Roland Pöntinen
Language available : englishRoland Pöntinen is a virtuoso pianist whose busy concert and recording schedule would seem to preclude work as a composer and arranger, but he has managed to produce a substantial and worthwhile output in both those creative roles. As a pianist Pöntinen has developed a vast repertory of standards by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Grieg, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev, to name just some. But he also performs a whole range of neglected and contemporary works by Satie, Alfvén, Sven-Erik Bäck, Waldteufel, Virgil Thompson, Maxwell Davies, Saariaho, and countless others, many of whom are virtual unknowns. And Pöntinen regularly performs not only as soloist and recitalist, but as a chamber player of vast experience: indeed, he has collaborated with violinists, violists, cellists, trumpeters, trombonists, cornetists, flutists, percussionists, and various chamber groups. It would be hard to imagine a performer with a larger repertory and greater variety in performance. As a composer Pöntinen has written jazz and popular music, as well as classical compositions. He has also made arrangements of music by Vivaldi, David Bowie, Kate Bush, and Radiohead. Pöntinen's numerous recordings have appeared on more than a dozen labels, but with the vast majority on BIS. Roland Pöntinen was born in Danderyd, Sweden, in 1963. His first advanced studies were at the Stockholm (Adolf Fredrik) Music High School, with Gunnar Hallhagen. Pöntinen had later studies at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts in Canada, with Menahem Pressler and György Sebök. He also studied privately with Elisabeth Leonskaja in Vienna. Pöntinen made his debut as soloist in 1980 with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He formed a jazz group the following year and wrote several compositions for performance with them, the scoring typically involving piano, percussion, bass, strings, and saxophones. Pöntinen made his first recording for BIS in 1983 (issued in January 1984), Roland Pöntinen Plays Russian Piano Music, which included works by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Rachmaninov. He continued to steadily build his career on all fronts, and by 1990 he had made 20 recordings for BIS alone. In 1998 Pöntinen's work Blue Winter (1987), for trombone and strings, was premiered in Philadelphia and then given a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall performance a few weeks later. In 2001 Pöntinen was given one of Sweden's most prestigious arts awards, the Litteris et Artibus medal. Among Pöntinen's later recordings is the 2010 BIS CD of Brahms cello sonatas, with cellist Torleif Thedéen.
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Roland Pöntinen is a virtuoso pianist whose busy concert and recording schedule would seem to preclude work as a composer and arranger, but he has managed to produce a substantial and worthwhile output in both those creative roles. As a pianist Pöntinen has developed a vast repertory of standards by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Grieg, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev, to name just some. But he also performs a whole range of neglected and contemporary works by Satie, Alfvén, Sven-Erik Bäck, Waldteufel, Virgil Thompson, Maxwell Davies, Saariaho, and countless others, many of whom are virtual unknowns. And Pöntinen regularly performs not only as soloist and recitalist, but as a chamber player of vast experience: indeed, he has collaborated with violinists, violists, cellists, trumpeters, trombonists, cornetists, flutists, percussionists, and various chamber groups. It would be hard to imagine a performer with a larger repertory and greater variety in performance. As a composer Pöntinen has written jazz and popular music, as well as classical compositions. He has also made arrangements of music by Vivaldi, David Bowie, Kate Bush, and Radiohead. Pöntinen's numerous recordings have appeared on more than a dozen labels, but with the vast majority on BIS.
Roland Pöntinen was born in Danderyd, Sweden, in 1963. His first advanced studies were at the Stockholm (Adolf Fredrik) Music High School, with Gunnar Hallhagen. Pöntinen had later studies at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts in Canada, with Menahem Pressler and György Sebök. He also studied privately with Elisabeth Leonskaja in Vienna.
Pöntinen made his debut as soloist in 1980 with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He formed a jazz group the following year and wrote several compositions for performance with them, the scoring typically involving piano, percussion, bass, strings, and saxophones.
Pöntinen made his first recording for BIS in 1983 (issued in January 1984), Roland Pöntinen Plays Russian Piano Music, which included works by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Rachmaninov. He continued to steadily build his career on all fronts, and by 1990 he had made 20 recordings for BIS alone.
In 1998 Pöntinen's work Blue Winter (1987), for trombone and strings, was premiered in Philadelphia and then given a critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall performance a few weeks later. In 2001 Pöntinen was given one of Sweden's most prestigious arts awards, the Litteris et Artibus medal. Among Pöntinen's later recordings is the 2010 BIS CD of Brahms cello sonatas, with cellist Torleif Thedéen.
© TiVo
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SCHNITTKE: Piano Quintet / String Trio / Piano Quartet / Canon
Roland Pöntinen
Kamermuziek - Released by BIS on 30 nov. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
POULENC: Complete Works for Two Pianos
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 mei 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Satie: Gymnopedie no 1
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on 30 sep. 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Rhapsody - An Odyssey from Bach to Satie with Roland Pontinen
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 30 jul. 2013
In this four-disc survey of the most popular piano pieces of all time, Roland Pöntinen presents some of the most familiar hits, including two evergree ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
JANACEK: Chamber and Instrumental Works
Roland Pöntinen
Kamermuziek - Released by BIS on 31 jan. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of Pöntinen
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on 1 mei 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin : Œuvres pour piano
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 jan. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Busoni: 7 Elegien & Piano Works
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 1 jan. 2000
While there is not now, never has been, and never could be a single disc that encompasses what might be characterized as "Ferruccio Busoni's Greatest ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SATIE: Piano Music
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 jan. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Busoni: 6 Piano Sonatinas, Indianisches Tagebuch I & Toccata
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 19 jun. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SZYMANOWSKI, K.: Piano Sonata No. 3 / Mazurkas / Masks / Metopes (Pontinen)
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 2008
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
ORFF: Carmina Burana (Chamber Version)
Roland Pöntinen
Koormuziek - Released by BIS on 30 sep. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SCHOENBERG / BERG: Piano Music
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 sep. 2005
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SATIE: Piano Music
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 30 jun. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
LISZT: Weihnachtsbaum / REGER: Maria Wiegenlied
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 okt. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Etudes-tableaux, Op. 33 & 39
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by Pan Classics on 3 jul. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
PONTINEN, Roland: MUSIC FOR A RAINY DAY
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
PONTINEN, Roland: Evocation - Legendary Encores
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 mei 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Satie: Gymnopedie no. 3
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on 3 feb. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
PIANORAMA - Collection of Film Music for Piano
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 2006
Swedish pianist Roland Pöntinen has a broad repertoire that extends from Baroque to contemporary music, and he has established himself as one of the l ...
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
TUBIN: Sinfonietta on Estonian Motifs / Symphony No. 7
Roland Pöntinen
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1988
Eduard Tubin, best known as the composer of Kratt, the first Estonian ballet, was a first-rate second-rank provincial modernist. Imagine the rhythmic ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo