Dag Achatz
Dag Achatz is widely admired not only for his keyboard virtuosity but for his amazing eclecticism in both repertory and performance practices. The Swedish-born virtuoso is at home in the solo works of Schumann and Liszt; in the glittery, jazzier pieces of Gershwin and Bernstein; in the piano concertos of little-known composers like Pierné and Boldemann; and in a wide variety of the two-piano repertory, especially transcriptions and arrangements of well-known classical orchestral works. Achatz has made some of those transcriptions himself, including a highly praised rendition of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Achatz has also fashioned a piano version of the Bernstein ballet Fancy Free, as well as a suite of numbers from West Side Story. He has often appeared in concert and on recordings in two-piano repertory with Japanese virtuoso Yukie Nagai. Achatz has made most of his nearly 30 recordings for the Swedish label BIS. A small number of earlier efforts was issued on EMI, Melodiya, and Americus Records.
Dag Achatz was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1942. His parents were musicians who early on relocated the family to Switzerland. Achatz was a child prodigy, divulging so extraordinary a keyboard talent as to allow him to enter the Geneva Conservatory at the age of eight.
After graduation, the gifted teenager returned to Stockholm for studies with Greta Erickson. Later teachers included an iconic pair of keyboard giants: Alfred Cortot and Vlado Perlemuter.
Achatz won the Lausanne-based Rudolf Ganz Competition in 1960 and the 1964 Maria Callas Competition in Barcelona. His reputation steadily grew, as his interest in transcribing also took wing. His 1981 BIS recording of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring was a sensation, and throughout the decade he turned out several additional important recordings, including a CD of the complete works of George Gershwin (1989).
After hearing the Stravinsky Rite, Bernstein asked Achatz to do the transcription of Fancy Free, which was issued on an all-Bernstein CD in 1986.
By 2000 Achatz had appeared in many of the major concert venues in Europe, the United States, and the Far East. He has regularly conducted master classes (Umea Conservatory, Sweden; Osaka Conservatory, Japan). While Achatz has remained busy in the new century both concertizing and teaching, he has been less active in the recording studio. Among his later CDs is the 1999 BIS release of Wagner transcriptions (two-piano arrangements by Max Reger) with Yukie Nagai.
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Discography
16 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Liszt: Piano Music
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Siv Wennberg: A Great Primadonna, Vol. 5 "Arias and Songs with Orchestra"
Siv Wennberg, Dag Achatz, Lasse Zilliacus
Opera - Released by Sterling on 6 jan. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Complete Piano Works
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 28 feb. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scriabin: Piano Music
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Highlights From the Operas Arranged for Two Pianos
Opera - Released by BIS on 31 okt. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (The) / The Firebird Suite (Arr. for Piano)
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Kinderszenen / Fantasy / Liszt: Sonata in B Minor
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 jan. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 (Arr. for Two Pianos)
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 30 sep. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann / Debussy / Tchaikovsky: Piano Music for Children
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 mei 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Music for 2 Pianos
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 dec. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Flute Sonata / Olsson: Romance / Fauré: Fantaisie
Gunilla von Bahr, Dag Achatz, Hans Fagius
Kamermuziek - Released by BIS on 31 mei 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Glazunov: Symphony No. 6 (Arr. for 2 Pianos)
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 30 apr. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Siv Wennberg: A Great Primadonna, Vol. 7
Siv Wennberg, Dag Achatz, Lars Roos
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by Sterling on 6 jan. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Pierne: Ramuntcho, Suites 1 & 2 / Piano Concerto, Op. 12
Dag Achatz, Lorraine Philharmonic Orchestra, Jacques Houtmann
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bernstein: West Side Story: Symphonic Dances / Fancy Free / Touches
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo