The concert was by no means a night of suppressed emotions. What the over 400 listeners experienced was above all the play of a remarkably talented soloist. Although Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is the music of celebration and wandering, Bilińska stays focused and in contact with the orchestra. With wide movements of her arms the soloist marks the entrances of instruments, yet in between she stays close to the keys, interweaving hearself with the music, so that – just from the first phrase – at times one may even wonder which sound comes from the piano and which from the orchestra.
Beata Bilińska does not care that much for virtuosity – it is naturally visible in her entire self. She is more fascinated by life that the concert pulsates with. The pianist follows it with a great joy from playing, which even lifts her from her piano stool and makes her exchange smiles with the conductor after each great passage.