Simon Haje
Back at the Nicolaihaus once again - and for good reason: Simon Haje is among the most remarkable young pianists of his generation. Born in Berlin in 2005, he combines exceptional musical maturity with technical brilliance, stylistic versatility, and a captivating stage presence.
His musical journey began at an early age with appearances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Salzburg Festival. At just nine years old, he was admitted as a junior student to Berlin’s University of the Arts, and he now continues his studies at the Cologne University of Music and Dance.
Simon Haje has gained international recognition through numerous competition successes, including first prizes at prestigious piano competitions across Europe and, most recently, the Orchestra Prize at the International Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland.
As both a soloist and chamber musician, he performs regularly at renowned festivals and concert venues in Germany and abroad. His playing is distinguished by clarity, expressive depth, and a natural musicality that captivates audiences and critics alike.
With Simon Haje, the Nicolaihaus welcomes back an artist whose artistic development is a pleasure to follow – and whose name is certain to be heard far beyond today’s concert stages in the years to come.
Sept. 22, 2026 - 7:30pm
(doors open 6:45pm)
Simon Haje
Piano Solo Recital
traumtänzer(dreamer)
program:
"traumtänzer"
The programme "traumtänzer" (dreamer) brings together works in which dreamlike and intoxicating worlds merge with the spirit of dance.
Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen
Schumann’s Kinderszenen open the concert with poetic miniatures that evoke forgotten dreams and distant memories.
Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M.61
Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales take up this atmosphere of nostalgia, transforming it into a sequence of seven finely crafted waltzes, followed by an epilogue that recalls them from afar – a memory of a memory, a dream of dances long past.
Franz Liszt, Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 514
Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz provides a striking contrast. Here, the waltz sheds its elegance and restraint, becoming a demonic dance that blazes with dazzling virtuosity.
Claude Debussy, L’Isle joyeuse, L. 106
Debussy’s L’Isle joyeuse continues this ecstatic spirit, though less directly than Liszt. Its world is that of an imagined, dreamlike landscape, uniting what the composer himself described as “strength and grace.”
Robert Schumann, Papillons op. 2
The same combination of vitality and poetry can be found in Schumann’s Papillons, which return to the intimate world of musical miniatures. Full of surprises, they capture the colourful flutter and bustle of a masquerade ball.
Igor Stravinsky / Agosti, L‘Oiseau de feu: Danse infernale, Berceuse et Finale
The programme concludes with Guido Agosti’s celebrated piano transcription of music from Stravinsky’s The Firebird—a dazzling display of rhythmic energy in which the many facets of dance flare up one final time.