MICHAEL ROLL
Michael Roll
Piano
"He is
obviously musical from heart and mind to his fingertips" - so remarked
the distinguished critic Sir Neville Cardus at the outset of Michael Roll's
remarkable career, which now spans more than 50 years.
On winning
the inaugural Leeds International Piano Competition in 1963 at the age of 17,
the Sunday Times declared "No country can be expected to produce many
talents of this order". Since this success, his artistry and deepening
maturity has brought continued and glowing praise from public and critics alike
all over the world.
Over the
past few seasons, Michael Roll has appeared with orchestras such as the Dallas
Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and Suisse Romande,
made consecutive tours of Australia and appeared in major festivals such as the
Klavier-Festival Ruhr and the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. He has given
recital and concerto appearances throughout Europe, including such cities as
Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and London. His recordings of the Beethoven piano
concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Howard Shelley received rave
reviews and was "Editor's Choice" in the Gramophone magazine.
Born in
Britain, the son of Viennese Jewish parents, Roll began his studies with Fanny
Waterman when he was 6 and was a prolific performer from an early age. He made
his concerto debut at 10 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and at
12 played Schumann's piano concerto with the National Youth Orchestra of Great
Britain and Sir Malcolm Sargent, and at 14 Beethoven's third concerto with the
Hallé Orchestra and Sir John Barbirolli.
His success
at Leeds led to appearances worldwide, working with conductors such as Boulez,
Boult, Giulini, Haitink, Masur, Previn, Sawallisch, Sanderling and more recently
Gergiev and Steinberg. Orchestras have included the London Symphony, London
Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Boston
Symphony orchestras, with whom Michael made his American debut in 1974 with Sir
Colin Davis. International festivals have included Vienna, Edinburgh, Hong Kong
and Aldeburgh, where he performed together with Benjamin Britten. He has also
appeared on sixteen occasions at the Promenade concerts at the Royal Albert Hall
in London.
Michael is married to the Bulgarian pianist Juliana Markova and they have one son, Max, a young actor.
December
2012
REPERTOIRE LIST