They celebrated true triumphs on opera stages throughout Europe: Giacomo Meyerbeer and Gioachino Rossini. Before the Italian retired to run a glittering salon, he brought the German to Paris, where his grand opera surpassed all previous productions. Rossini remains a frequently performed composer, while Meyerbeer now occupies a niche position; during their lifetimes, both were idolized by the public. This was due in no small part to colleagues from a no less celebrated profession in the French capital: piano virtuosos such as Franz Liszt, Sigismund Thalberg, and Henri Herz, who, however, competed fiercely with one another, using the well-known melodies and catchy tunes from operas by Rossini or Meyerbeer and reworking them with tremendous virtuosity, employing every possible technical subtlety, in fantasies, paraphrases, and variations. In 1837, Liszt and Thalberg engaged in a legendary piano duel in the salon of Princess Cristina Trivulzio Belgiojoso.

On October 8, 2026, at 7:00 p.m., works by these two great masters will meet again in the Puttensaal of the Luisenbad, Badstr. 39, 13357 Berlin – at the Berlin debut of the young, multi-award-winning pianist and composer Çağla Gürsoy. She will enter the virtuoso arena of the 19th century, performing four major works of piano literature. This concert will be accompanied by informative and entertaining commentary from musicologist Steffen Meder and Thomas Kliche, founder and chairman of the Meyerbeer Society.