Grand Piano Series ushers in Valentine’s Day with a firecracker pianist whom critics note for her “powerhouse sound, forceful musical personality and sheer virtuosity.”

Exhibiting what The Guardian called “a virtuosity which seemed both joyful and natural,” Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 2022 silver medalist Anna Geniushene will channel transcriptions from superstar pianist/composers of the past, including Liszt and Rachmaninoff, virtuosos themselves.

With a label like “virtuoso” tossed about with such abandon, one wonders whether such a pianist would consider herself a virtuoso.

Let’s add “modesty” to Geniushene’s bouquet of traits.

“Oh, I’m definitely not a virtuoso,” Geniushene said. “I have my own limitations. I try to be honest and sincere with the audience, but every time I walk onstage, I feel completely nervous and hesitant. It’s not only about me and the piano, it’s also about the people out there supporting me, hopefully, captivated by my music.”

With an infectious chuckle, Geniushene added, “I’m actually quite self-critical.”

Not to be outdone by her 2-anda half-year-old son, Thomas, who’s apparently an insightful music critic himself.

After listening to his mother record a pell-mell, minute-long Hindemith “lullaby” for her latest album of lullabies (Berceuse, Piano Classics), he asked, “Mama, are you playing real music, or are you imitating my playing?”

The lullaby project came about shortly after her Cliburn silver when she pivoted from major international competitions like Leeds, Tchaikovsky and Busoni to focus on family and recitals.

“It was enough for me, after so many competitions with so many different outcomes,” she said. “I promised myself that the Cliburn would be the last dance. And it turned out that was the right decision.”

The Cliburn came at a tumultuous time just after the start of the Ukraine war, when her family had moved from Russia to Lithuania, baby Thomas was at home, and she was six months pregnant with a second son.

“It was a really, really fun experience, though,” she said. “We weren’t just competing, we had dialogues among colleagues and were open about everything.

“One wonderful pianist, my friend Dmytro Choni, who won third prize, is from Ukraine. I shared my situation with him, of my family members still trapped in Russia. We shared our tragedies, he was aware of my open opposition to the regime of Mr. Putin, and it was clear to everyone that there was no animosity.”

Geniushene describes transcriptions like those in her Grand Piano Series program as a dialogue between epochs. The greatest of Western composers — Bach, Liszt, Ravel, Rachmaninoff — honored those who came before them by reframing their earlier works for different instruments.

“You can dedicate your whole life to transcriptions and that would not be enough to explore even half of them,” she said.

Handel’s Chaconne in G Major is the perfect way to launch a journey through the art of transcription, she said.

“I’ll be playing an extremely passionate arrangement which immediately embraces you with warmth, brilliance and beauty. It is a transcription by Eugen d’Albert, with colorful embellishments added to Handel’s, which was written for harpsichord.”

Even more musical voices are reframed in Rachmaninoff ’s retelling of Fritz Kreisler, Liszt’s elevation of Verdi, and Agosti’s masterpiece transcriptions of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, which call for extraordinary technical control and dexterity.

“It is so interesting for me to explore how to deliver all the colors of an orchestra like a conductor,” said Geniushene. “My motto for playing the piano, like Liszt’s, becomes conveying complexity with simplicity.”

Golden Virtuosity: Anna Geniushene

7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, Daniels Pavilion, Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Boulevard, Naples

Purchase tickets ($59) at grandpianoseries.org or artisnaples.org

For more information, call Grand Piano Series at 469-333-3231 or Artis— Naples at 239-597-1900