Wolfgang Manz
Pianist Wolfgang Manz has been a major presence on the concert scene of his native Germany since his student days in the 1980s. Manz was born in Düsseldorf in 1960 and attended the University of Music at Hannover, studying with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. Another important teacher was the Czech pianist Drahomir Toman, the pedagogical descendant of a piano line stretching back to Theodor Leschetizky. Manz won the Mendelssohn Bartholdy Prize in Berlin in 1980 and won prizes at the Leeds Competition in 1981 and the Concours Reine Elisabeth in Belgium in 1983. An even more prestigious win was a jury discretionary award at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas in 1989. With these laurels in hand, Manz became a frequent guest with orchestras in both Germany and Britain such as the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He played the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, at the Proms in 1984. He traveled even further afield as a recitalist, appearing at the Philharmonie halls in Berlin and Cologne, Lälz Hall in Hamburg, the Salzburg Festspielhaus, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, London's South Bank), Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Moscow Conservatory, the Municipal Theatre in Santiago, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. After various guest professorships, he took a faculty position at the University of Music Nürnberg-Augsburg. He has also taught in South Korea, where several of his students have reached top levels at international competitions.
Manz has recorded for the Arte Nova, Telos, and Naxos labels. His Arte Nova debut in 1997 featured the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83, but 2000s releases have included rarer material. With pianist Rolf Plagge (as the Duo Reine Elisabeth) he recorded Liszt's two-piano version of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, for Telos in 2011. With violinist Reto Kuppel, Manz released a pair of albums in 2017 and 2018, devoted to the music of French singer and composer Pauline Viardot.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
9 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Méditation saxophone & piano
Wolfgang Manz / Jean-Pierre Rorive
Ambient - Released by Bayard Musique on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pauline Viardot: Violin Sonatina - Paul Viardot: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos on 14 Jul 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 56
Frank Peter Zimmermann, Robert Cohen, Wolfgang Manz, English Chamber Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 9 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paul & Pauline Viardot: Works for Violin & Piano
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos on 11 May 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Cto. No.2/Nänie
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 10 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Honegger: Sonata for Viola & Piano, H 28 - Brahms: Sonata No. 1 & 2 for Viola & Piano, Op. 120
Classical - Released by VDE-GALLO on 9 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Barber: Piano Sonata, Op. 26
Classical - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on 19 Oct 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Cto. No.1/Schicksalslied
Classical - Released by ARTE NOVA Classics on 10 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dohnànyi: String Quartet No. 2 in D-Flat Major & Piano Quintet in C Minor
Gabrieli String Quartet, Wolfgang Manz
Quartets - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo