Polish Piano Queen Hania Rani will perform her mesmerizing compositions at the echoes of the tenth edition of the Spectaculare festival at Divadlo Archa on 18 October. One of the biggest phenomenon of post-classical music in recent years and a musician who has been awarded many acclaimed music prizes, she will bring her new studio album to the Czech Republic. For the first time, she will perform with her band, with which she is currently selling out concert halls as part of her first world tour. Early bird tickets will be on sale from 14 April. Spectaculare festival will conclude its ongoing 10th edition this week with three events – a sold-out screening of Robot Koch's show Sphere at the Planetarium, Thursday's documentary about David Bowie Moonage Daydream at Bio Oko, and a closing ambient concert by German legendary producers Mathias Grassow and Arovane at CAMP.

The music of Polish pianist and producer Hania Rani is born out of her fascination with the piano as a musical instrument, but she uses its sound and harmonic possibilities in her own distinctive way, often in combination with her velvety voice. She was born in Gdansk and has spent the last few years shuttling between Warsaw, Berlin and Zurich. She studied at a conservatory, but her musical loves from Chopin to Brubeck to Radiohead have led her to an unorthodox approach to music making.

She has already made a significant impact with her 2019 debut album Esja. Released on Manchester-based label Gondwana Records, it featured solo piano pieces inspired by the Icelandic mountain range of the same name. Just as its appearance changes according to the weather, so does the mood of the Polish composer's music. With the recording, Rani looked into the Top 75 best-selling albums in the UK and was awarded two Fryderyk Awards by the Polish recording industry, among others.

Her follow-up album Home also received great acclaim, where her music grew even more beautiful thanks to richer arrangements. Here she also uses vocals or delicate electronics and is mainly accompanied by bassist Ziemowit Klimek and drummer Wojtek Warmijak. The British record shop and label Rough Trade included the record about finding home in times of uncertainty in their list of the best records of the year. In 2021, Hana Ranii teamed up with cellist Dobrawa Czocher and recorded Inner Symphonies at the Szczecin Philharmonic. The compositions benefit from the apparent contradiction of the intimacy of the music and the expansive sound of the space, and the record was released on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label.

Hania Rani has also produced several soundtracks. Her music has accompanied the film xAbo, the documentary Venice-Infinitely Avantgarde and the theatre play Nora. Her collaboration with filmmakers also gave birth to her latest album On Giacometti, the soundtrack for director Susanna Fanzun's documentary about the legendary Italian sculptor and painter who died in 1966. Hania Rani wrote the songs in isolation in the Swiss mountains. She released the album in February this year and she will bring it to Prague on 18 October. The performance will take place as part of Spectaculare10 echoes, which will commemorate this year's successful tenth edition of the Spectaculare festival.

18 October 2023 Spectaculare10 echoes