Proselytising for Pärt ina hyper-cool Berlin venue

“FOR ARVO” – Hommage to Arvo Pärt by Georgijs Osokins; Berlin, 22nd November 2025.

Review by Jonathan Sutherland

The Latvian pianist Georgijs Osokins has established himself as a leading exponent and tireless proselytiser of the music of Estonian
composer Arvo Pärt whose 90th birthday was celebrated this year. Osokins recently persuaded the indefatigable Martha Argerich to join him in recording a two-piano arrangement of “Hymn to a Great City” for Deutsche Gramophon label.

In a concert entitled “For Arvo” on Saturday in Berlin, Osokins dazzled with insightful interpretations of Pärt and a much broader showcase of pianistic virtuosity. Four works by Pärt were coupled with Schubert, Bach/Busoni, Scriabin and Liszt.

Opening with the world premiere of Osokins’ own transcription of the mystical, deeply spiritual and deceptively translucent “Fratres” from ”Für Alina”, the measured fermate and extended pauses were as meaningful as the hypnotic, upper register notes which provide the detached cantilena.

A touchingly poetic, almost Brendel-esque reading of Schubert’s Moments Musicaux Op. 24 No 24 was followed by another Pärt triple-time gem, the “Ukuaru Valss” which Osokins played with slightly more Ländler-ish oomph than the composer’s own recordings. It was much more
fun. The first half concluded with the diabolical Busoni transcription of the Bach Chaconne for Partita N.2 in D major BWV1004. Never one to eschew fortissimo double octaves, 10 finger chords and gymnastic runs and scales for a simple melodic or harmonic line, Busoni makes extraordinary demands on the pianist, which Osokins mastered with assurance and precision.

Pärt was back in the second half of the programme with Partita No 2 in four sections. Scriabin’s Poem “Vers la flamme » Op. 72 provided a contrasting but somehow convincing bridge to the next Pärt opus, the Lamentate X “Fragile e conciliante”, the last section of the somewhat melancholy but ultimately reaffirming cycle. The original piano/orchestra score was again performed in an authorised transcription by the young Latvian.

In Liszt’s “Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata”, Osokins tossed off the fiendish demands of the score with confidence. Encores were the Rachmaninoff Prelude in G-sharp minor op 32 n 12 and Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody Nr 15 (arr. Horowitz/Osokins).

The concert was memorable for two other factors. Firstly, Osokins played the “Blue” Steinway, built in 1925. The warmth of tone, especially in the lower registers, was rich and mellifluous while the upper range was crystalline and beautifully limpid. The historic instrument was loaned out for the evening by the Hamburger Symphoniker.

The second notable aspect was the hall itself. It is one of the more recent additions to the already formidable list of concert venues in Berlin
and is known as the “Kühlhaus”. Situated between the Kreutzberg and Mitte districts, it is as the name would imply, a huge renovated former freezer storage building dating from 1901. Notable for its stark interior of bare bricks and rough cement, metal balconies and brutalist décor, it has impressively clean and bright acoustics. Apart from the coats and scarves of the audience, there was not a shred of material to be seen. There is seating on 3 sides of the piano for 3-4 hundred people while visually curious listeners can stand on the overhead galleries and look directly down onto the pianist.

As Berlin is perhaps the most consciously “cool” city in Europe, the addition of the literal “Kühlhaus” performance venue is entirely in keeping with “die ewig junge Stadt” as Hildegard Knef used to say.

One small complaint. Despite understandable fidelity to the origins of the Kühlhaus, a little heating would be a welcome addition as things can get a tad nippy by the Berlin Tempelhof Ufer in winter.