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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Brahms: Clarinet Trio; Horn Trio
András Schiff, Peter Schmidl, Günter Högner
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/01/1984
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Mozart: Piano Music
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/01/1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: The Late Piano Sonatas
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/01/2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Clarinet Trio, K. 498 "Kegelstatt", Piano Trios, K. 502 & K. 542
Música de cámara - Editado por Warner Classics International el 1/12/1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Impromptus; Moments Musicaux
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/01/1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 26 "Coronation"; Piano And Wind Quintet
András Schiff, Camerata Salzburg, Sándor Végh
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 5/12/1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Works Played On Beethoven's Broadwood Piano at the Hungarian National Museum
Clásica - Editado por Hungaroton el 13/04/1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Reger, Busoni: Music For Two Pianos
Clásica - Editado por ECM New Series el 1/03/1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Song Cycles
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/01/2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Winterreise
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/01/1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4
Música concertante - Editado por Warner Classics International el 10/11/1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Volume VII (Live)
Clásica - Editado por ECM New Series el 26/09/2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Clavichord
Clásica - Editado por ECM New Series el 27/01/2023
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
Música concertante - Editado por Hungaroton el 17/06/1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Focus
András Schiff, Music Lab Collective
Clásica - Editado por UME - Global Clearing House el 9/07/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Piano Trios Nos. 25, 40, 42 & 44
András Schiff, Yuuko Shiokawa, Boris Pergamenschikow
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/04/1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach - Busoni - Beethoven
Clásica - Editado por ECM New Series el 27/10/2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Violin Sonata No. 1; Sonata for 2 Pianos & Percussion; 10 Duos
Clásica - Editado por Decca Music Group Ltd. el 1/01/1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Végh: Salzburger Mozart-Matineen 1988-1993
Gérard Korsten, András Schiff, Daphne Evangelatos, Camerata Salzburg, Sándor Végh
Clásica - Editado por Orfeo el 27/11/2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concertos
András Schiff, Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment
Clásica - Editado por ECM New Series el 21/05/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Andras Schiff joue Bach
Clásica - Editado por Vanguard el 25/04/2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo