Born in the southernmost heel of Apulia, Italian pianist Beatrice Rana scaled the Olympian summit of piano art within a short time. The Süddeutsche Zeitung has praised her for her “fine-tuned” playing; after her Chopin recital at Carnegie Hall, the New York Times noted that her “melodic line had the grace of the bel canto opera arias Chopin adored.” Her recordings of Bach, Chopin, and Ravel, as well as of piano concertos by Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, have attracted widespread attention and approval. Now, with the WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze, she will devote her appearance this year at the Ruhr Piano Festival to a key work of Romantic piano repertoire: Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, which never ceases to fascinate and delight audiences with its plethora of musical ideas. Beatrice Rana once remarked in an interview that the word “romantic” is not just about emotions, but also refers to the battle that goes on inside the composer. “That inner dualism we find in music is something that fascinates me, particularly in Schumann.” Now based in Rome, Beatrice Rana sees each live appearance as a new occasion for communicating with the audience, and she will certainly achieve this in her own very special way on the occasion of her second performance for the Ruhr Piano Festival.