Media Release 13 October 2011
Hungarian pianist András Schiff performs solo recital at The National Concert Hall to include Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations Grammy Award winning pianist András Schiff treats National Concert Hall audiences to a programme of works by Beethoven, Schumann, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Haydn in his International Concert Series 2011/2012 recital, Sunday 20 November 2011, 8pm.
Renowned worldwide for his recital and special cycles of the major keyboard works of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Bartok, András Schiff has been awarded numerous international prizes most recently, the Schuman Prize 2011.
He is also the recipient of two Grammy Awards one of which was for ‘Best Classical Instrumental Soloist’ for the Bach English Suites. He was nominated for ‘Best Classical Album’ for the second volume of his complete Beethoven Sonata recordings for ECM and his currently releasing an all- Schumann disc this season.
The New York Observer quotes “his many recordings have long established him as the foremost proponent of Bach’s keyboard music on the modern piano since Glenn Gould”.
This season András Schiff was named one of Carnegie Hall’s prestigious ‘Perspectives’ series artists in which he presented 12 concerts focusing on the music of Béla Bartok and the vibrant legacy the composer left on their native Hungary as well as giving the premiere of a piece by his one-time teacher Gyorgy Kurtag, Hungary’s leading composer.
Having performed with most of the major international orchestras and conductors around the world Schiff now mainly performs as a conductor and soloist. In 1999 he created his own chamber orchestra, the Cappella Andrea Barca. In addition to working annually with this Orchestra made up of soloists, chamber musicians and close friends he works annually with the Philharmonia Orchestra London and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Additional engagements this season include performances with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at the Kennedy Centre, the Salzburg Marionette Theater at Princeton, and recitals with Mr. Gerhaher in Philadelphia, Vancouver and Toronto. Solo recitals will be given in Philadelphia, Boulder, Berkeley, and Napa, CA. Future North American engagements will focus on a two-season project dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach.
Mr. Schiff has established a prolific discography, including recordings for London/Decca (1981-1994), Teldec (1994-1997) and, since 1997, ECM New Series. Recordings for ECM include the complete solo piano music of Beethoven and Janácek, a solo disc of Schumann piano pieces, the Bach Partitas and his second recording of the Bach Goldberg Variations. An Honorary Member of the Beethoven House in Bonn in recognition of his interpretations of Beethoven's works Schiff has been awarded many prizes over the duration of his performance and recording career. In 2008, he was given the Wigmore Hall Medal in appreciation of 30 years of music-making at Wigmore Hall and in 2009 he was given the Klavier-Festival Ruhr Prize for outstanding pianistic achievements and to honour a lifetime's work as a pianist.
András Schiff has been made an Honorary Professor by the Music Schools in Budapest, Detmold and Munich, and a Special Supernumerary Fellow of Balliol College (Oxford, UK). In 2001, Mr. Schiff became a British citizen; he resides in Florence and London and is married to the violinist Yuuko Shiokawa
PROGRAMME Mozart 12 Variations in B flat on an allegro Mendelssohn Variations sérieuses Haydn Variations in F minor Schumann Theme with variations in E flat ‘Geister variations’ Beethoven Diabelli Variations
Tickets: €30, €40, €45, €55 (Choir Balcony €20) National Concert Hall Box Office Tel: 01 417 00 00 or ONLINE (no booking fees)
ENDS For further information or imagery please contact: Sinead Doyle, Marketing and PR Manager, Tel: 01 417 00 57 E-mail: [email protected]