András Schiff
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András Schiff
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Biography
András
Schiff was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1953 and started piano lessons at the
age of five with Elisabeth Vadász. Subsequently he continued his musical
studies at the Ferenc Liszt Academy with Professor Pál Kadosa, György Kurtág
and Ferenc Rados, and in London with George Malcolm.
Recitals
and special cycles, ie the major keyboard works of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Bartók form an important part of his
activities. Since 2004 he has performed complete cycles of the 32 Beethoven
Piano Sonatas in 20 cities, and the cycle in the Zurich Tonhalle was recorded
live.
András
Schiff has worked with most of the major international orchestras and
conductors, but nowadays he performs mainly as a conductor and soloist. In 1999
he created his own chamber orchestra, the Cappella Andrea Barca, which consists
of international soloists, chamber musicians and friends. In addition to working
annually with this Orchestra, he also works every year with the Philharmonia
Orchestra London and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Since
childhood he has enjoyed playing chamber music and from 1989 until 1998 was
Artistic Director of the internationally highly praised "Musiktage
Mondsee" chamber music festival near Salzburg. In 1995, together with Heinz
Holliger, he founded the "Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte" in Kartause
Ittingen, Switzerland. In 1998 Mr Schiff started a similar series, entitled
"Hommage to Palladio" at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. From 2004 to
2007 he was Artist in Residence of the Kunstfest Weimar.
In the 2007/8 season he was Pianist in Residence of the Berlin
Philharmonic.
András
Schiff has been awarded numerous international prizes, the most recent being the
Klavier-Festival Ruhr Prize (for outstanding pianistical achievements and to
honour a lifetime’s work as a pianist) in June 2009.
In 2006 he became an Honorary Member of the Beethoven House in Bonn in
recognition of his interpretations of Beethoven’s works; in 2007 he received
the renowned Italian prize, the “Premio della critica musicale Franco
Abbiati” awarded for his Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle; in 2007 he was
presented with The Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize, sponsored by the Kohn
Foundation - an annual award for someone who has made an outstanding
contribution to the performance and/or scholarly study of the music of Johann
Sebastian Bach; in 2008 he was given the Wigmore Hall Medal in appreciation of
30 years of music-making at Wigmore Hall.
In
2006 András Schiff and the music publisher G Henle began an important Mozart
edition project. In the course of the next few years there will be a joint
edition of Mozart’s Piano Concertos in their original version to which Mr
Schiff is contributing to the piano parts, the fingerings and the cadenzas where
the original cadenzas are missing. In addition, in 2007 both volumes of Bach’s
"Well Tempered Klavier" were edited in the Henle original text with
fingerings by Mr Schiff.
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).
For further information on András Schiff please E mail us on artists@harrisonturner.co.uk
UK PERFORMANCES – subject to change
2010
JANUARY 6 London, Wigmore Hall, with Juliane Banse, Mendelssohn Reiselied; Suleika I and II; Frage, Neue Liebe; Schilflied; Nachtlied. Schumann Papillons Op. 2. Mahler 3 Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Fruhlingsmorgen; Hans und Grethe. Schumann Gedichte der Konigin Maria Stuart. Mendelssohn Songs without Words. Schumann Frauenliebe und-leben.
FEBRUARY 4 & 6 London, Wigmore Hall, with Magdalena Kozena. Dvorak Biblical Songs Op 99, Musorgsky Detskaya (The Nursery), Bartok Falun (Village Scenes), Janacek Selection of Songs; In the Mists.
JUNE 29 & JULY 1 London, Wigmore Hall, with Miklos Perenyi. Beethoven Cello Sonatas.
JULY 3 London, Wigmore Hall, with Andrea Rost. Programme to be announced.
