András Schiff
András Schiff is among the most prominent members of a generation of Hungarian pianists born in the years following World War II, along with such artists as Zoltán Kocsis, Dezso Ránki, and Jenö Jandó. Of this remarkable group, Schiff has achieved the strongest international reputation, due not only to his decision to pursue his career outside of Hungary, but also to his finely shaded sense of touch and his energetic, yet clear, treatment of contrapuntal textures. Schiff was born in Budapest on December 21, 1953. He studied with composers Pál Kadosa and Ferenc Rados (saying of the latter that "There was never a positive word from him. Everything was bad, horrible. But it instilled a healthy attitude, an element of doubt."), as well as harpsichordist George Malcolm. Schiff made his debut in Budapest at age 19 and was soon making concert appearances throughout Europe and the U.S., despite Iron Curtain-era restrictions. He took top prize at the 1974 Moscow competition, and the 1975 Leeds Festival. A major early mentor was violinist and conductor Sándor Végh, with whom Schiff recorded the complete piano concertos of Mozart and much violin-and-piano chamber music. In 1989, he founded his own Mondsee Musiktage festival near Salzburg (where he had first encountered Végh). Schiff also formed his own ensemble, Cappella Andrea Barca, in 1999, and with it recorded a complete cycle of Mozart's piano concertos. Schiff's energy and clarity in contrapuntal music has made him a top Bach interpreter; he has recorded Bach's complete keyboard music. Later, he recorded a complete Beethoven sonata cycle on the boutique label ECM, completing it in 2009. He has also recorded large amount of music by Schubert and Schumann, receiving a prize in 2011 from the city of Zwickau, Germany, for his interpretations of the latter. Eastern European music by the likes of Béla Bartók and Leos Janácek have also appeared prominently in his repertory. He left Hungary in 1979 and spoke out forcefully against right-wing political developments there, stating that he would never again set foot in his homeland, alluding to physical dangers he would face if he did so. He renounced his Austrian citizenship, which he had taken in 1987, also for political reasons, and is now a British citizen. In the 2000s, he often revisited Bach repertory that he had previously recorded. Schiff has held several prestigious residencies: from 2004 to 2007 he was Artist-in-Residence of the Kunstfest Weimar, in the 2007-2008 season he was Pianist-in-Residence of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in 2011-2012 he was a Perspectives Artist of Carnegie Hall in New York. Schiff is married to violinist Yuuko Shiokawa, with whom he has recorded violin-and-piano repertory for ECM. In addition to ECM, Schiff's large discography includes albums on the Decca, London, and Teldec labels, as well as others. In the 2010s, despite earlier skepticism about the trend, he began to perform and record on the fortepiano, often using a Viennese instrument of 1820 built by the lesser-known maker Franz Brodmann. On that instrument he released an album of Schubert Impromptus and the Piano Sonata in C minor, D. 958, in 2019.© James Manheim /TiVo Read more
András Schiff is among the most prominent members of a generation of Hungarian pianists born in the years following World War II, along with such artists as Zoltán Kocsis, Dezso Ránki, and Jenö Jandó. Of this remarkable group, Schiff has achieved the strongest international reputation, due not only to his decision to pursue his career outside of Hungary, but also to his finely shaded sense of touch and his energetic, yet clear, treatment of contrapuntal textures.
Schiff was born in Budapest on December 21, 1953. He studied with composers Pál Kadosa and Ferenc Rados (saying of the latter that "There was never a positive word from him. Everything was bad, horrible. But it instilled a healthy attitude, an element of doubt."), as well as harpsichordist George Malcolm. Schiff made his debut in Budapest at age 19 and was soon making concert appearances throughout Europe and the U.S., despite Iron Curtain-era restrictions. He took top prize at the 1974 Moscow competition, and the 1975 Leeds Festival. A major early mentor was violinist and conductor Sándor Végh, with whom Schiff recorded the complete piano concertos of Mozart and much violin-and-piano chamber music. In 1989, he founded his own Mondsee Musiktage festival near Salzburg (where he had first encountered Végh). Schiff also formed his own ensemble, Cappella Andrea Barca, in 1999, and with it recorded a complete cycle of Mozart's piano concertos. Schiff's energy and clarity in contrapuntal music has made him a top Bach interpreter; he has recorded Bach's complete keyboard music. Later, he recorded a complete Beethoven sonata cycle on the boutique label ECM, completing it in 2009. He has also recorded large amount of music by Schubert and Schumann, receiving a prize in 2011 from the city of Zwickau, Germany, for his interpretations of the latter. Eastern European music by the likes of Béla Bartók and Leos Janácek have also appeared prominently in his repertory. He left Hungary in 1979 and spoke out forcefully against right-wing political developments there, stating that he would never again set foot in his homeland, alluding to physical dangers he would face if he did so. He renounced his Austrian citizenship, which he had taken in 1987, also for political reasons, and is now a British citizen. In the 2000s, he often revisited Bach repertory that he had previously recorded. Schiff has held several prestigious residencies: from 2004 to 2007 he was Artist-in-Residence of the Kunstfest Weimar, in the 2007-2008 season he was Pianist-in-Residence of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in 2011-2012 he was a Perspectives Artist of Carnegie Hall in New York. Schiff is married to violinist Yuuko Shiokawa, with whom he has recorded violin-and-piano repertory for ECM. In addition to ECM, Schiff's large discography includes albums on the Decca, London, and Teldec labels, as well as others. In the 2010s, despite earlier skepticism about the trend, he began to perform and record on the fortepiano, often using a Viennese instrument of 1820 built by the lesser-known maker Franz Brodmann. On that instrument he released an album of Schubert Impromptus and the Piano Sonata in C minor, D. 958, in 2019.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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J.S. Bach: Clavichord
Solo Piano - Released by ECM New Series on 27 Jan 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Clavier
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 24 Aug 2012
András Schiff recorded his first set of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier for London in the mid-1980s, but the passage of time, personal reflection, a ...
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concertos
András Schiff, Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 21 May 2021
Arnold Schoenberg called him "Brahms the Progressive". Whilst Johannes Brahms’s musical language and formal cosmos were deeply rooted in the past, by ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : Sonatas & Impromptus
Solo Piano - Released by ECM New Series on 12 Apr 2019
5 de DiapasonGramophone Editor's Choice5 Sterne Fono Forum KlassikFor a truly great interpretation it’s not enough just to play a historical instrument, the playing also has to be up to scratch. This recording releas ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. S. Bach: Partitas Nos. 1-6, BWV 825-830 (Live)
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 28 Aug 2009
The Qobuz Ideal DiscographyHi-Res Audio24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Goldberg Variations BWV 988 (Live)
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 18 Aug 1986
Hi-Res Audio24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : The Piano Sonatas (Live)
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 25 Nov 2016
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Schubert
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 27 Mar 2015
Gramophone Record of the MonthGramophone Editor's ChoiceThis double album represents a change of heart for pianist András Schiff, who once publicly ridiculed the idea of "playing Schubert sonatas on Graf fo ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven : Diabelli-Variationen
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 24 Sep 2013
Hi-Res AudioGramophone Editor's ChoiceECM New Series is better known for its documentation of contemporary works, but the music of the past sometimes receives coverage when artists bring a ...
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier II
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 4 Dec 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Sonatas
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 2 Oct 2020
Diapason d'or / ArteTwo great artists, pianist Sir Andras Schiff and composer/clarinettist Jorg Widmann, join forces for the first time on record, performing Brahms's lat ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Two and Three Part Inventions
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Solo Piano Music (Works by Brahms, Haendel, Haydn, Reger, Schumann, Smetana)
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 18 Jun 2007
As so many recording artists have these days, Hungarian pianist András Schiff has been through a huge number of record companies in his career. He sta ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier I
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Music for Piano and Violoncello
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 1 Jan 2004
There have been many other great sets of Beethoven's works for cello and piano. How could it be otherwise with such central repertoire, the core works ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann: Geistervariationen
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 26 Aug 2011
András Schiff, he of the mighty left hand, isn't 100 percent suited to the gauzy world of some of Robert Schumann's shorter works. The Papillons, Op. ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Partita No. 5 / English Suite No. 4 / Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor
Classical - Released by Hungaroton on 1 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Clarinet Trio; Horn Trio
András Schiff, Peter Schmidl, Günter Högner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Clavichord
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on 27 Jan 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The English Suites; Suites Nos.1 - 6
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: French Suites Nos. 1-6/Italian Concerto etc.
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo