Andras Schiff |
András Schiff
Hungarian pianist Andras Schiff is one of those who can be called a legend of contemporary performing arts. For more than 40 years he has been captivating listeners all over the world with the deepest readings of high classics and a subtle understanding of the music of the XNUMXth century.
His interpretations of the works of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Bartok are considered to be standard due to the ideal embodiment of the author’s intention, the unique sound of the piano, and the reproduction of the true spirit of the great masters. It is no coincidence that Schiff’s repertoire and concert activity is based on thematic cycles with the performance of key works of the era of classicism and romanticism. So, since 2004, he has been constantly performing a cycle of all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, playing it in 20 cities.
One of the programs, which the pianist has also performed for several years, is composed of the latest piano sonatas by Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert. The appeal to the original “artistic testaments” of the great composers speaks of the pronounced philosophical orientation of the pianist’s work, his desire to comprehend and discover the highest meanings of musical art…
András Schiff was born in 1953 in Budapest, Hungary and began studying piano at the age of five with Elisabeth Vadas. He continued his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with Pal Kadosi, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados, and then in London with George Malcolm.
In 1974, Andras Schiff won the 5th prize at the V International P.I. Tchaikovsky, and a year later he won the XNUMXrd prize at the Leeds Piano Competition.
The pianist has performed with many famous orchestras and conductors around the world, but at present he mostly prefers to give solo concerts. In addition, he is passionate about chamber music and is constantly involved in projects in the field of chamber music. From 1989 to 1998 he was Artistic Director of the internationally recognized chamber music festival Music Days on the Mondsee lake near Salzburg. In 1995, together with Heinz Holliger, he founded the Easter Festival at the Carthusian monastery of Kartaus Ittingen (Switzerland). In 1998, Schiff held a series of concerts called Hommage to Palladio at the Teatro Olimpico (Vincenza). From 2004 to 2007 he was artist-in-residence at the Weimar Arts Festival.
In 1999, András Schiff founded the Andrea Barka Chapel Chamber Orchestra, which features soloists and orchestra members from different countries, chamber musicians and friends of the pianist. Schiff has also conducted the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the London Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and other renowned ensembles in Europe and the United States.
Schiff’s extensive discography includes recordings on Decca (clavier works by Bach and Scarlatti, works by Dohnagni, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, complete collections of Mozart and Schubert sonatas, all Mozart concertos with the CamerataAcademica Salzburg orchestra conducted by Sandor Vega and Mendelssohn concerti conducted by Charles Duthoit), Teldec (all Beethoven’s concertos with the Dresden Staatskapelle led by Bernard Haitink, all Bartók’s concertos with the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Ivan Fischer, solo compositions by Haydn, Brahms, etc.). The ECM label contains compositions by Janáček and Sándor Veresch, many works by Schubert and Beethoven on historical instruments, concert recordings of all Beethoven sonatas (from the Tonhalle in Zurich) and partitas and Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
András Schiff is the editor of new editions of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (2006) and Mozart’s Concertos (started in 2007) at the Munich publishing house G. Henle Verlag.
The musician is the owner of many honorary prizes and awards. In 1990 he was awarded a Grammy for recording Bach’s English Suites and a Gramophone Award for recording a Schubert Concerto with Peter Schreyer. Among the pianist’s awards are the Bartok Prize (1991), the Claudio Arrau Memorial Medal of the Robert Schumann Society in Düsseldorf (1994), the Kossuth Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of culture and art (1996), the Leoni Sonning Prize (1997). In 2006, he was made an honorary member of the Beethoven House in Bonn for recording all of Beethoven’s sonatas, and in 2007, for his performance of this cycle, he was awarded the prestigious Franco Abhiatti Prize from Italian critics. In the same year, Schiff received the Royal Academy of Music Prize “for outstanding contributions to the performance and study of Bach.” In 2008, Schiff was awarded the Medal of Honor for his 30 years of concert activity at the Wigmore Hall and the Ruhr Piano Festival Prize “for outstanding pianistic achievements”. In 2011, Schiff won the Robert Schumann Prize, awarded by the City of Zwickau. In 2012, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the International Mozart Foundation, the German Order of Merit in Science and the Arts, the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and an honorary membership in the Vienna Konzerthaus. In December 2013, Schiff was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society. In June 2014, he was awarded the title of Knight Bachelor in the honor roll for the birthday of the Queen of Great Britain “for service to music”.
In 2012, for the recording of Variations on an original theme by Schumann Geistervariationen at ECM, the pianist received the International Classical Music Award in the nomination “Solo Instrumental Music, Recording of the Year”.
Andras Schiff is an honorary professor of music academies in Budapest, Munich, Detmold (Germany), Balliol College (Oxford), the Royal Northern College of Music, an honorary doctor of music from the University of Leeds (UK). Inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.
After leaving socialist Hungary in 1979, Andras Schiff settled in Austria. In 1987, he received Austrian citizenship, and in 2001 he renounced it and took British citizenship. András Schiff has been publicly critical of the policies of the Austrian and Hungarian governments on several occasions. In connection with the attacks of representatives of the Hungarian Nationalist Party, in January 2012, the musician announced his decision not to continue performing in his homeland.
Together with his wife, violinist Yuko Shiokawa, Andras Schiff lives in London and Florence.
