Poetry and Passion

Stephan Elmas, the Chopin of Armenia

Heghine Rapyan, piano

The concert project ‘Poetry and Passion – Stephan Elmas, the Chopin of Armenia’ is dedicated to the fascinating and far too rarely performed works of the Armenian composer and pianist Stephan Elmas Protected content . Elmas, who was born in Smyrna and later studied in Weimar under Franz Liszt and in Vienna under Anton Door, spent most of his life in Geneva. His work stands in the direct tradition of the great Romantics, whilst his style displays a remarkable kinship with Fryderyk Chopin.
The programme takes the audience on a journey through the emotional landscapes of the late Romantic period. It comprises a carefully curated selection of Elmas’s works, reflecting the full breadth of his compositional skill: from the intimate and melancholic Nocturnes and Preludes, through the rhythmically incisive Mazurkas, to the monumental Sonata in B minor. The latter, with its dramatic ‘Marche funèbre’, is a masterpiece that combines technical brilliance with profound philosophical reflection.
This concert is more than a musical performance; it is an act of cultural restitution. In an age of globalisation and cultural exchange, this project stands as a testament to the diversity of European musical history and brings a forgotten master back into the public consciousness. The Amtshaus Brigittenau provides a stately and acoustically superb setting for this, which emphasises the chamber music character of the works.