Frank Braley
Pianist Frank Braley has fashioned a highly successful career both as a soloist/recitalist and chamber music collaborator. A gifted child who would go on to win the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition, Braley has performed with leading conductors, major orchestras, and soloists from around the world.
Braley was born in Corbeil-Essonne, France, in 1968. He studied piano from age four, and while he exhibited rare talent, he initially studied for a career in science. However, at 18 he enrolled at the Paris Conservatory, where he studied piano with Pascal Devoyon and Jacques Rouvier. In 1991, Braley won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition, launching his highly successful career. To say the victory was unexpected would be an understatement: it was the 21-year-old Braley's first international competition. Thereafter, he regularly toured Europe, Asia, and the U.S. In July 2002, Braley debuted with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, at the Tanglewood Festival with conductor Hans Graf. The following year on September 18, he debuted at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall) with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble InterContemporain. During his career, Braley has worked with many notable conductors including Dutoit, Hogwood, Marriner, and Masur. His orchestral appearances include working with orchestras in Berlin, Paris, London, and Rotterdam. In chamber music, he's performed with such distinguished artists as violinist Renaud Capuçon, cellist Gautier Capuçon, clarinetist Pascal Moraguès, among others. Braley has fearlessly lent his support to student performers, not necessarily a career-boosting strategy: in 2007, he toured several French cities giving a series of concerts with the French Youth Orchestra under conductor Jean-Claude Casadesus. Braley's 2010-2011 concert schedule included a tour of London, Singapore, Paris, and other French cities, with Renaud Capuçon, performing the cycle of Beethoven's 10 sonatas for violin and piano. In 2014, Braley was named music director of the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.
Braley's repertory is varied: while much of it includes a fair number of French works by Saint-Saëns, Ravel, and Poulenc, it also takes in a disparate range of compositions by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and more. He has made numerous recordings for such labels as EMI, Harmonia Mundi, and RCA. Among his most significant early recordings is a 1998 release of Richard Strauss' Op. 5 Sonata and other Strauss piano works, on Harmonia Mundi (reissued in 2008). Another highlight is the 2009 Alpha Productions release of Schumann piano works (Ballszenen and Kinderball, both for piano four-hands), with pianist Eric le Sage. In 2019, Braley recorded an album of Brahms' clarinet sonatas & trio, with Moraguès and Christian Poltéra, on the Indesens label.
© Robert Cummings /TiVo
Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Kegelstatt Trio & Clarinet Quintet
Prazak Quartet, Pascal Moraguès, Frank Braley, Vladimir Mendelssohn
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Oct 1, 2003
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Le Ruban Dénoué - Valses
Frank Braley, Eric Le Sage, Sandrine Piau
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Dec 1, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Piano Trios No.5 "Ghost" & No.7 "Archduke"
Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 31, 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 - Sonatensatz, D. 28 - Notturno, D. 897
Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Mar 12, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel - Chamber Music
Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Octet, Op. 20 & Romance Sans Paroles
Frank Braley, Ensemble Explorations, Roel Dieltiens
Chamber Music - Released by harmonia mundi on Dec 2, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fantasiestücke, Kreisleriana, Waldscenen
Eric Le Sage, Frank Braley, François Salque, Victor Julien-Laferrière
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Oct 30, 2008
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Apr 26, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Piano Works
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Mar 24, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Sonates pour violon et piano (Intégrale)
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Sep 13, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Trout Quintet, D. 667
Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Frank Braley, Gérard Caussé
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Nov 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chausson - Lekeu
Gabriel Le Magadure, Frank Braley, Quatuor Agate
Classical - Released by Appassionato, le label on Mar 1, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Queen Elisabeth Competition, Piano 1991
Classical - Released by Muso on Aug 26, 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Für die Jugend... (Pour la jeunesse...)
Eric Le Sage, Frank Braley, Denis Pascal
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Apr 23, 2009
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Musique d'Abord 2013
Frank Braley, Trio Wanderer, Dietrich Henschel and Ekaterina Sementchuk
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Jul 29, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo