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The Polish-Hungarian pianist, Piotr Anderszewski, studied piano at the Lyon and Strasbourg conservatories, the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He also attended master-classes in Italy with Fou Ts'ong, Murray Perahia, and Leon Fleisher. The 1990 Leeds Piano Competition was the beginning of his career. There, he performed the Diabelli Variations, then followed that with Anton Webern's Variations. However, in the middle of the A. Webern, he suddenly walked offstage, forfeiting the competition. He was not having an artistic fit of pique, but rather felt that the L.v. Beethoven performance spoke well enough for him.
In fact, that L.v. Beethoven performance resulted in two important invitations: one to perform a solo recital at Wigmore Hall, the other to record the Variations for Teldec. Piotr Anderszewski decided to turn down the offer from Teldec, feeling at the time that a studio recording would lose the spontaneity of a live recording. He began touring in Europe, most frequently appearing in London, but maintaining a home base in Paris, and for a time he toured the world with violinist Viktoria Mullova, also making his first recording with her. His first solo recordings were of J.S. Bach, L.v. Beethoven, and A. Webern. In 2000, he made his American debut and was given the Karol Szymanowski Award for his interpretations of that composer's works. The next year he signed a recording contract with Virgin Classics. Finally, he was ready to record the Diabelli Variations, and filmmaker Bruno Monsaigneon (creator of documentaries on Sviatoslav Richter, Yehudi Menuhin and Glenn Gould) documented the process and Anderszewski's thoughts on the work, much in the same way he had documented Glenn Gould performing the Goldberg Variations (BWV 988). The recording itself received high praise and several awards. His next project was performing and recording W.A. Mozart's piano concertos while conducting from the piano.
Piotr Anderszewski's performances in the 2005-2006 season included recitals in Tokyo, Moscow, Los Angeles and Milan. He also made his debut at the BBC Proms in London, participated in the Festival del Sole in both California and Tuscany, and performed with Martha Argerich at the Lugano Festival in Switzerland. His orchestral engagements included concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk. The 250th anniversary of W.A. Mozart's birth has seen Anderszewski directing the composer's concertos from the keyboard with various chamber orchestras - including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the soloists of Berliner Philharmoniker. Most notable has been his collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with which he has performed extensively and recorded a disc featuring the G major and D minor concertos. This partnership is set to continue into 2007.
Piotr Anderszewski's engagements in the 2006-07 season will include a recital at Carnegie Hall and concerts with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra. He will also be a guest artist in the London Symphony Orchestra's prestigious W.A. Mozart's concerto series.
Piotr Anderszewski has made a number of highly-praised recordings since becoming an exclusive artist with Virgin Classics. His first release for Virgin was L.v. Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, a disc which received exceptional critical acclaim, including a Diapason d'or and a Choc du Monde de la Musique in France. Other notable releases have included Grammy-nominated CD's of J.S. Bach's Partitas 1, 3 and 6 and a selection of solo pieces by his compatriot Szymanowski. He has been singled out for several high profile awards - the Szymanowski Prize in 1999 for his interpretations of the composer's music and, in 2001, the Royal Philharmonic Society's '2000 Best Instrumentalist' award. In April 2002 he was named Gilmore Artist, succeeding previous winner Leif Ove Andsnes.
Piotr Anderszewski is widely regarded as one of the most exciting pianists of his generation. He has become a familiar figure on the international concert platform, recognised for the intensity and originality of his interpretations. He has developed into an artist seemingly with a taste for highly structured works, most particularly L.v. Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. But that does not mean his performances are dry, academic readings of the piano repertoire's great works. Rather, he has been praised for his sensitivity and imaginative interpretations. |
