Schedule
Ostrava Czech Republic , St. Wenceslas Music Festival / Svatovaclavsky hudebni festival
Mahan Esfahani with Prague Philharmonia (PKF)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): Orchestral Suite no. 1 in C major, BWV 1066
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Harpsichord Concerto in G major, Hob. XVIII: 4
Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782): Symphony in C major no. 3, op. 2 W C2
Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959): Harpsichord Concerto, H. 246 (1935)
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Prague Philharmonia (PKF)
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord/director
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London United Kingdom, Victoria & Albert Museum
Lecture-recital
“Tradition and Modernity in the Ears and Hands of J.S. Bach”
Join esteemed harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani for an afternoon where music and history come together in a vivid exploration of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier; this special event will be held in celebration of the release of Mahan Esfahani’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I on Hyperion Records.
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Cambridge United Kingdom, Trinity College Cambridge
Solo Recital
Solo recital
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London United Kingdom, Wigmore Hall
Solo Recital
Mahan Esfahani has built a revelatory sequence of Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas by weaving together an entrancing programme from their contrasting material. His insightful choice of pieces provides a vivid portrait of Scarlatti’s inventive genius.
N.B. this is the first of three recitals in the 2025-26 season at London’s Wigmore Hall exploring the oeuvre of Domenico Scarlatti
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Birmingham United Kingdom, Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Solo Recital
Handel: Suite No.3 in D minor, HWV428
Michael Berkeley: Haiku II: Insects (2023)
J.S. Bach: Concerto in the Italian Style in F, BWV971
D. Scarlatti: Selection of Sonatas
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Dobřany Czech Republic, ZUŠ Johann Sebastian Bach
J.S. Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Benefit recital in support of the ZUŠ (Základní umělecká škola) in the western Bohemian town of Dobřany.
As a citizen of the Czech Republic I take very seriously the duty to give back to the country that has adopted me.
The ZUŠ system is a network of public music schools throughout all cities, towns, and villages in the Czech Republic that benefit the general cultural life of the nation, and I am proud to be associated with the ZUŠ named for J.S. Bach; this recital will raise money for the school’s activities and the yearly Junior Competition across all instruments in the works of J.S. Bach.
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Kronberg Germany, Kronberg Academy
Recital with Emmanuel Pahud
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Cello Suite No. 1 in G major BWV 1007
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Partita in A minor for flute solo BWV 1013
Sonata in G minor for flute and harpsichord BWV 1020
Sonata in E flat major for flute and harpsichord BWV 1031
Sonata in A major for flute and harpsichord BWV 1032
Sonata in B minor for flute and harpsichord BWV 1030
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Prague Czech Republic, Rudolfinum
Well-Tempered Clavier Book I
Mahan Esfahani opens his tenure as guest curator of the Czech Philharmonic’s chamber music series with a complete performance of the first book of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (1722) (Book II to be performed in April of 2026)
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Lausanne Switzerland, Festival Bach de Lausanne
Solo Recital
J.S. Bach:
Suite Française en si BWV 814
Fantaisie chromatique & Fugue en ré BWV 903
Variations Goldberg BWV 988
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London United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Solo Recital
Mahan Esfahani, perhaps today’s best-known harpsichordist, is an eloquent ambassador for the brilliance, beauty and versatility of the instrument.
Tonight is a rare chance to hear him conjure up the world of the Elizabethan era, known as the golden age of English music.
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Byrd: O Mistress mine
Tomkins: Barafostus Dreame
Dowland: Can she excuse my wrongs arr. William Randall
Gibbons: The hunt's up (Peascod time)
G Farnaby: Farmer's Paven
Bull: Salvator mundi
Byrd: Fortune (My Foe)
Bull: Walsingham
Bull: In Nomine
G Farnaby: Why aske you; Up tails all
Tomkins: Pavan; Worster braules
Tisdale: The leaves bee greene
Byrd: Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la
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Prague Czech Republic, Rudolfinum
Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society
Between his performances of The Well-Tempered Clavier, this season’s curator Mahan Esfahani will make room to honour his reputation as a bold musical explorer. In a thoughtfully assembled programme, he brings together Czech and international works of the 20th-century — paying tribute to Viktor Kalabis and shining a light on the inventive, though lesser-known, Henry Cowell. The evening’s climax will be Falla’s Harpsichord Concerto, interpreted by some of the Czech Republic’s finest musicians.
Bohuslav Martinů
Promenades, H 274
Richard Strauss
Dances from Capriccio, Op. 85 (1943)
Henry Cowell
Quartet for flute, oboe, cello, and harpsichord
Petr Eben
Sonata for harpsichord (1980)
Viktor Kalabis
Sonata for violin and harpsichord. Op. 28
Manuel de Falla
Harpsichord Concerto (1926)
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Mahan Esfahani harpsichord
Oto Reiprich flute
Barbora Trnčíková oboe
Anna Paulová clarinet
Milan Al-Ashhab violin
Aneta Šudáková cello
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Valletta Malta, Valletta Baroque Festival
Solo Recital
Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani returns to the festival with virtuosic and sublime works by Handel and Scarlatti.
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Leicester United Kingdom , Leicester International Music Festival
Solo Recital
Mahan Esfahani returns to the Leicester International Music Festival recital series
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London United Kingdom, Wigmore Hall
Solo Recital
Mahan Esfahani continues his Scarlatti series at Wigmore Hall with a programme exploring Domenico Scarlatti’s works in the context of the Spanish Enlightenment
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Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in G minor, K347
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in G major, K348
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in F sharp major, K318
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in F sharp major, K319
Cabanilles, Juan Bautista (1644-1712) Pasacalles de primer tono WSC47
Cantallos (b. 1760) Sonata in C
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in G minor, K234
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in D major, K53
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in A minor, K382
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in A major, K268
Soler, Antonio (1729-1783) Keyboard Sonata in F sharp major, SR90
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in D major, K490
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in D major, K491, L164
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in D major, K492
Soler, Antonio (1729-1783) Keyboard Sonata in C minor, SR100
Soler, Antonio (1729-1783) Keyboard Sonata in C minor, SR19
Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788) Fantasy for keyboard in C major, Wq 59/6, H 284
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in C sharp minor, K247
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in E major, K215
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonata in A major, K429
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Rouen France, Opéra de Rouen
Solo Recital
Claveciniste renversant, nourri du baroque et passionné de musique de notre temps, Mahan Esfahani fait résonner les virtuoses sonates de Scarlatti avec quelques passacailles, fantaisies et sonates de ses contemporains. Une exploration musicale au cœur du XVIIIe siècle alors que la facture du clavecin atteignait son plus haut degré de perfection et que Domenico Scarlatti réalisait une synthèse que certains qualifient d’idéale de la musique pour cet instrument à travers son œuvre presque exclusivement dédiée au clavecin. C’est au cœur de ses 555 sonates que Scarlatti trouve le cadre parfait pour exprimer son génie musical et toute sa virtuosité.
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Oeuvres de Domenico Scarlatti, Juan Bautista José Cabanilles, Cantallos, Padre Antonio Soler, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
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New York United States, Frick Collection
Solo Recital
Mahan Esfahani returns to the Frick Collection, where he made his New York debut in 2012, to perform J.S. Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue) BWV 1080 in its entirety
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Seville Spain, Festival de Musica Antigua
Solo Recital
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in g K 347 - Sonata in G K 348
Sonata in F# K 318 - Sonata in F# K 319
Juan Bautista José Cabanilles (1644-1712)
Passacalles del primer tono
Cantallos (ca. 1760-?)
Sonata in c (ca. 1795)
Domenico Scarlatti
Sonata in g K. 234
Sonata in D, K 53
Sonata in e K 382
Sonata in A K 268
Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783)
Sonata in F# R 90
Domenico Scarlatti
Sonata in D 490 - Sonata in D K 491 - Sonata in D K 492
Padre Soler
Sonata in c R 100
Sonata in c R 19
Matteo Albéniz (ca. 1755-1831)
Sonata in D
Josef Haydn (1732-1809)
Sonata in e, H. XVI: 34
I. Presto
II. Adagio
III. Vivace
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Prague Czech Republic, Rudolfinum
Well-Tempered Clavier Book II
Mahan Esfahani concludes his season as guest curator with the Czech Philharmonic’s chamber music series with the 2nd book of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (1744)
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Hamburg Germany , Elbphilharmonie
Solo Recital
Hans Werner Henze
Six Absences for Harpsichord (1961)
Three Miniatures:
Jinwook Jung
Les Lotophages for Solo Harpsichord (2021, for Mahan Esfahani)
Marcus Rock
Codex (2023, for Mahan Esfahani)
Poul Ruders
Quickstep Rag (2022, for Mahan Esfahani)
Luc Ferrari
Programme Commune for Harpsichord and Stereo Tape (1972)
– Interval –
György Ligeti
Hungarian Rock / Chaconne für Cembalo
Nilufar Habibian
New Work (2025)
Miroslav Srnka
Triggering für Cembalo (mit zwei E-Bows) (2018)
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Munich Germany, Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper)
Of One Blood (Brett Dean)
OF ONE BLOOD
Premiere on 10. May 2026
Composer Brett Dean. Libretto by Heather Betts based on texts by Mary Stuart, Elizabeth Tudor and other 16th century sources.
recommended for age 14 and older
Opera in two acts (2026)
In English. With surtitles in German and English. New Production.
Commissioned by the Bavarian State Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, State Opera South Australia and Garsington Opera
Co-production with The Santa Fe Opera
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N.B. Mahan Esfahani is a member of the cast in this opera, performing onstage in a part written especially for him by Brett Dean
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Munich Germany, Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper)
Of One Blood (Brett Dean)
See description for 10 May
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Munich Germany, Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper)
Of One Blood (Brett Dean)
See info for 10 May
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Leipzig Germany, BachFest Leipzig
Solo Recital
Mahan Esfahani opens his position as Artist-in-Residence of the Leipzig Bach Festival with a recital of works from the first part of Clavier-Übung (1726-1731)
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Partita I B-Dur BWV 825
Partita IV D-Dur BWV 828
Partita V G-Dur BWV 829
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Leipzig Germany, BachFest Leipzig
Concert with Neue Bachisches Collegium Musicum (NBCM) and Reinhard Goebel
Mahan Esfahani continues his artist-in-residence season at the Leipzig Bach Festival with a collaboration with Reinhard Goebel and the NBCM.
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Johann Adolph Scheibe
Symphony in B flat major
Johann Gottfried Müthel
Concerto for two bassoons, strings and basso continuo in E flat major
Johann Philipp Kirnberger
Sinfonia con Fuga in C minor
Johann Ludwig Krebs
Concerto for harpsichord, transverse flute and strings in B minor
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg
Concerto for harpsichord, strings and basso continuo in D minor
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Leipzig Germany, BachFest Leipzig
Solo Recital
Mahan Esfahani concludes his artist-in-residence position at the Leipzig Bach Festival with a recital of works from the 2nd and 4th parts of Clavier-Übung (1731, 1741)
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Johann Sebastian Bach:
Clavierübung II + IV (Overture in B minor BWV 831 Italian Concerto in F major BWV 971
Goldberg Variations BWV 988).
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Munich Germany, Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper)
Of One Blood (Brett Dean)
See details for 10 May
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Munich Germany, Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper)
Of One Blood (Brett Dean)
See details for 10 May
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