Elisabeth Leonskaja
Elisabeth Leonskaja is a highly respected pianist whose career blossomed in the shadow of Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. Known for her modesty -- not unlike older compatriot Maria Yudina -- Leonskaja was mentored by Richter and often played duets with him. She would never reach the critical and artistic heights of her great teacher, but her reputation as an imaginative interpreter and formidable technician have lifted her to almost legendary status, with comparisons to Clara Haskil and other keyboard icons. Her choice of repertory has been fairly conservative over the years, with staples in the concerto and solo genres by Chopin, Brahms, Prokofiev, and with chamber music. In the latter realm she has collaborated with the Alban Berg and Borodin quartets, the Vienna Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, cellist Heinrich Schiff, and many other artists.
Leonskaja was born on November 23, 1945, in Tbilisi, Georgia, to Russian parents. She was an exceptionally gifted child, giving her first concert at 11. She studied music at the Moscow Conservatory and, while there, won prizes in several prestigious international competitions, including the Queen Elizabeth, Marguerite Long, and Enescu. Leonskaja was soon noticed by Richter, and the two developed what would be a lifelong friendship, often appearing together in duet concerts. In 1978, she emigrated to the West, settling in Vienna. Her debut at the 1979 Salzburg Festival was a great triumph, after which she quickly established a reputation that yielded invitations in the next decades from the leading orchestras abroad, including those in New York, Cleveland, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Leipzig, and Hamburg.
Leonskaja's recordings were drawing acclaim as well: her 1990 album of Brahms' sonatas won Belgium's prestigious Caecilia Prize. In 1995, Teldec released what would be one of Richter's last recordings, duet sonatas by Mozart and Grieg, with Leonskaja. Richter died two years later. In the new century, Leonskaja has been very active on the concert scene with numerous appearances at major concert venues. She debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2006 with Kurt Masur leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra in an acclaimed performance of the challenging Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2. Leonskaja earned the Solo Recording of the Year in 2014 from the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for the album Paris, on which she performed works by Debussy, Enescu, and Ravel. In 2019, she joined the Artemis Quartett on a recording of Shostakovich's piano quintet, and the following year, Leonskaja was awarded the IMCA Lifetime Achievement Award. Signed once more to the Warner Classics label in 2021, Leonskaja issued a recording of Mozart's complete piano sonatas in 2022.
© Robert Cummings & Keith Finke /TiVo
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Brahms: Piano Quintet, Op. 34 (Live at Vienna Konzerthaus, 1987)
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alban Berg Quartett
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Piano Sonata No. 2
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Hugh Wolff, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 01.01.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 01.06.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 44 & Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 37 "Grande sonate"
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Kurt Masur, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Trio, Op. 11 "Gassenhauer" & 3 Duets for Clarinet & Bassoon, WoO 27
Eduard Brunner, Wolfgang Boettcher, Klaus Thunemann, Elisabeth Leonskaja
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei Tudor am 02.09.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, R.: Also Sprach Zarathustra / Burleske
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Gary Bertini
Klassik - Erschienen bei CapriccioNR am 01.01.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos 1 & 2
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Camerata Salzburg, Ilan Volkov
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG) am 01.01.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545: I. Allegro
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 03.12.2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Sonata No. 20, Allegretto in C Minor, Impromtu in A-Flat Major
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Schubert: Piano Sonatas Nos. 19 & 21
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 01.12.1989
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Solo Piano: Chopin, Schubert, Mozart & Mussogsky
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 25.04.2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: The Piano Concertos
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Kurt Masur, New York Philharmonic
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 29.07.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Sonatas Nos. 19, D. 958 & 21, D. 960
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 01.12.1989
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Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas - Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: II. Adagio
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 05.11.2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Sonatas Nos. 13, D. 664 & 20, D. 959
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 25.03.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58: II. Andante con moto
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 24.03.2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich : Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Piano Sonata No. 2
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Hugh Wolff, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Instrumentalmusik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 01.01.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy, Op. 15 & Piano Sonata No. 18
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 01.01.1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert Les Impromptus
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group am 01.01.1996
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Chopin: Nocturnes Nos. 1 - 11
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics International am 01.07.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo