András Schiff
András Schiff is among the most prominent members of a generation of Hungarian pianists born in the years following World War II, along with such artists as Zoltán Kocsis, Dezso Ránki, and Jenö Jandó. Of this remarkable group, Schiff has achieved the strongest international reputation, due not only to his decision to pursue his career outside of Hungary but also to his finely shaded sense of touch and his energetic yet clear treatment of contrapuntal textures.
Schiff was born in Budapest on December 21, 1953. He studied with composers Pál Kadosa and Ferenc Rados (saying of the latter that he had benefited from his overwhelmingly critical attitude), as well as harpsichordist George Malcolm. Schiff made his debut in Budapest at age 19 and was soon making concert appearances throughout Europe and the U.S., despite Iron Curtain-era restrictions. He took the top prize at the 1974 Moscow competition and the 1975 Leeds Festival. A major early mentor was violinist and conductor Sándor Végh, with whom Schiff recorded the complete piano concertos of Mozart and much violin-and-piano chamber music. In 1989, he founded his own Mondsee Musiktage festival near Salzburg (where he had first encountered Végh). Schiff also formed his own ensemble, Cappella Andrea Barca, in 1999, and with it, recorded a complete cycle of Mozart's piano concertos.
Schiff's energy and clarity in contrapuntal music has made him a top Bach interpreter; he has recorded Bach's complete keyboard music. Later, he recorded a complete Beethoven sonata cycle on the boutique label ECM, completing it in 2009. He has also recorded a large amount of music by Schubert and Schumann, receiving a prize in 2011 from the city of Zwickau, Germany, for his interpretations of the latter. Eastern European music by the likes of Béla Bartók and Leos Janácek have also appeared prominently in his repertory. He left Hungary in 1979 and spoke out forcefully against developments there, stating that he would never again set foot in his homeland, alluding to physical dangers he would face if he did. He renounced his Austrian citizenship, which he had taken in 1987, also for political reasons, and is now a British citizen.
In the 2000s, he often revisited Bach repertory that he had previously recorded. Schiff has held several prestigious residencies: from 2004 to 2007, he was Artist-in-Residence of the Kunstfest Weimar; in the 2007-2008 season, he was Pianist-in-Residence of the Berlin Philharmonic; and in 2011-2012, he was a Perspectives Artist of Carnegie Hall in New York. Schiff is married to violinist Yuuko Shiokawa, with whom he has recorded violin-and-piano repertory for ECM. In addition to ECM, Schiff's large discography includes albums on the Decca, London, and Teldec labels as well as others. In the 2010s, despite earlier skepticism about the trend, he began to perform and record on the fortepiano, often using a Viennese instrument of 1820 built by the lesser-known maker Franz Brodmann. On that instrument, he released an album of Schubert Impromptus and the Piano Sonata in C minor, D. 958, in 2019. He returned on ECM with an album of Brahms piano concertos in 2021 and with J.S. Bach: Clavichord in 2023. By that time, Schiff's recording catalog comprised well over 150 items.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Chopin: Piano Concerto No.2/Schumann: Piano Concerto
András Schiff, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Antal Doráti
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Music
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: The Late Piano Sonatas
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Impromptus; Moments Musicaux
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Clarinet Trio, K. 498 "Kegelstatt", Piano Trios, K. 502 & K. 542
Kamermuziek - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 dec. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 26 "Coronation"; Piano And Wind Quintet
András Schiff, Camerata Salzburg, Sándor Végh
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 5 dec. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Works Played On Beethoven's Broadwood Piano at the Hungarian National Museum
Klassiek - Released by Hungaroton on 13 apr. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Reger, Busoni: Music For Two Pianos
Klassiek - Released by ECM New Series on 1 mrt. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Song Cycles
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Winterreise
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4
Concertmuziek - Released by Warner Classics International on 10 nov. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Volume VII (Live)
Klassiek - Released by ECM New Series on 26 sep. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Clavichord
Klassiek - Released by ECM New Series on 27 jan. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Keyboard Concertos, Bwv 1052, Bwv 1053, Bwv 1060 and Bwv 1061
Zoltán Kocsis, Franz Liszt Academy of Music Orchestra, András Schiff, Albert Simon
Concertmuziek - Released by Hungaroton on 17 jun. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Piano Trios Nos. 25, 40, 42 & 44
András Schiff, Yuuko Shiokawa, Boris Pergamenschikow
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 apr. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1/Dohnányi: Nursery Variations
András Schiff, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Sir Georg Solti
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Focus
András Schiff, Music Lab Collective
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 9 jul. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach - Busoni - Beethoven
Klassiek - Released by ECM New Series on 27 okt. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Violin Sonata No. 1; Sonata for 2 Pianos & Percussion; 10 Duos
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Végh: Salzburger Mozart-Matineen 1988-1993
Gérard Korsten, András Schiff, Daphne Evangelatos, Camerata Salzburg, Sándor Végh
Klassiek - Released by Orfeo on 27 nov. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concertos
András Schiff, Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment
Klassiek - Released by ECM New Series on 21 mei 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo