Ulster Orchestra Chopin Festival

Ulster Hall, Belfast Fri 29, Sat 30, Sun Feb 1; Fri Feb 5, Sun Feb 7 048-90239955

Russian pianist Nikolai Demidenko (pictured) has been a big hit in Ireland since he was introduced to Irish audiences at the Belfast Festival in the 1980s. Demidenko is back in the city for the Ulster Orchestro’s Chopin Festival, Ireland’s largest celebration to date marking the bicentenary of the composer’s birth.

With the orchestra, Demidenko is playing the Variations on La ci darem la mano, and the orchestral version of the Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise this Friday (when the conductor is Michal Dworzynski) and the First Piano Concerto on February 5th (under Kenneth Montgomery). He is also giving two Sunday afternoon solo recitals, with a programme that includes the B flat minor and B minor Sonatas this Sunday, and the 24 Preludes on February 7th. And he’s also giving a public masterclass on Chopin this Saturday afternoon. Queen’s University’s professor of music, Jan Smaczny, gives an introductory talk before the opening concert this Friday.

Demidenko, by the way, will be in Dublin later this year to celebrate another of this year’s special musical anniversaries when he plays the Schumann concerto with the RTÉ NSO under Arild Remmereit on March 12th.