Piano - Puskas International

Markus Schirmer

peter-admin — Sun, 11 May 2025 12:24:50 +0000

Energy, expression and emotion characterise Austrian top pianist Markus Schirmer’s music-making

No matter where he tours he receives audience acclaim for his charismatic musicianship and his ability to tell vivid stories with the instrument. One of his reviews sums him up precisely: “A pied piper on the piano…music that comes straight from the heart, the brain and the fingertips.”

After intense studies with Rudolf Kehrer, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling or Paul Badura-Skoda
the Graz born artist went on to win numerous prizes and honours and to take a number of major concert halls and festivals by storm: the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Herkulessaal and Philharmonie am Gasteig/Munich, Suntory Hall/Tokyo, Wigmore Hall/London, Gewandhaus/Leipzig, Philharmonie and Konzerthaus/Berlin, Rudolfinum/Prague, Palais des Beaux Arts/Brussels, Finlandia Hall/Helsinki, Teatro Teresa Carreño/Caracas, Palau de la Musica/Valencia, Victoria Hall/Geneva, Festspielhaus/Baden- Baden, Teatro Olimpico/Vicenza, Megaron/Athens, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival international de piano “La Roque d ́Antheron“, Ruhr Piano Festival, “Stars of White Nights Festival” St.Petersburg, Festival pianistico internazionale “Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli” Brescia, Vilnius Festival, Kissinger Sommer,
styriarte, Bregenz Festival, Schubertiade, ISCM Music Festival and many more.

He has worked with renowned orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra St.Petersburg, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Vienna Symphony Orchestra,
English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonia Varsovia,
the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Vienna, Munich, Leipzig, Sofia, Borusan Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev,
Adam Fischer, Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Lord Yehudi Menuhin,
Jukka Pekka Saraste, Marie Jacquot, Sir Charles Mackerras, Michael Gielen, John Axelrod, Fabio Luisi, Philippe Entremont, James Judd, Paul Goodwin, Michael Gielen and Philippe Jordan among others.

He adores Schubert above all, but is also enthusiastic about more obscure works such as Britten’s ironic piano concerto, the transcendental solo piano oeuvre of Szymanowski or “Castelli Romani”, an epic piano concerto by Joseph Marx.

Chamber music plays an important role in his work and his partners have included Renaud Capuçon, Julian Rachlin, Vadim Repin, Benjamin Schmid, Sharon Kam, Nils Mönkemeyer, Christian Poltéra, Konstantin Krimmel, Angela Hewitt, Mnozil Brass, the Ensemble Wien-Berlin, the Hagen Quartet, the Jerusalem Quartet and many more.

His love affair with the unusual, his daring and his eagerness to explore new territories ensure the development of sensational events outside the traditional classical repertoire:

– SCURDIA is an improvisation project which brings together extraordinary musicians from all over the world on one stage, thus allowing new artistic and creative energies to be set free by bridging various cultures.

– Markus Schirmer has great pleasure in working with actors, combining literature and music, and has developed unusual programs which are celebrated by audience and critics alike.
In collaboration with the American singer and actress Helen Schneider f.e. he presented his own adaptation of Kurt Weill’s ”The Seven Deadly Sins” for voice and piano.

For his exceptional artistic diversity Markus Schirmer was awarded the “Music Manual Award“ and is a recipient of some of Austria’s most prestigious awards, the Karl Böhm Interpretation Prize and the “Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst”.

He received the German Record Critics’ Award for his debut CD of Schubert Sonatas. Further recordings including works by Haydn, Beethoven, Ravel, Mussorgsky and his strongly acclaimed outing “The Mozart Sessions” together with the uplifting US chamber orchestra A FAR CRY have won numerous international prizes.

2025 Nimbus Records UK will release the complete sonatas for viola & piano by Julius Roengten (together with Herbert Kefer from Artis Quartet Vienna)

In the upcoming season he will be performing at many festivals and concert series in Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Denmark, the US, Japan, South Corea, China, Sweden, Brazil, Kosovo and Austria.

In addition to his work as a very successful Professor of Piano at the Music University in his hometown Graz – many of his students are acclaimed prizewinners – Markus Schirmer regularly gives international masterclasses for piano and is a sought after adjudicator at several prestigious piano competitions.

Furthermore, Markus Schirmer is artistic director of the international music festival ARSONORE, which every September invites world class musicians to perform in the Hall of Planets at Eggenberg Castle (UNESCO World Cultural Heritage) in Graz/Austr

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Jonathan Powell

peter-admin — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 21:33:52 +0000

‘Powell has the energy of a nuclear reactor.’

‘His piano playing is characterised by enormous sonority and precisely differentiated dynamics; even in the loudest passages’

‘No wonder that this technically almost unbeatable artist immediately enchants the listener here.’

Jonathan Powell’s recent activities include the world première recording of rediscovered Jewish Czech composer Hans Winterberg’s 1st Piano Concerto, with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Johannes Kalitzke, which appeared on the Capriccio label in 2022; they performed this work also at the Berlin Funkhaus in concert in December 2023. Other Winterberg projects include the world première of his 4th Concerto with the Beethoven-Philharmonie under Thomas Rösner in February 2024 (with the Liszt-Schubert Wanderer Fantaisie in the same programme), a series of recitals dedicated to Winterberg in Germany and Austria, and the editing (for Boosey and Hawkes) and subsequent recording of his complete piano works in Berlin. In 2024 Powell will also perform Paderewski’s Fantaisie Polonaise with the Mainz Symphony and the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra (in Poznań) under Anna Duczmal-Mroz. His recording of Scharwenka’s 1st Piano Concerto, with the Poznań Philharmonic under Łukasz Borowicz, is due to appear on the CPO label. His ongoing collaboration with the NEO Quartet (Gdańsk) include concerts in Paris, London, Oxford and Gdańsk, featuring music by Xenakis, Jakub Rataj, and the world première of a quintet by Martyn Harry.

Previous projects include tours of Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’enfant Jésus and Albeniz’ Iberia. In 2015 he gave numerous performances of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier sonata and Reger’s Bach Variations. Following years saw a tour of the complete piano works of Xenakis and, in 2017, Liszt’s Sonata, and Stockhausen’s Klavierstücke. In 2018 he gave six performances of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues. Solo recitals taken him to the Festival Radio France Montpellier, the sold-out Kammersaal of the Elbphilharmonie, the Raritäten der Klaviermusik am Schloss vor Husum, Vredenburg Muziekcentrum in Utrecht, across the US, Musica Sacra in Maastricht, Klaver Fest in Tallinn, and the Fundación BBVA series in Bilbao. In 2016 he played Bent Sørensen’s 2nd Piano Concerto in the Contempuls Festival with the Prague Philharmonia under Marian Lejava. In recent years, he has broadcast for Radio France, Radio Netherlands, Radio Deutschland Kultur, the BBC and Czech Radio. His recording of Sorabji’s Sequentia cyclia over seven discs, on Piano Classics was received rapturously by critics and was awarded the German Critics’ Disc Prize (Preis der Deutschen Schallplatenkritiken); he was invited by pianist Igor Levit to perform the work at the 2022 Heidelberger Frühling.

He has lectured on a wide variety of subjects and given masterclasses at Oxford University, The Royal Academy of Music (London), Tallinn Academy of Music, The Vītols Academy in Riga, the Musikhochschule Darmstadt, JAMU in Brno, HAMU in Prague, Bristol University, Szymanowski Academy in Katowice etc.
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Cyprien Katsaris

peter-admin — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 19:14:33 +0000
Cyprien Katsaris, the French-Cypriot pianist and composer, was born on 5 May 1951 in Marseilles. After early musical training in Cameroon, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Aline van Barentzen and Monique de la Bruchollerie, winning premiers prix for piano in 1969 and for chamber music (in the class of Jean Hubeau) in 1970. The same year he won the Prix Albert Roussel, and in 1974 he won first prize in the Cziffra Competition.

His international career was launched with performances conducted by Bernstein and Dorati, and he has performed with leading orchestras throughout the world.
Katsaris has recorded extensively for Teldec, Sony Classical, EMI, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, BMG-RCA, Decca, Pavane, and now on his own label, PIANO 21. He was the first pianist to record the complete Beethoven symphonies transcribed by Liszt (reissued by Warner Classics in 2006).
As well as performing a wealth of standard repertory, Cyprien Katsaris has recorded (as world premières) long-lost works, such as the Liszt/Tchaikovsky Concerto in the Hungrian style (with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra), Beethoven’s own piano arrangement of his ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, and Gustav Mahler’s original piano version of Das Lied von der Erde (with Mezzo Brigitte Fassbaender and Tenor Thomas Moser).
In addition to his activities as a soloist, he founded the “Katsaris Piano Quintet”, and their performances have received an enthusiastic response from both the press and audiences around the world.
In March 2006 Cyprien Katsaris became the first pianist to give masterclasses in Franz Liszt’s house in Weimar since Liszt, who taught there for the very last time in 1886, the year of his death. He has also conducted masterclasses around the world, including at the University of Toronto, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Arts Academy in Mexico, The Academy of Performing Arts in Hong-Kong, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In addition he was appointed Artistic Director of the Echternach International Festival (Luxembourg) from 1977 to 2007.
Oscar-winner director François Reichenbach and Claude Chabrol have made films of Cyprien Katsaris in live concert performances. In 1992, Japanese NHK TV produced with Cyprien Katsaris a thirteen-program series on Frédéric Chopin, which included masterclasses and performances by Katsaris. In October 1999, New York concertgoers offered him a standing ovation in Carnegie Hall for his recital dedicated to Frédéric Chopin, performed on the day of the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death. This concert was recorded (audio and video) and has been issued on the PIANO 21 label.
On 27 January 2006, the day of the 250th Anniversary of Mozart’s birth, he was the soloist at the inaugural concert of the Mozart Orchestra Mannheim founded and conducted by Thomas Fey. In August 2008, he was invited to give two concerts on the occasion of the Beijing Olympic Games at the National Center for the Performing Arts. In addition to the world premiere of a concerto for ten pianos and orchestra – China Jubilee – by the composer Cui Shiguang, he improvised on Chinese and ancient Greek melodies, in tribute to the universality of the Olympic Games.
Cyprien Katsaris has been a member of the jury for international piano competitions around the world, including the International Chopin Piano Compeition, the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, the Vendôme Prize, the Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition, the International Beethoven Piano Competition, the International Piano Competition “Giorgos Thymis”, and the International Scriabin Piano Competition.
Cyprien Katsaris’s work has been honoured with many awards, including UNESCO Artist for Peace (1997), Commandeur de l’Ordre de Mérite du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (2009) and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France 2000). He also received the Médaille Vermeil de la Ville de Paris (2001) and the Nemitsas Prize (Cyprus, 2011). He is a member of ADAP, the Association of Artists for Peace.
Puskas International represents Cyprien Katsaris in the United Kingdom.

CYPRIEN KATSARIS OFFICIAL WEBSITE

CYPRIEN KATSARIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
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SOÓS-HAAG

peter-admin — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 19:31:40 +0000
Artistic curiosity and high musical standards characterize the Hungarian-Swiss piano duo Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag, who are regarded as one of the best chamber music ensembles in Switzerland and beyond. They have recently completed their recording of the complete Brahms symphonies in the composer’s own version for piano duo. “… one of the best piano duos of the world», «in addition there is a dreamlike interplay. There are not just two soloists playing, this is a real duo that lives and breathes together. » writes the press. They also defend unknown and rarely played repertoire with great enthusiasm and energy, such as the Concerto for Two Pianos and Strings by Edward Staempfli, a forgotten Swiss composer, whom they brought to light again. Another example for their repertoire research is the Grande Sonate symphonique in B Minor by Ignaz Moscheles. The aim of all these projects is always to explore the rich repertoire for piano four hands and for two pianos an to make it accessible to a large audience. With large scale projects such as the performance of the complete four hand compositions by Franz Schubert or the complete works for piano duet and two pianos by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel in Boswil (CH) as well as with their well-conceived and intelligent programs, they have gained an excellent reputation and international recognition.

These projects bring them together with artists such as the piano duos Labèque, Tal & Groethuysen, GrauSchumacher and others. They received recital invitations from the Lucerne Festival, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the SWR International Pianists Series Mainz, the Schumann-Haus Zwickau, the Haydn-Tage Eisenstadt, the Schubertiade Feldkirch, the Carinthian Summer, the Musiktage Mondsee (Artistic director: András Schiff), the Theater Casino Zug, the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad, the Société de Musique in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Kammermusik Bern Series, the Ittinger Sonntagskonzerte, the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich and many others.

Die Filarmonica Toscanini Parma (Italy), the Symphonie Orchestra Biel Solothurn, the Berne Symphony Orchestra, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur, das St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, the Zuger Sinfonietta, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Bern, the Camerata Zürich and many others invite them as soloists, where they collaborate with conductors such as Mario Venzago, Zsolt Nagy, Thomas Rösner and others. They played the Austrian premiere of the Double Concerto by Jean Françaix and the Swiss premiere of the Double Concerto by Péter Eötvös. They have an ongoing collaboration with the Zurich Singakademie and his conductor Florian Helgath and have also collaborated with the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir Vienna and Erwin Ortner. In the field of contemporary music, they have collaborated with composers Péter Eötvös, Rudolf Kelterborn, Krzysztof Meyer, Dieter Ammann and others.

In recent years, the piano has recorded works by Brahms, Schubert, Schumann Bartók for Telos Music, and their rich discography includes also important works by Honegger, Messiaen, Moscheles, Dussek, Hans Huber, Frank Martin. Their concerts are regularly broadcasted by radio. The Soós Haag Piano Do has been awarded by the Zuger Werkjahr and they recently have been nominated official Bösendorfer Artists. Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag both studied at the Budapest Liszt University with Péter Solymos, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados. Formative was also their encounter with András Schiff.

www.klavierduo.ch
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