A wonderful review of the Musikalisch-Literarischer Salon in Reutlingen!
"There is still such a thing as solidarity among people — at least when they are Tatort detectives. One of them, Mark Waschke (…) was supposed to give a reading at the Musikalisch-Literarischer Salon in Reutlingen, but had to cancel at short notice. Additional filming, unavoidable, as Ute Kleeberg, who founded the series together with her husband Uwe Stoffel, explained on Thursday evening in the small hall of the Stadthalle. The other, Wolfram Koch, who hunts criminals as Paul Brix in Frankfurt, stepped in without much fuss.
The evening would surely have been an experience with Waschke; it became one with Koch too. Standing before us was a wiry, well-trained 63-year-old man who didn’t put himself in the spotlight in the slightest. Instead, he illuminated the imagery and characters of the texts with admirable sharpness of contour, making situations and personalities uncannily vivid. (…)
The music chosen by Uwe Stoffel brought into the hall the feeling of coffeehouses, salons, and cosy gatherings — but also of loneliness and melancholy. Violinist Nina Karmon and pianist Terhi Dostal played with devotion, made the pieces glow, explored the cheerful moments, and opened up the darker spaces in works by Cécile Chaminade and Gabriel Fauré, Fritz Kreisler, Lera Auerbach, Agnes Tschetschulin, and Benjamin Godard.” (Armin Knauer, Reutlinger General-Anzeiger, 28 Nov 2025)
Premiere in London / Performance at the Ettelbrück Piano Festival
My new composition The Willows - Suite for piano was premiered in London (Blackheath Halls) on April 7, 2025.
This approx. 15-minute piece was commissioned by the wonderful British pianist Joseph Tong , who also performed it in London.
My work was inspired by various willows in British literature. The sheet music for the composition can be ordered through Music Finland.
Severin von Eckardstein - a masterful pianist and a good friend of mine - will perform my composition Sonatina for piano Op. 2 at the Ettelbrück Piano Festival on February 2, 2025.
Piano Lessons
I have capacity for a few new piano students. I teach in my own studio with two grand pianos in Berlin-Steglitz. Read more...
I have also given some piano master classes recently: At the Mikkeli Music Institute, Finland, in November 2024 and at the Beethoven-Gymnasium in Berlin, Germany, in March 2025.
My publisher
My music is now published by Music Finland. Some of my compositions are already available there:
You can now buy the CD directly from me for €15,70 + shipping via ebay.
This CD was the Classical Album of the Week at radio 100,7 - the public-legal radio in Luxembourg. "Five stars: Delightful discoveries for piano lovers" - Henry Fogel (Fanfare Magazine, USA) "Dostal brought out all aspects of the series in a distinctive and technically brilliant way." - Prof. Eero Tarasti (Amfion, Finland) "Terhi Dostal fearlessly immerses herself in the widely varying characters of Hannikainen's Variations (1923)." - Jari Hoffrén (Keskisuomalainen, Finland) "The excellent album by Terhi Dostal, who works in Germany, presents the music of Ilmari Hannikainen, Aarre Merikanto and Jean Sibelius. Dostal's playing is sensitive and skillfully nuanced" - Risto Nordell (Suomen Kuvalehti, Finland)
The album contains Finnish romantic-impressionistic piano music, including e.g. Ilmari Hannikainen's most significant piano work Variations fantasques Op. 19, Sibelius' Sonatinas Op. 67 and Aarre Merikanto's fine piano pieces Op. 20. You can order the CD here.
Special thanks to the whole Deutschlandfunk Kultur team: Recording producer Michael Havenstein, sound engineer Henri Thaon, recording assistants Ole Jana & Karīna Ķemere - and executive producer Stefan Lang, who made this all possible. Thanks also to the CD label Hänssler Classic for the excellent cooperation.
Listen to another radio programme about this CD by the German Broadcasting Company, Deutschlandfunk Kultur here (in German).
Excellent reviews of my orchestral mass Missa in honorem Beati Hemmingi Episcopi
"Such an experience was to hear Terhi Dostal’s (…) extensive, downright monumental work of church music, finely and competently interpreted. The piece in question had already had its premiere in the Turku Cathedral with Suomen laulu Choir and St. Michel Strings - and it was performed again in Johanneksenkirkko in Helsinki a couple of weeks ago. (...) All in all, the work is an impressive demonstration of the vividness of the genre's tradition now that all styles are allowed in music again, after being freed from the dictatorship of seriality. Such a work is guaranteed to find its audience. I predict that Dostal's Mass will be presented often again." - Prof. Eero Tarasti, Amfion
"In addition to her career as a pianist, Terhi Dostal, who currently lives in Berlin, has also taken strong steps towards composing. After smaller works, she has chosen quite a challenge and composed a traditional ordinarium mass, the roots of which spring from deep in the history of art music.
A really brave and special opening. Dostal knows this music. He also knows the essence of the Catholic Mass. Dostal's Mass is a tribute to old church music and breathes life of traditions. Dostal's mass is a choral work where religiosity is mixed with romantic feeling. The end result was a controlled, beautiful and melodically rich mass. Dostal took over the polyphonic technique of the renaissance in this Mass of Bishop Hemming." - Ilmo Pokkinen, Länsi-Savo
