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Daniel Lozakovich, dont la musique enchante les critiques et le public, est né à Stockholm en 2001 et a commencé le violon à l’âge de sept ans. Il fait ses débuts en solo deux ans plus tard avec le Moscow Virtuosi et Vladimir Spivakov.
Lozakovich a ouvert la saison actuelle avec sa première apparition aux BBC Proms, interprétant Brahms avec le BBC Symphony Orchestra et Fabien Gabel au Royal Albert Hall.
Il est l’Artiste en Résidence de la saison avec l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, donnant des concertos et récitals tout au long de l’année.
Cette saison, ses engagements incluent des performances avec l’Orchestre Philharmonique d’Oslo sous la direction de Klaus Mäkelä, ses débuts avec la série d’abonnements de la Filarmonica della Scala au Teatro Alla Scala sous la direction de Riccardo Chailly, le Singapore Symphony, le Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, l’Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, et le Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
Lozakovich se produit régulièrement avec les meilleurs orchestres et chefs d’orchestre de renommée mondiale, parmi lesquels Adam Fischer, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Neeme Järvi, Cristian Măcelaru, Kazuki Yamada, Vasily Petrenko, Lahav Shani, Tugan Sokhiev, Dina Slobodeniouk et Lorenzo Viotti. En tournée, il a joué au Japon avec le hr-Sinfonieorchester sous Andrés Orozco-Estrada et en Asie avec Valery Gergiev.
Parmi les moments forts de ses performances en Amérique du Nord figurent ses apparitions avec le Chicago Symphony Orchestra, le Cleveland Symphony Orchestra sous la direction de Klaus Mäkelä, le Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra et The Philadelphia Orchestra dirigé par Nathalie Stutzmann, le Boston Symphony Orchestra sous Andris Nelsons, et le Los Angeles Philharmonic sous Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Récitaliste très recherché, Lozakovich donne son premier récital cette saison dans la Grande Salle du Concertgebouw et se produira la saison prochaine au Carnegie Hall. Il a déjà donné des récitals dans des salles historiques comme le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, la Fondation Louis Vuitton, la Tonhalle de Zurich, le Victoria Hall de Genève, le Conservatorio G. Verdi de Milan, le Théâtre Mariinsky et bien d’autres. En tournée, il s’est produit dans des salles prestigieuses telles que l’Elbphilharmonie de Hambourg, le Concertgebouw d’Amsterdam et le Konzerthaus de Vienne.
Participant régulier à des festivals de musique internationaux, Lozakovich s’est produit au Verbier Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Baltic Sea Festival, White Nights Festival, Festival de Pâques – Aix-en-Provence, Tanglewood Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Corinthian Summer Music Festival en Autriche, Colmar Festival, Festival de Saint-Denis, Tsinandali Festival et bien d’autres.
Comme musicien de chambre, il a collaboré avec des artistes tels qu’Emanuel Ax, Ivry Gitlis, Mikhail Pletnev, Sergei Babayan, Martin Fröst, Renaud Capuçon, Mischa Maisky, Alexandre Kantorow, Behzod Abduraimov et David Fray.
À l’âge de 15 ans, Lozakovich a signé un contrat d’enregistrement exclusif avec Deutsche Grammophon, et en 2018, il a sorti son premier album des deux concertos pour violon de Bach en collaboration avec le Kammerorchester des Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks ainsi que la Partita en solo n° 2. Cet album a atteint la première place dans la catégorie musique en général d’Amazon France et dans les classements d’albums classiques en Allemagne. Le deuxième album de Lozakovich, None but the Lonely Heart, est sorti en 2019. Dédié à Tchaïkovski, il inclut le Concerto pour violon, enregistré en direct avec le Philharmonique National de Russie et Vladimir Spivakov. Le magazine Gramophone a nommé cet enregistrement comme “Top choice”, parmi 70 ans des meilleures interprétations du Concerto pour violon de Tchaïkovski. Son troisième album, sorti en 2020, est consacré au Concerto pour violon de Beethoven, enregistré en direct avec le Münchner Philharmoniker sous la direction de Valery Gergiev, disponible en album audio et e-vidéo pour le 250e anniversaire de Beethoven, un projet particulièrement significatif pour Lozakovich, qui considère ce concerto comme l’un des plus grands jamais écrits.
Lozakovich a remporté de nombreux prix, dont le 1er prix du Concours International de Violon Vladimir Spivakov en 2016 et le prix “Jeune Artiste de l’Année 2017” au Festival of Nations, le Premio Batuta au Mexique, et le Prix Excelentia sous la présidence honoraire de la reine Sofia d’Espagne. Lozakovich a étudié à la Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe avec le professeur Josef Rissin à partir de 2012 et a obtenu son diplôme de Master en 2021. Depuis 2015, il est encadré par Eduard Wulfson à Genève. Daniel Lozakovich joue sur le Stradivarius « ex-Sancy » de 1713, prêté généreusement par LVMH / MOET HENNESSY.LOUIS VUITTON.
Hope works regularly with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, Iván Fischer and Christian Thielemann, as well as with renowned symphony orchestras around the world and composers such as Alfred Schnittke, György Kurtág, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Tōru Takemitsu and Tan Dun. His discography includes more than 30 albums, which have received awards including the German Record Critics’ Prize, the Diapason d’Or of the Year, the Edison Classical Award and the Prix Caecilia.
Hope studied violin with Zakhar Bron, Itzhak Rashkovsky and Felix Andrievsky and he completed his training at the London Royal Academy of Music. He worked closely with his mentor Yehudi Menuhin, with whom he gave numerous concerts worldwide. He lives with his family in Berlin and plays the « Ex-Lipiński » Guarneri del Gesù from 1742, which is generously made available to him.
Vilde Frang was unanimously awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2012 and made her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival.
Highlights among her recent and forthcoming solo engagements include performances with Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Herbert Blomstedt, Daniel Harding, Vladimir Jurowski, David Zinman, Leonard Slatkin, Esa Pekka Salonen, Yuri Temirkanov and Sir Simon Rattle.
She regularly appears at festivals in Salzburg, Verbier, Lucerne, London Proms, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lockenhaus, Mostly Mozart Festival, Prague Spring Music Festival and George Enescu Festival Bucharest. As soloist and in recital, Vilde has performed at venues such as the Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Tonhalle Zurich, Bozar Brussels, Rudolfinum, Tchaikovsky Hall, in Vancouver Recital Series, Boston Celebrity Series, San Francisco Performances, and at Carnegie Hall.
Vilde Frang is an exclusive Warner Classics artist and her recordings have received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque, Edison Klassiek Award, Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’Or and Gramophone Award.
Born in Norway in 1986, Vilde was engaged by Mariss Jansons at the age of twelve to debut with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.
She studied at Barratt Due Musikkinstitutt in Oslo, with Kolja Blacher at Musikhochschule Hamburg and Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy. She has also worked with Mitsuko Uchida as a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship winner 2007, and was a scholarship-holder 2003-2009 in the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.
Vilde Frang performs on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume from 1866.
Alexander Sitkovetsky was born in Moscow into a family with a well-established musical tradition. His concerto debut came at the age of eight, and in the same year he moved to the UK to study at the Menuhin School. Lord Menuhin was his inspiration throughout his school years and they performed together on several occasions.
The forthcoming season will see his returns to Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic and Rogue Valley Symphony Medford in the United States. He will also visit New York again several times as part of the prestigious CMS at Lincoln Center. He will also return to the direct the Romanian Youth Orchestra, Detmold Chamber Orchestra and Leopoldinum Orchestra Wroclaw and appear at numerous festivals across Europe, such as Stavanger, Music for Galway and Verbier Festival at Schloss Elmau.
Amongst the highlights of previous seasons are his debuts at Vienna’s Musikverein with the Tonkünstler Orchester, tour with the North Netherlands Orchestra as well as return visits to the Manchester Camerata, Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, English Symphony Orchestra and Anima Musicae Orchesta Budapest. He also tours regularly with Julia Fischer as a permanent member of her string quartet.
Highlights of his recent concerto performances include appearances with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin’s in the Fields, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bolivia, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest The Hague, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra.
He is also much in demand as a director and has directed and performed as a soloist regularly with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Players, Camerata Zurich, Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and the Romanian Sinfonietta. He is also regularly invited as guest soloist with orchestras touring the UK and these have recently included the Russian Philharmonic Novosibirsk, Brussels Philharmonic, St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Tonkünstler Orchester.
His critically acclaimed CPO recording of Andrzej Panufnik’s Violin Concerto with the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin commemorating the composer’s 100th birthday won an ICMA Special Achievement Award. His most recent recording with the English Symphony Orchestra of Philip Sawyers’s Violin Concerto was released to great critical acclaim.
Alexander was awarded 1st prize at the Trio di Trieste Duo Competition alongside pianist Wu Qian. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Bowers Program (previously named Chamber Music Society Two) at the Lincoln Center, and in 2016 received the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
Alexander is a founding member of the award-winning Sitkovetsky Trio with whom he has performed worldwide. The trio won the BBC Music Magazine award for Chamber Music in 2022.
Alexander plays the 1679 ‘Parera’ Antonio Stradivari violin, kindly loaned to him through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous sponsor.
Kyung Wha Chung is recognized throughout the world as one of the finest violinists of her generation. A prolific recording artist, her dazzling and probing artistry has made her a much-acclaimed performer throughout her forty-year career. Lauded for her passion, her musicality, and the intense excitement that she brings to her performances, Chung’s uniquely expressive interpretations of the violin literature have established her as an artist of the very highest stature. Born in South Korea, Chung first heard the violin at the age of six. Instantly mesmerized by its tone, she was swiftly recognized as a child prodigy, making her concert debut aged nine with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. At thirteen, Chung enrolled at The Juilliard School, New York, and began studying with renowned pedagogue Ivan Galamian, and later with Joseph Szigeti.
Upon winning the prestigious Edgar Leventritt Competition in 1967, Chung was immediately engaged by major American orchestras – including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic – and also performed at the exclusive White House Gala. She made her sensational European debut in 1970, performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Sir André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra, at London’s Royal Festival Hall. This concert was met with great critical acclaim and public attention, and – as a result – Chung received offers of concerts throughout the United Kingdom. Subsequently obtaining an exclusive recording contract with Decca/London, Chung’s debut album – of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius concertos with Sir André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra – brought her to international attention, and she continued to perform with the world’s greatest orchestras (including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others). Throughout her career, Kyung Wha Chung has enjoyed working alongside the world’s finest conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, Sir André Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Georg Solti and Klaus Tennstedt. Her chamber music partnerships have included high calibre pianists such as Peter Frankl, Kevin Kenner, Stephen Kovacevich, Radu Lupu, and Krystian Zimerman.
Kyung Wha Chung has recorded numerous award-winning albums, and her extensive discography reflects the impressive breadth of her repertoire. Following her recording contract with Decca/London, in 1988 Chung subsequently signed for a period with EMI Classics, and also released recordings with RCA and Deutsche Grammophon. Winner of two Gramophone Awards (the first, for her Deutsche Grammophon album of Strauss and Respighi sonatas with Krystian Zimerman; the second, for her EMI recording of Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto with Sir Simon Rattle), Chung has also received many prizes and top honors – including the Medal of Civil Merit from the South Korean government, and the Ho Am Prize for the Arts in 2011.
Following an injury to her hand, Chung stopped performing in 2005. During this time away from the stage, she found a new calling as a teacher, joining the faculty of her alma mater, The Juilliard School. In addition to this, Kyung Wha Chung is Chair Professor for Music at Ewha University in Seoul, and Charity Ambassador for Better World (an active patron for their Child Rescue Project in Africa). She is also the Artistic Director of the Great Mountains Music Festival & School, based in South Korea.
Five years after her retirement, 2010 marked Chung’s triumphant return to the Asian stage. Greeted by enthusiastic audiences and the highest critical acclaim, in 2013 she embarked on an extensive Asian tour of fifteen cities, including Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing. Kyung Wha Chung made her much anticipated return to the European concert platform in December 2014, with a national UK tour culminating in a sensational sell-out recital at the Royal Festival Hall, London. In July 2016 she opened the prestigious Verbier Festival, performing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Verbier Festival Orchestra and Charles Dutoit. Kyung Wha Chung has signed an exclusive international record contract with Warner Classics, the first release of which – Solo Bach Sonatas & Partitas – was released in October 2016. Chung has performed works from the CD at Suntory Hall (January 2017), The Barbican (May 2017) and Carnegie Hall (May 2017).
Christian Tetzlaff has been one of the most sought-after violinists and most exciting musicians on the classical music scene for many years. “The greatest performance of the work I’ve ever heard,” wrote Tim Ashley (The Guardian, May 2015) of his interpretation of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Daniel Harding.
Concerts with Christian Tetzlaff often turn into an existential experience for both the interpreter and the audience; suddenly old familiar works appear in a completely new light. In addition, he frequently turns his attention to forgotten masterpieces such as Joseph Joachim’s Violin Concerto which he successfully championed, and he also attempts to bring important new works into the repertoire such as Jörg Widmann’s Violin Concerto, which he premiered in 2013. He has an unusually extensive repertoire and performs approximately 100 concerts every year.
Born in Hamburg in 1966 and now living in Berlin with his family, there are three things that make this musician unique, aside from his astounding skill on the violin. He interprets the musical manuscript in a literal fashion, perceives music as a language, and views great works as narratives which reflect existential experiences. As obvious as it may sound, he brings an unusual approach in his daily concert routine.
Christian Tetzlaff tries to follow the manuscript as closely as possible – without regard for “performance tradition” and without indulging in the usual technical short-cuts on the violin – often allowing a renewed clarity and richness to arise in well-known works. As a violinist Tetzlaff tries to disappear from the music – paradoxically this makes his interpretations very personal.
Secondly, Christian Tetzlaff “speaks” through his violin. Like human speech, his playing comprises a wide range of expressive means and is not aimed solely at achieving harmoniousness or virtuosic brilliance.
Above all, however, he interprets the masterpieces of musical history as stories about first-hand experiences. The great composers have focused on intense feelings, great happiness and deep crises in their music; as a musician Christian Tetzlaff also explores the limits of feelings and musical expression. Many pieces deal with none other than life and death. Christian Tetzlaff’s aim is to convey this to his audience.
Christian Tetzlaff played in various youth orchestras for many years. His teacher at the Lübeck University of Music was Uwe-Martin Haiberg, for whom musical interpretation was the key to mastering violin technique, rather than the other way round.
Christian Tetzlaff founded his own string quartet in 1994, and until now chamber music is still as important to him as his work as a soloist with and without the orchestra.
The Tetzlaff Quartett received the Diapason d’or in 2015, and the trio with sister Tanja Tetzlaff and pianist Lars Vogt was nominated for a Grammy award. Christian Tetzlaff has also received numerous awards for his CD recordings, including the “Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” in 2018, the “Diapason d’or” in July 2018 and the Midem Classical Award in 2017. The new Ondine recording of Beethoven and Sibelius violin concertos with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Robin Ticciati is highly anticipated in autumn 2019.
Of special significance is his solo recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, which he has recorded for the third time and was released in September 2017. The Strad magazine praised this recording as “an attentive and lively answer to the beauty of Bach’s solos”.
Christian Tetzlaff plays a violin made by the German violin maker Peter Greiner and teaches regularly at the Kronberg Academy.
Young Latvian pianist Daumants Liepins is one of the piano world’s most exciting new talents. In 2019 he took First Prize along with the Public and Orchestra prizes at the prestigious Maria Canals International Piano competition in Barcelona, and was awarded the Verbier Festival’s Vendôme Prize. He then topped Pianist magazine’s list of ‘Pianists to Look Out For in 2020’. Already firmly established as a core artist in his home country, he opened the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra’s 2020/21 season with Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto. Concerto appearances beyond his home shores meanwhile have included with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Georgian National Symphony Orchestra. He currently studies at the Ingesund School of Music at Karlstad University, Sweden, with Professor Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist.
La mezzo-soprano tchèque Magdalena Kožená s’est fait connaître en 1995 en remportant le Sixième Concours International Mozart à Salzbourg. Depuis lors, elle s’est produite sur les scènes de concert et d’opéra les plus prestigieuses du monde, collaborant avec des chefs d’orchestre de renom tels que Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner et Bernard Haitink. Parmi ses partenaires de récital figurent les pianistes Daniel Barenboim, Mitsuko Uchida et Yefim Bronfman, avec qui elle a enregistré son album Nostalgia en 2021 pour Pentatone. Ses collaborations avec des instruments d’époque incluent des projets avec le Venice Baroque Orchestra et l’Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Les récompenses prestigieuses attribuées à sa vaste discographie comprennent le titre d’Artiste de l’année décerné par Gramophone (2004), l’Echo Klassik, le Record Academy Prize Tokyo et le Diapason d’or. En 2003, elle a été nommée Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Boasting an unrivalled and multi award-winning discography, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter’s versatility has seen her work with legendary artists ranging from the late greats of Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado and Giuseppe Sinopoli to Elvis Costello, Brad Mehldau and Rufus Wainwright III.
An ever-evolving repertoire has played a key role in sustaining Swedish-born von Otter’s international profile, from an early position as the superlative Oktavian (Der Rosenkavalier) of her generation giving performances around the world, including at Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris and The Metropolitan Opera, to her more recent acclaimed creation of Leonora in the world premiere of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel, performed at both Salzburger Festspiele and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Other recent highlights include Countess Geschwitz in Christoph Marthaler’s production of Lulu at Staatsoper Hamburg, Madame de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites) at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, The Old Lady (Candide) at Komische Oper Berlin in Barrie Kosky’s new production, Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande) for Opéra National de Paris, and Leocadia Begbick (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Following earlier success at the Salzburger Festspiele as Cornelia (Giulio Cesare), von Otter returned there in the 2019 edition as L’Opinion Publique in Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers; as Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), she has appeared under Sir Simon Rattle at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; and at Finnish National Opera, she has most recently created the leading role of Charlotte Andergast in the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s Höstsonaten, based on the iconic Ingmar Bergman film, to unanimous critical acclaim.
Anne Sofie von Otter is one of today’s most recorded artists with an incomparable discography built across a career now spanning more than three decades at the very top of her profession. A lengthy and exclusive relationship with Deutsche Grammophon produced a wealth of acclaimed recordings as well as a collaboration with pop legend Elvis Costello on For the Stars. Her first recording with Naïve Classique, Love Songs, with renowned jazz pianist Brad Mehldau was released in 2010 and her double CD, Douce France, received a Grammy Award in 2015 for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Von Otter immortalized many of her operatic characters on disc: Oktavian with Bernard Haitink and the Staatskapelle Dresden and on DVD with Wiener Staatsoper under the late Carlos Kleiber, Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) under James Levine, Idomeneo, La clemenza di Tito, Alceste and Orfeo ed Euridice under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Handel’s Ariodante, Hercules and Giulio Cesare under Marc Minkowski, and Ariadne auf Naxos under the late Giuseppe Sinopoli.
Equally recognized for her exemplary work in both concert and recital, Anne Sofie von Otter’s career has taken her around the globe as a regular presence in the world’s most important venues and her expansive discography of Lieder ranges from classics by Schubert, Schumann, Wolf and Mahler, through lesser known compilations from Cecile Chaminade, Korngold, Peterson-Bergen and Stenhammar. Von Otter was part of two very special events which were streamed worldwide: Das Lied von der Erde with Jonas Kaufmann, the Berliner Philharmoniker and the late Claudio Abbado to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mahler’s death; and in specially-commissioned new arrangements by Aulis Sallinen of Sibelius’ songs with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Hannu Lintu to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Von Otter’s 20/21 season includes returns to the operatic stages of Bayerische Staatsoper as Marcellina in Christof Loy’s highly-regarded production of Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Constantinos Carydis and Ivor Bolton – as well as a special Gala concert as part of their summer Opernfestspiele, also under Carydis – Royal Swedish Opera in a concert performance of Kaija Saariaho’s Passion de Simone with Christian Karlsen, and Malmö Opera for a series of Christmas concerts. Anne Sofie joins Orchestre National de France and Dalia Stasevska for New Year’s concerts in both Paris and Aix-en-Provence, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Martin Fröst for a world premiere by Mikael Karlsson, and Drottningholms Barockensemble in Handel’s Solomon. In recital, Anne Sofie continues to perform with long-time collaborator Bengt Forsberg and guitarist Fabian Fredriksson at the Ghent and Naantali Festivals, Musée d’Orsay, and Mogens Dahl. At the 2021 Menuhin Festival Gstaad, von Otter performs her acclaimed Shakespearian programme of words and music alongside Roderick Williams and Julius Drake, and brings her special project “Ich wollt ich wär ein Huhn” to Bamberg’s Lied und Lyrik Festival, featuring music from the Weimar Cabaret era and originally devised together with Barrie Kosky for its premiere at Komische Oper Berlin last season.
Stephen Kovacevich is one of the most searching interpreters, never afraid to take both technical and musical risks in order to achieve maximum expressive impact. As a pianist he has won unsurpassed admiration for his playing, non-more than from Leopold Stokowski who wrote: “You do with your feet what I try to do with my Philadelphia Orchestra”.
Born in Los Angeles, Stephen Kovacevich laid the foundation for his career as concert pianist at the age of eleven. After moving to England to study with Dame Myra Hess, Stephen made his European debut at Wigmore Hall in 1961. Since then he has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors including Hans Graf, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, Simon Rattle and Georg Solti. In addition, he has forged many longstanding professional relationships, most notably with Colin Davis with whom he made numerous outstanding recordings, including the legendary Bartok Piano Concerto No.2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Recent and upcoming recital highlights include an extensive tour of the Far East, recitals in Paris, Berlin, Boston, Zagreb, Dublin and Cardiff, alongside two live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts from St George’s Hall, Bristol and Wigmore Hall. His recent concerto highlights include a triumphant return to Montreal Symphony Orchestra (under David Zinman), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (with Sylvain Cambreling), Malaysian Philharmonic (Jacek Kaspszyk), Orchestre de chambre de Paris (John Nelson) and Sydney Symphony Orchestra (Vladimir Ashkenazy). Stephen recently performed to a sell-out audience for his recital at the International Piano Series at the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London. In addition, Stephen is a regular soloist at the Verbier and Lugano festivals.
Stephen is a committed chamber musician who has collaborated with Jacqueline du Pré ( with whom he recorded their celebrated recording of Beethoven’s Sonatas No. 3 and 5), Martha Agerich, Steven Isserlis, Nicola Benedetti, Nigel Kennedy, Lynn Harrell, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Kyung-wha Chung, Truls Mørk, Emmanuel Pahud, Anna Larsson, Alina Ibragimova, Philippe Graffin, Joseph Suk and the Amadeus, Belcea and-Cleveland Quartets.
Stephen Kovacevich has enjoyed an illustrious long-term relationship with recording companies Philips and EMI. To celebrate his 75th birthday, Decca has released a Limited Edition 25 CD Box Set of his entire recorded legacy for Philips. In 2008 Stephen Kovacevich recorded Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations exactly 40 years after his first recording of the work. This Onyx recording won him the 2009 Classic FM Gramophone Editor’s Choice Award and the ‘Top Choice’ by Gramophone Magazine in September 2015, to quote: “his seasoned yet fearless mastery reveals something new with each hearing”.