Idil Biret
Turkish pianist Idil Biret is a fixture of the Naxos catalog and its completist enterprises, having recorded the collected piano works of Chopin and Brahms for the label. Between 1994 and 2008, she recorded a cycle of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas for her own IBA (Idil Biret Archives) label. She has appeared with most of the world's major orchestras and presented recitals in many countries, with a notable high point being a complete performance of Liszt's brutally difficult transcriptions of Beethoven's nine symphonies at the 1986 Montpellier Festival in France. Studio performances of those transcriptions were recorded for EMI and released on the IBA label. Biret was, in short, one of the world's top-rank pianists, not a star whose name was familiar even to casual listeners, but a versatile performer whose capabilities were well known to enthusiasts.
Born November 21, 1941, in Ankara, Turkey, Biret was a classic child prodigy. Turks called her the Turkish Mozart, and when she was eight the financially strapped Turkish Parliament voted a special appropriation to make possible her musical education in Europe. Hypersensitive to music as a baby, she gained the ability to hear a tune and reproduce it on the piano when she was only two. She had an uncanny ability to learn music in her mind without practicing it at the keyboard, delivering it perfectly formed to the amazement of onlookers. Biret's first teacher in France was the famed pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, under whose tutelage she blazed through the curriculum at the Paris Conservatory. She took three first prizes there at 15 and began her professional career the following year. Biret later studied with German pianist Wilhelm Kempff, who called her his favorite disciple.
One major event of her early career was a series of concerts she gave in Moscow in 1960, organized by Russian pianist Emil Gilels. She would go on to play over 100 concerts in Russia. In 1963 Biret made her U.S. debut with the Boston Symphony in Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3, a trademark work in her repertoire. However, in addition to her Chopin and Brahms cycles, Biret was known for performing and recording contemporary music. She recorded extremely adventurous music for composer Ilhan Mimaroglu's label Finnadar in the 1970s, and her 1995 Naxos disc of Pierre Boulez's three sonatas won France's Golden Diapason award.
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BRAHMS: Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5 / Ballades, Op. 10
Classical - Released by Naxos on Mar. 20, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Biret Concerto Edition, Vol. 10
Idil Biret, Bursa Regional State Symphony Orchestra, Ender Sakpınar
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Oct. 23, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Naxos Chopin Album
Idil Biret, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Stankovsky
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan. 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Idil Biret - Archive Edition (Volume 5)
Idil Biret, London String Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by Idil Biret Archive on May 25, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CHOPIN: Polonaises, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 1, 1991
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BRAHMS: Piano Pieces, Op. 76 / Rhapsodies, Op. 79 / Phantasies, Op. 116
Classical - Released by Naxos on Nov. 23, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of İdil Biret: Selections from the Complete Studio Recordings
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Feb. 8, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Turkish Piano Music
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Aug. 27, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRAHMS: Variations Opp. 9, 24 and 35
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 17, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
İdil Biret Archive Edition, Vol. 20
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Jan. 29, 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
İdil Biret Archive Edition, Vol. 19
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Jan. 3, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CHOPIN: Fantasia on Polish Airs / Andante spianato / Krakowiak
Idil Biret, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Stankovsky
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 19, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ses plus grandes œuvres: Chopin
Classical - Released by Naxos Special Projects - France on Sep. 19, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
12 Grandes Études
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Oct. 31, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CHOPIN: Mazurkas, Vol. 2
Classical - Released by Naxos on Mar. 25, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Edition, Vol. 20: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Jul. 24, 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Idil Biret - Archive Edition (Volume 4)
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Mar. 30, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
ROMANZA - Classical Favourites for Relaxing and Dreaming
Symphonic Music - Released by Naxos on Aug. 3, 1994
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CHOPIN: Rondos and Variations
Classical - Released by Naxos on Oct. 30, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fantaisie de concert - Concerto pour piano n°2 (Concerto Edition - Volume 5)
Idil Biret, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, José Serebrier, Emil Tabakov
Keyboard Concertos - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Aug. 24, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour piano (Concerto Edition - Volume 3)
Idil Biret, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Jean Fournet
Classical - Released by Idil Biret Archive on Sep. 29, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo