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
Classica - Pubblicato da SWR Classic il 14 ott 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
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 1 gen 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
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 ago 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Works
Classica - Pubblicato da haenssler CLASSIC il 1 dic 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Intégrale de sonates pour piano
Classica - Pubblicato da haenssler CLASSIC il 10 feb 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonatas 15, 17, 26
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 19 gen 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Piano Works
Classica - Pubblicato da haenssler CLASSIC il 6 gen 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck / Saint Saens: Violin Sonatas; Ravel: Tzigane
Classica - Pubblicato da Deutsche Grammophon (DG) il 1 gen 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gerhard Oppitz plays Grieg (The complete music for solo piano)
Assoli per pianoforte - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 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
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Complete Solo Piano Music
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 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
Concerti per violino - Pubblicato da Chandos il 25 ago 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg - Piano Works Vol. 1
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 20 set 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Complete Piano Music
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 4 giu 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Clarinet Sonatas
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da Orfeo il 1 gen 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Sonatas for Cello and Piano
Heinrich Schiff, Gerhard Oppitz
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 3 ott 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Complete Piano Music
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 4 giu 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
Classica - Pubblicato da Tudor il 17 mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
VIOLIN SONATAS
Lydia Mordkovitch, Gerhard Oppitz
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da Chandos il 1 lug 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Variations Schumann, Waltz 39, Sonata 5
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 23 feb 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo