The original program of this recital reveals some rare nuggets of the repertoire for mezzo-soprano and piano: first, romantic pieces by Verdi and Liszt, then more modern cycles by Britten and Shostakovich, and at the center the admirable Trois Chansons de Bilitis by Debussy, who, on the path of Pelléas at the end of the 19th century, embarked on a refined search for the relationship between music and text.

Graziela Valceva Fierro

Born in Bulgaria, Graziela Valceva Fierro obtained a diploma in opera singing from the Sofia Musical Academy, a Master’s degree from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne and further training at the Boris Christoff Academy in Rome with bass Nicola Ghiuselev. At the age of 23, she made her Sofia debut in the role of Prince Orlofsky (Johann Strauss’s The Bat), directed by Plamen Kartalov and conducted by Jost Meier. She then joined the troupe of the Sofia Musical Theatre. In 1997, she made a remarkable entrance in the mythical role of the Widow in Zorba the Greek, notably at the Théâtre du Jorat. During the 2006-07 season, she joined the ensemble of soloists at the Opéra de Lausanne.

Maciej Pikulski

Solo pianist, chamber musician and accompanist to great voices, Maciej Pikulski has performed in nearly 30 countries on five continents. Born in Krakow, Poland, in 1969, he studied at the Conservatoire National de Paris, where he was unanimously awarded a First Prize for piano, a First Prize for chamber music and a Prize for vocal accompaniment. After studying piano with Dominique Merlet, Maciej Pikulski went on to perfect his skills with English pianist Clive Britton (a pupil of Claudio Arrau). As a soloist, Maciej Pikulski has recorded three CDs: Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto, complemented by works by Liszt and Chopin, Schubert’s Lieder transcribed by Liszt, and a Tribute to Rachmaninov. He has been invited as soloist in Russia, India, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland and La Réunion.

In France, he has performed at Radio France, the Bagatelle Chopin Festival, the Musée d’Orsay, Midem, Les Invalides, etc. In 2004, he was chosen by the Société Chopin to play the title role in the Concert – Reconstitution of Chopin’s Last Concert in Paris.

Since 1993, he has been the exclusive pianist of Belgian opera singer José van Dam, whom he accompanies in recital and on three recordings. He also regularly accompanies Felicity Lott, Renée Fleming, Natalie Dessay, Patricia Petibon, Thomas Hampson and Graziela Valceva Fierro, with whom he appeared at the ACM in early 2019.