Pianist Mariam Batsashvili has a special empathy for the works of the great composers of the Romantic period, though her expertise also extends to other eras. Born in 1993 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Batsashvili studied in Weimar, Germany, with the distinguished Russian pianist Grigory Gruzman. She began racking up her numerous competition wins while still in her teens, and she released her first album, Early Transcriptions, in 2016 on the small Netherlands-based Cobra label. Three years later, Batsashvili made her first recording for Warner Classics, Chopin & Liszt, displaying her gift for capturing all the poetry, playfulness and colour of those legendary Romantic composers. For the follow-up, 2022’s aptly titled Romantic Piano Masters, she leaned further in that direction, tackling Liszt, Thalberg, Schubert and Franck, connecting directly to the music’s drama without sacrificing the slightest bit of technical perfection. During the lockdown phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, Batsashvili stayed connected with fans by playing short online recitals, in which her flair as a performer shone through despite the unusual circumstances.