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Why the Royal Albert Hall? That's kind of a strange venue for a solo recital, isn't it? I checked their concert listings for the last quarter of this year, and there are no classical solo recitals. Other than being the home of the Proms during the summer, it seems to be the place for a lot of pop acts and a scattering of large-scale classical "blockbusters".

The RAH has been used for solo piano concerts in the BBC Proms in the past: Kissin was the first, then Andras Schiff, Lang Lang and Maria Joao Pires.

And I assume those concerts were there because the RAH is the primary venue of the Proms. But that doesn't do much to explain why the Lisitsa recital is there, since it is not part of the Proms. And outside of the Proms, the RAH doesn't seem to be primarily a classical venue.

It's not primarily a classical venue. It does everything. Including classical.
It would be more usual to have a solo piano recital in Wigmore Hall or the Barbican, but someone like Lisitsa will sell very large numbers of tickets so it makes more sense to have it in a 6000 seat venue.

AFAIK, she has never sold "very large numbers of tickets" at any time in the past, so it is interesting how that expectation for this one date arises suddenly, out of nowhere. One can only assume the PR machine is working overtime...

It all depends on the popularity of the pianist. Lisitsa apparently has a huge following on YouTube so the promoter expects a huge demand for tickets.

I go to concerts at the South Bank regularly (a venue south of the River Thames in London), and there's a hierarchy there: popular pianists only play in the Royal Festival Hall (4000 seats), including Kissin, Pollini, Zimerman, Uchida, Hewitt. Less known pianists play in the Queen Elizabeth Hall - they may get promoted eventually to the RFH, but most never make it there. Amoung the pianists who have played in the QEH in the past year or who are reappearing are Yuja Wang, Yulianna Avdeeva, Alice Sara Ott (being promoted to RFH this year), Steven Osborne...

Wow ! So you are saying that she is at a venue selected (and paid for) by promoters who expect that she will outsell the likes of Pollini and Uchida etc.. Interesting. She has mostly played for free or for nominally priced tickets so far. That strategy has helped her get wide exposure. It will be interesting to see if internet fans will come out in droves. My impression is that her ubiquitousness on the web may backfire when it comes to ticket-paying public. (Serious Internet dwellers are not high paying customers usually).
But I am not raining on her parade. I really hope she is successful. She is clearly a very hard working pianist. I am only commenting on her approach, which is novel and untested. So it is interesting to see how things will play out.

I bought my ticket today. You can see on the albert hall website how many seats have been sold so far. Id say maybe 2/3 to 3/4. And there's still two weeks to go.
There's no doubt in my mind that Lisitsa can sell out a venue like the albert hall. There are people coming from the other side of the world just for this one concert. She's said in interviews that these days there are always large numbers of her internet fans at her concerts. I don't know where you get the idea that internet dwellers are not high paying customers. I'd say 90% of the stuff I pay for has been as a direct result of internet exposure.

I have tickets but sadly will be out of town for work. When I bought the tickets several months back, the main sections were already about half sold out... I would imagine that she's managed to fill it substantially, though I think it's probably not nearly sold out.

Wish I'd known that, I'd have bought them off you :P

are the tickets "reasonably priced"? that could also explain the large venue.

Mine were £25

Hmm...

"this insulting descriptive"

"let's find that critic and shoot him"

"she should shoot her publicist"

"that's a really insulting comparison"

Yes, I'd say that everyone got into a fuss. What thread are you reading?

Ummm, that was about comparing to Lang Lang, not Beiber.

Reality check here - people dislike Justin Beiber because he`s a prat, the Ali G of the pop world and yes, playing classical piano to a very high standard indeed IS more difficult and requires MUCH more hard work than swanning round being beautiful. People who dedicate large parts of their life learning a skill get irritated when they see other people obtain equal or greater recognition for what amounts to serendipity. Hence the reaction in this thread.

Non-UK residents might be interested to know that the winner of 'Britain's got Talent' TV show recently is .....a dog , easily beating classical musicians and even pop acts.

Truly, the public gets what they deserve.

I've known about this Lisitsa concert for a good few months now, due to targeted internet advertising. I've watched her on youtube, and I live in London, so adverts get targeted at me. And since then I've heard about it in other places online, and seen adverts in the local papers. I'd say the PR machine is in full swing, they know she is very marketable and she'll likely get close to filling the RAH. I may even go myself

(Edit: first caption ad in youtube after posting this ad: Valentina Lisitsa at the Royal Albert Hall!)

Has anyone seen what her program will be at RAH and in Virginia?

It's listed here:

http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/valentina-lisitsa/default.aspx

Click on the "Repertoire" tab.

I'm about to head out the door for her pre-concert concert in this area (leaving plenty early...due to unreserved seating, and nasty early rush-hour D.C.-area traffic). She will be performing that same program at tonight's concert, according to her live-stream site.

Here's another article from the Telegraph about "star" classical musicians. Although the focus is on Lang Lang, it seems appropriate for this discussion. I happen to have a soft spot for both Lang Lang and Lesitsa, and I believe this writer takes a very balanced approach toward these new superstars.

Please note his comments about Horowitz, who was also regarded as a mere showman, and somehow unworthy of being considered a "serious" musician. I have a few choice words to describe that type of thinking, but they wouldn't make it past the censors.

Snobbery to Censure a Showman