FILIPPO GORINI
SUN, MAR 22, 2026
4:00PM / Lincoln Performance Hall, PSU
“the necessary long breath”
Portland Piano International first presented Filippo Gorini in 2019, before the rest of the world caught up. On March 22, he returns to Lincoln Performance Hall with an afternoon that will take you somewhere no other concert can. It opens with Schumann's Arabeske, op. 18, a gently spiraling reverie whose singing melody settles over you like a quiet conversation, then deepens into the Davidsbündlertänze, op. 6 (1837 edition), eighteen short pieces so intimate they feel like reading someone's diary, written in the midst of a secret engagement.
After intermission, the world premiere of Michelle Agnès Magalhães's Portland Sonata — music written for this occasion that no audience anywhere has yet heard. Then Beethoven's Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110, does something few pieces dare: its fugue breaks apart, tries to rebuild, breaks apart again — and when it finally holds, the release you feel in your chest is real.
This recital is the centerpiece of something extraordinary: Portland is one of just seven cities in the world — alongside Vienna, Cape Town, Hong Kong, and Milan — chosen for Gorini's month-long "Sonata for 7 Cities" residency. That means you're not seeing a touring artist passing through. You're seeing someone who chose to spend an entire month here. BBC Music Magazine has praised his "pure joie de vivre"; in a hall this size, you'll feel it. Tickets are limited.
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Arabeske, op. 18
Davidsbündlertänze, op. 6
1. Lebhaft
2. Innig
3. Mit Humor
4. Ungeduldig
5. Einfach
6. Sehr rasch
7. Nicht schnell
8. Frisch
9. Lebhaft
10. Balladenmäßig: sehr rasch
11. Einfach
12. Mit Humor
13. Wild und lustig
14. Zart und singend
15. Frisch
16. Mit gutem Humor
17. Wie aus der Ferne
18. Nicht schnell
INTERMISSION
MICHELLE AGNÈS MAGALHÃE
Portland Sonata (world premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110
I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
II. Allegro molto
III. Adagio ma non troppo
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Box Office
Seating Map (PDF)
We participate in the Arts for All ticketing discount program. Student tickets, $10.
Questions? Call (503) 228-1388
or email robin@portlandpiano.org.Lincoln Performance Hall at Portland State University
1620 SW Park Ave (at Market St.)
Portland, OR 97201Driving Directions | Trimet Directions
Parking is available nearby in PSU Parking Structure 2, diagonally across the street from Lincoln Hall. However, there is a parking fee. Please visit the kiosk at the entrance and have your license plate number handy. Park in the areas marked "Permit Parking Only".
For more information about parking and Lincoln Performance Hall, call our office at 503.228.1388. Office hours are Monday through Thursday 9am - 4pm.
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PRE-CONCERT LECTURE: Arrive early to the concert and listen to an insightful pre-concert lecture given by Bill Crane, executive director, and Amelia De Vaal, Resident Musicologist — 3:15 PM.
PROGRAM NOTES: Get a start on learning about this program by reading the program notes.
GET TO KNOW FILIPPO GORINI
NATIONALITY:
Italian
MEDIA APPLAUSE:
“...lovely poise throughout, sometimes as though with bated breath, other times with driving propulsion, and occasionally exploding with pure joie de vivre.”
— BBC Music Magazine
Where do you find inspiration to create music?
Being an interpreter, I don’t feel like I create music: I am just giving voice to masterpieces by composers, either from the past or of today. The main inspiration is the work itself, interiorized and made dearer and dearer to me in its every detail through hundreds of hours spent together.
Other than that, life is the greatest inspiration: people I meet, cities I visit, the art and the wealth of emotions I get to experience … everything I do enters my music making, in a subconscious way, and changes it through the years.
Which field outside of music most influences your creative process (art, design, architecture, fashion, film)?
Probably art, architecture and film. As an Italian, I grew up studying the enormously rich artistic heritage my country’s history has to offer, and every time I visit a new city I do not miss the chance to discover new museums!
Can you describe a routine that helps you maintain a healthy lifestyle?
I love hiking and swimming when I am able to find time for them: I feel grounded, stable and physically stronger when I exercise.
What energizes you to keep creating and moving forward?
The abundance of masterpieces and of people who have yet to discover them. I am happy when through my work people are touched by great music they did not know, or never understood. This is how my two projects “Sonata for 7 Cities” and “The Art of Fugue Explored” were born.
What’s one specific product you highly recommend?
Lately I am very fond and excited about my LARQ bottle. Through great engineering, it purifies any water: I never need to think whether tap water is safe to drink, I am never out of water, and since it is self-cleaning, I do not need to stress about that either!