Mum started it all – Lilya Zilberstein. A victory in the 1987 Feruccio Busoni Competition for the young artist from Russia opened the door to European concert halls and festivals, such as the Magio Musicale Fiorentino. Then there were the contracts with prestigious record labels (Deutsche Gramophone, EMI) and hundreds of concerts, e.g. at the Berlin Philharmonic.
In the meantime she had married the renowned trumpeter Alexander Gerzenberg, and had two sons, Anton and Daniel. They grew up in a house full of music, and also in the humanistic atmosphere of curiosity for other arts and sciences. As a result, Daniel spoke six languages at the age of 20, wrote poems and attended acting classes. Antoine's non-musical interests at the age of 15 concerned issues such as volcanoes and flora (including playing the cello).
Today they are mature artists with many awards ("Jugend musiziert", "Steinway"). They have performed very often in a duet, which is a family specialty, because Lilya Zilberstein had played in a duet with Martha Argerich for many years, which allowed her to pass on the art to her sons. Together with their mother they also play for three pairs of hands, which was first seen publicly in 2009 at the "Progetto Martha Argerich" (music festival with the piano in the leading role). In the finale of the Wednesday concert, Rachmaninov's special composition is dedicated to the three pianists.
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Mikołaj Rykowski PhD
Musicologist and clarinetist, doctorate, and associate at the Department Music Theory at the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań. Author of a book and numerous articles devoted to the phenomenon of Harmoniemusik – the 18th-century practice of brass bands. Co-author of the scripts "Speaking concerts" and author of the spoken introductions to philharmonic concerts in Szczecin, Poznań, Bydgoszcz and Łódź.
