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
Similar artists
-
Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58 & Fantasie, Op. 49 - Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 19 & Fantasie, Op. 28
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, Grieg: Piano Sonatas
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Sviatoslav Richter
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata; Vocalise / Sibelius: Malinconia / Dvorák: Polonaise
Heinrich Schiff, Elisabeth Leonskaja
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D. 279 & 459
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 20 mei 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elisabeth Leonskaja – Piano Essentials
Klassiek - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 12 nov. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16: II. Adagio
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Michael Sanderling, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 15 dec. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 6, Piano Concertos Nos. 1 - 3 & Famous Works
Kurt Masur, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, New York Philharmonic
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 jan. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quintettes avec piano
Alban Berg Quartett, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Rudolf Buchbinder, Philippe Entremont
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 10 mrt. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Sehnsucht
Matthias Goerne, Elisabeth Leonskaja
Liederen - Released by harmonia mundi on 25 mrt. 2008
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Op. 109-111
Divers - Released by Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG) on 1 mei 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D. 784 & 894
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jul. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
-
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 331, "Alla Turca": III. Alla Turca
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 19 nov. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D. 557 & 568
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 27 mei 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Works
Divers - Released by Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG) on 1 okt. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Sonata, Dante Sonata & Petrarca Sonette
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert Impromptus
Klassiek - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 1 jan. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39
Brigitte Fassbaender, Elisabeth Leonskaja
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 18 aug. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Kurt Masur, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Works, Op. 116-119
Divers - Released by Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG) on 1 feb. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Quintet, D. 667 "The Trout"
Alban Berg Quartett, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Georg Hortnagel
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 22 sep. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo