Download Kirill Gerstein

Kirill Gerstein
Piano
Kirill Gerstein’s curiosity and versatility has led him to explore a wide range of
repertoire and styles. From Bach to Adès, his playing is distinguished by a discerning
intelligence, great virtuosity and a clarity of expression. He has been described as
“Gloriously free and unfazed by technical difficulties, he made the piano sing… The
concerto that we’ve heard so many times before gained new life.” (Leipziger
Volkszeitung)
In August 2016, Gerstein returned to the BBC Proms in a performance of
Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (1879 version) with the BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard. The Independent wrote of his performance:
“Technically flawless and imbued with benign authority, his performance was studded
with moments of unexpected beauty; one seldom sees an audience erupt with such
spontaneous delight.”
Gerstein has recently made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin
Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras. In the 2016/17 season he will
appear with the BBC Symphony Orchestra as part of their Tchaikovsky Festival
curated by Semyon Bychkov performing the composer’s Second and Third Piano
Concertos, make his debut with the Orchestre National de France, and will return to
the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and WDR
Sinfonieorchester Köln. A regular guest of all the major orchestras in the USA, this
season Gerstein performs Busoni’s Piano Concerto in C with the Boston Symphony,
Schonberg’s Piano Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra and Tchaikovsky’s First
Piano Concerto (1879 version) with the New York Philharmonic. In recital he performs
at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the new Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Hall and Flagey in Brussels.
Gerstein records for myrios classics. His world premiere recording of Tchaikovsky’s
First Piano Concerto in the author’s own final 1879 version published by the
Tchaikovsky Museum in Klin, Russia, was released in 2015. The disc won an ECHO
Klassik Award for Concerto Recording of the Year. “This is the kind of serious,
intelligent and virtuosic music-making that keeps classical music alive.” (Observer).
Prior to this, his first solo recording of works by Schumann, Liszt and Oliver Knussen
was chosen by the New York Times as one of the best recordings of 2010. He has
collaborated with Tabea Zimmerman on two recordings of sonatas for viola and piano
by Rebecca Clarke, Henri Vieuxtemps, Brahms, Schubert and Franck. Gerstein’s
latest recording of Liszt’s Transcendental Études was released in July 2016 to
widespread acclaim: “Gerstein plays them without any sense of being stretched, finds
time to create poetry and drama, and is sparing with his big guns. ‘Feux follets’, a
familiar favourite, is magical. ‘Wilde Jagd’ is at once a headlong chase and a model of
restraint. In these imaginative performances the whole set adds up to more than the
sum of its parts.” (Financial Times)
Born in Voronezh, Russia, Gerstein studied classical piano at a special music school
for gifted children. The youngest student to attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music,
Kirill Gerstein was 14 when he moved from Russia to the USA to study the piano. Kirill
Gerstein counts Dmitri Bashkirov and Ferenc Rados as his principal teachers. In 2001,
he won First Prize at the 10th Arthur Rubinstein Competition, and in 2010, was
awarded the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award which allowed him to commission new
works from Timothy Andres, Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, Oliver Knussen and Brad
Mehldau.
2016-2017 season / 548 words. Not to be altered without permission.
Intermusica represents Kirill Gerstein in Europe, the UK and the Far East
Jessica Ford, Director, Artist Management
+44 20 7608 9925, [email protected]
Victoria Ford, Associate Artist Manager
+44 20 7608 9926, [email protected]
http://intermusica.co.uk/artist/Kirill-Gerstein
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