Gerhard Oppitz
Pianist Gerhard Oppitz is noted for his complete recorded cycles of the music of various composers. He was a longtime member of the faculty at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich.
Oppitz was born in Frauenau, Bavaria, in what was then West Germany, on February 5, 1953. He took up the piano at five, and at 11, he gave his first public recital in Stuttgart. There, he was heard by a local music professor, Paul Buck, with whom he studied. He went for further studies with Hugo Steurer in Munich. However, his major mentor was pianist Wilhelm Kempff, whom he met in 1973. The regard was mutual; before his death, Kempff stated that he thought Oppitz could continue the pianistic tradition of which he himself was a part. In 1977, Oppitz won the Artur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, becoming the first German pianist so honored. In 1978, he recorded his first LP. Three years later, he joined the faculty of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, becoming the school's youngest instructor in history.
As a recording artist, Oppitz focused mostly on mainstream repertory from Mozart to the late 19th century, but as a performer, he also often played modern works by Boulez, Henze, Ligeti, Messiaen, and others. He is fluent in seven languages and is a licensed pilot who often flies his own plane to concert engagements. He has appeared as a concerto soloist and recitalist in many of Europe's major concert halls. Oppitz is widely recognized as a specialist in the music of Brahms, whose complete works for keyboard he recorded. He has also recorded the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven and Mozart and the complete solo piano works of Schubert and Grieg. Oppitz has made one of the few recordings of Max Reger's difficult Piano Concerto, Op. 114. He has recorded for various labels, but the majority of his work has been released by RCA and, more recently, by Hänssler Classic. Oppitz retired from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in 2013 but continued to perform and record. In 2023, he released an album of Schumann's piano works on Hänssler Classic. By that time, his recording catalog comprised some 75 CDs, plus LPs from the late '70s and early '80s.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Michael Gielen Edition, Vol. 3 - Brahms: Symphonies & Concertos
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Gerhard Oppitz, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, Mark Kaplan, Michael Gielen, David GerIngas
Classical - Released by SWR Classic on 14 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach : Piano Concertos BWV 1060, 1061, 1063, 1065
Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Gerhard Oppitz, Helmut Schmidt, Hamburger Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1, Violin Concerto No. 2 & Violin Sonata No. 1
Neeme Järvi, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Lydia Mordkovitch, Gerhard Oppitz
Concertos - Released by Chandos on 1 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Works
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on 1 Dec 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Intégrale de sonates pour piano
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on 10 Feb 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonatas 15, 17, 26
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 19 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Works
Classical - Released by haenssler CLASSIC on 6 Jan 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck / Saint Saens: Violin Sonatas; Ravel: Tzigane
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gerhard Oppitz plays Grieg (The complete music for solo piano)
Solo Piano - Released by RCA Red Seal on 21 Feb 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Cello Concerto; Adagio & Allegro; Fantasiestücke; 5 Stücke im Volkston
Heinrich Schiff, Gerhard Oppitz, Berliner Philharmoniker, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Solo Piano Music
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 21 Feb 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour violon
Lydia Mordkovitch, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Gerhard Oppitz, Neeme Järvi
Violin Concertos - Released by Chandos on 25 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg - Piano Works Vol. 1
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 20 Sep 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Complete Piano Music
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 4 Jun 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Clarinet Sonatas
Chamber Music - Released by Orfeo on 1 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Sonatas for Cello and Piano
Heinrich Schiff, Gerhard Oppitz
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 3 Oct 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Complete Piano Music
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 4 Jun 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Schumann: Works for Piano and Orchestra
Gerhard Oppitz, Bamberger Symphoniker, Marc Andreae
Classical - Released by Tudor on 17 Mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
VIOLIN SONATAS
Lydia Mordkovitch, Gerhard Oppitz
Chamber Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Jul 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Variations Schumann, Waltz 39, Sonata 5
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 23 Feb 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo