe concerto by Alessandro Marcello (1673 - 1747)
(Allegro)Adagio
Presto
George Enescu (1881 - 1955)
Prelude and Fugue in C major (1903)
Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1
Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20
Etude in C minor, Op. 10 No. 12 (The Revolutionary)
Ernesto Lecuona (1895 - 1963)
19th Century Cuban Dances
La Primera en la FrenteA la Antigua
Impromptu
Interrumpida
La Mulata
Arabesque
Ella y Yo
La Cardenense
Al Fin Te Vi
Minstrels Intermission
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Piano Pieces Op. 118
Piano Pieces Op. 118Intermezzo in A minor
Intermezzo in A major
Ballade in G minor
Intermezzo in A minor
Romanze in F major
Intermezzo in E-flat minor
Andrei Tudor (b. 1983)
Waltz in E-flat minor & Rondo alla Crazy (2020)
Scott Joplin (1868 - 1917)
Scott Joplin’s New Rag (1912)
Magnetic Rag (1914)
cantabile (adj.): melodious, imitating the human voice
3 composers who changed the history of classical music
2 of the greatest works in piano literature
1 major & minor key
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata in C major, K 279 / 189 d (1774)
AllegroAndante
Allegro
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Fantasie in C major, Op. 17 (1836)
Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragenMäßig. Durchaus energisch
Langsam getragen
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Sonata in C minor, K 457 (1784)
Molto AllegroAdagio
Allegro assai
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 (1821-22)
Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionatoArietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile Duration: approx. 90 minutes, plus one intermission