Nicholas Angelich

Born in the United States in 1970, Nicholas Angelich began learning the piano with his mother at the age of five and gave his first concert when he was seven. At thirteen he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini, Yvonne Loriod and Michel Béroff, taking first prizes for piano, for chamber music and for piano accompaniment. He subsequently studied with Marie-Françoise Bucquet, Leon Fleisher and Maria Joao Pires, winning prizes at the Robert Casadesus and Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions and the Umberto Micheli Competition. In 2002 Leon Fleisher presented him with the Young Talent Award at the International Klavierfestival Ruhr.

Nicholas Angelich now performs in concerts across Europe and North America with, amongst others, the Orchestre National de France and Marc Minkowski, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Paavo Järvi. He made his debut at Lincoln Center, New York, in May 2003 with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur, and in 2004 toured Japan with Masur and the Orchestre National de France. His recital repertoire includes the Beethoven sonatas and Liszt's Années de Pélérinage, but his interests also extend from Bartók to Boulez and Messiaen to Pierre Henry, who dedicated his Concerto for piano without orchestra to him.

His interest in chamber music has led Nicholas Angelich to work with Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Augustin Dumay, Gérard Caussé and the Ysaÿe and Prazak Quartets. His first recording for Virgin Classics, the Brahms trios with Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, won the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik”. In the summer of 2005 Nicholas Angelich furthered his collaboration with Virgin Classics and Renaud Capuçon, with a recording of Brahms’ Violin Sonatas; the disc was awarded a Diapason d’Or, CHOC du Monde de la Musique, and made Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice. In January 2006, again on Virgin Classics, with whom he has signed an exclusive recording contract, Nicholas released a recital disc of Brahms’ Ballades, Rhapsodies and Paganini Variations, again highly praised by the press with a CHOC du Monde de la Musique, “10” de Classica Répertoire and singled out as a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. In July 2006, Gramophone singled him out as one of “Tomorrow’s Classical Superstars”. Nicholas Angelich’s second recital and latest release on Virgin Classics will further his Brahms discography with the composer’s demanding piano works Opp.116 to 119.