About this Event
Anton Batagov: SELECTED LETTERS OF SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
A solo piano recital at Klavierhaus New York
March 4, 2026, at 8 pm
A New York Premiere.
Acclaimed composer and pianist Anton Batagov presents his iconic piano cycle/album, Selected Letters of Sergei Rachmaninoff. This work was inspired by Batagov’s visit to Rachmaninoff’s grave at Kensico Cemetery, just half an hour from New York City. Composed, premiered, and released in 2013, it is built on a premise: Rachmaninoff writes letters to the future, addressed to Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Peter Gabriel, and other legends of minimalist and rock music.
When the album premiered, it caused a sensation - one of those rare cases when contemporary music gains recognition from both audiences and professional musicians alike. Since then, numerous scholarly articles and even dissertations have been written about Selected Letters of Sergei Rachmaninoff. It has influenced artists worldwide, reached millions of listeners, and been performed live throughout Russia, Europe, and the United States. Today, it is widely regarded as a modern Russian classic.
_
At the Grave of Sergei Rachmaninoff (Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, NY)
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Simeon ten Holt
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Peter Gabriel
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Arvo Pärt
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Ludovico Einaudi
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Philip Glass
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Wim Mertens and Niccolo Paganini
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Brian Eno
Letter from Sergei Rachmaninoff to Vladimir Martynov
At the Grave of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Postlude
_
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes, no intermission
_
Artist's Note
In October 2012, I visited Rachmaninoff's grave. He is buried at Kensico Cemetery in the hamlet of Valhalla, half an hour’s ride from New York City. A great musician who heard the universe as a powerful, boundless space resounding with the sounds of bells at once both tragic and triumphant, Rachmaninoff left Russia and became part of a completely different world… As I stood at his grave, I found this space resonating within me. When I returned home, I began writing a piano cycle. In this cycle, Rachmaninoff writes letters to postmodern composers. Rachmaninoff himself was an anti-modernist. He was not a revolutionary, was never "ahead of his time", and was unafraid of looking old-fashioned.
At first glance, it would seem that he bore no influence on late 20th/early 21st-century composers. Nonetheless, his invisible, magical presence can in fact be heard in the music of some composers, including so-called "contemporary classical" composers and rock musicians. Likewise, when I hear Rachmaninoff's endless melodies that evolve from a very short motive of literally two or three notes, the word "minimalism" all but rolls off my tongue…
Rachmaninoff thus speaks to the composers that would come after him. Among composers of his time, he did not find a receptive audience – unsurprising, perhaps, given the avant-garde experiments consuming the musical world at the time. The generation that followed Rachmaninoff essentially continued along the avant-garde path. However, Rachmaninoff looked even further ahead, taking sight of those with whom he desired to speak heart-to-heart.
We have long been accustomed to the fact that both early music and classical music are used as building materials for new compositions. Time runs quickly, and we are already at the next turn of the spiral. Music written only a short while ago becomes material for today’s meditation. In this process, there are no quotations; there are only stylistic journeys in a time machine. The turns of this spiral resonate with one another, and we listen to the sounds they make.
_
About The Artist
Composer and pianist Anton Batagov is one of the most unique and influential artists in the world of new classics. His discography includes over 60 albums that have an audience of millions. He plays on the world's most prestigious stages. His compositions have been performed and recorded by outstanding classical and rock musicians and orchestras. The philosophy of Batagov's projects eliminates any boundaries between centuries and genres, between "performance" and "composition" by viewing all existing musical practices – from ancient rituals to rock and pop culture and advanced computer technologies – as inseparable elements of his work.
Anton Batagov is one of the closest collaborators of Philip Glass and one of the leading performers of his music. He has been touring internationally with Glass for almost a decade. His Glass albums – The Complete Etudes, Prophecies (Batagov's piano arrangements of scenes from Einstein on the Beach and Koyaanisqatsi), The Hours and Distant Figure (a composition written by Philip Glass for and premiered by Anton Batagov) – have received worldwide recognition.
As a composer, Batagov has a distinctive style. The post-minimalist language of his compositions is rooted in the harmonic and rhythmic patterns of Russian church bells mixed with the dynamic pulse of early Soviet avant-garde, the energy of progressive rock, and the spirit of Buddhist philosophy. Batagov is the author of several movie soundtracks and original music for numerous television channels.
From 1997 to 2009, Batagov stopped his concert activity to focus on recording and composition. Since 2009, he has been performing a series of unique solo piano programs. His repertoire includes contemporary classics and great composers of the past. Along with the music of John Cage, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, and Michael Nyman, Batagov performs Bach, Pachelbel, early English music, Mozart, Schubert, Debussy, and many other composers, as well as his own numerous piano compositions.
Mr. Batagov has performed at Walt Disney Hall (Los Angeles) and Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York), Jordan Hall (Boston) and Bing Concert Hall (Palo Alto, CA), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), The Berliner Philharmonie and Philharmonie de Paris, Musiikkitalo (Helsinki) and Reduta Hall (Bratislava), Teatro Regio (Parma, Italy) and Palau de la Musica Catalana (Barcelona, Spain), The Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and The Grand Hall of St.Petersburg Philharmonie, Moscow International House of Music, Zaryadye Hall, and many other venues. The list of festivals he has participated in includes the Salzburg Festival (Austria), Diaghilev Festival (Russia), Ruhrtriennale (Germany), Next Wave and Bang on a Can festivals (New York), Aarhus Festival (Denmark), and others.
Brilliantly hypnotizing. (Los Angeles Times)
His performance transcends the material world. (Crescendo magazine, Germany)
Anton Batagov is a mystic of the piano. Part shaman and part showman, beneath his fingers, the keys of the keyboard reveal another world, another layer of spiritual energy, and another way of listening. (Time Out New York)
Batagov shakes up our notion of what a solo piano recital can sound like. (The Gathering Note, Seattle)
www.batagov.com
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Klavierhaus, 790 11th Avenue, New York, United States
USD 59.97
