Modern pianists: a list of the best pianists of our time, works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

To recognize the world's only best modern pianist is an impossible task. For each critic and listener, various masters will be idols. And this is the strength of humanity: the world contains a considerable number of worthy and talented pianists.

Agrerich Martha Archerich

One of the first to top the list of the best contemporary pianists is Martha Argerich.

The pianist was born in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires in 1941. She started playing the instrument at the age of three, and at the age of eight she made her public debut, where she performed a concerto by Mozart himself.

The future virtuoso star studied with such teachers as Friedrich Gould, Arturo Ashkenazy and Stefan Michelangeli - one of the most outstanding classical pianists of the 20th century.

Since 1957, Argerich began to participate in competitive activities and won the first big victories: 1st place in the piano competition in Geneva and the International Competitionnamed after Busoni.

However, Marta's real stunning success came at the moment when, at the age of 24, she was able to win the international Chopin competition in the city of Warsaw.

In 2005 she won the highest Grammy Award for her performance of chamber works by composers Prokofiev and Ravel, and in 2006 for her performance of Beethoven's works with the orchestra.

Also in 2005, the pianist was awarded the Imperial Japanese Prize.

Her passionate game and amazing technical skills, with which she masterfully performs works by Russian composers Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, can not leave anyone indifferent.

Kissin Evgeniy Igorevich

One of the most famous contemporary pianists in Russia is Evgeny Igorevich Kisin.

He was born on October 10, 1971 in Moscow, at the age of six he entered the Gnessin Music School. Kantor Anna Pavlovna became his first and only teacher for life.

Since 1985, Kissin has been demonstrating his talent abroad. Debuts in Western Europe in 1987.

After 3 years, he conquers the United States, where he performs Chopin's 1st and 2nd concertos with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and a week later he performs in a solo format.

In 1992, Evgeny Kissin takes part in the Grammy ceremony, which was watched by an incredible number of spectators - 1,600,000,000 people.

In 1997year participates in the Proms festival, where he introduces a piano evening for the first time in the history of this international event.

Interesting fact

Evgeniy has never taken part in competitive activities, but this did not stop him from receiving a huge number of awards for his talent and hard work. The most honored of them: 2 Grammy awards, the first of which was received for the best solo performance by composers Scriabin, Stravinsky and Medtner, and the second (in 2010) for the performance of Prokofiev's work together with the orchestra.

Matsuev Denis Leonidovich

Another of the most outstanding contemporary Russian virtuoso pianists is the famous Denis Matsuev.

Denis was born in the city of Irkutsk in 1975 in a family of musicians. Parents from an early age taught the child to art. The boy's first teacher was his grandmother Vera Rammul.

In 1993, Matsuev entered the Moscow State Conservatory, and two years later became the leading soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic.

He gained worldwide fame after winning the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998, when he was only 23 years old.

He prefers to combine his innovative approach to playing with the traditions of the Russian piano school.

Since 2004, he has been holding a series of concerts called "Soloist Denis Matsuev", inviting domestic and foreign leading orchestras to collaborate with him.

Christian Zimmerman

Christian Zimmermann (born in1956) is a famous contemporary pianist of Polish origin. In addition to being an instrumentalist, he is also a conductor.

Initial music lessons were taught by his father, an amateur pianist. Then Christian continued his studies with the teacher Andrzej Jasiński in a private format, and then moved to the Katowice Conservatory.

He started giving concerts at the age of 6 and in 1975 he won the Chopin Piano Competition, thus becoming the youngest winner in history. Over the next year, he honed his piano skills with renowned Polish pianist Artur Rubinstein.

Christian Zimmermann is considered a brilliant performer of Chopin's work. His discography includes recordings of all piano concertos by Ravel, Beethoven, Brahms and, of course, his main idol - Chopin, as well as sound recordings of compositions by Liszt, Strauss and Respiha.

Since 1996 he has been teaching at the Basel Higher School of Music. Received the Kiji and Leonie Sonning Academy Awards.

In 1999 created the Polish Festival Orchestra.

Wang Yujia

Wang Yujia is a Chinese representative of the piano art. She gained fame thanks to her virtuoso and incredibly fast game, for which she was awarded the pseudonym - "Flying Fingers".

The Chinese contemporary pianist was born in Beijing, where she spent her childhood in a family of musicians. At the age of 6, she began her tests on the keyboard instrument, and a year later she entered the Central Conservatorycapital Cities. At the age of 11, she was enrolled to study in Canada and after 3 years she finally moved to a foreign country for further education.

In 1998, she received the prize of the International Competition for Young Pianists in the city of Ettlingen, and in 2001, in addition to the above described award, the judging panel gave Wang an award awarded to pianists under 20 in the amount of 500,000 yen (in rubles - 300,000).

The pianist also plays successfully with Russian composers: she has Rachmaninoff's Second and Third Concertos, as well as Prokofiev's Second Concerto.

Fazil Sai

Fazıl Say is a Turkish contemporary pianist and composer born in 1970. He studied at the Ankara Conservatory, and then in the cities of Germany - Berlin and Düsseldorf.

It is worth noting, in addition to his piano activity, his composer qualities: in 1987, the pianist's composition "Black Hymns" was performed in honor of the 750th anniversary of the city.

In many of his works, the author and pianist combines the classics with the harmonies of jazz and Turkish folklore. This can be seen in the example of a variation on the theme of "Turkish Rondo" by Mozart, where Fazyl uses jazz elements.

In 2006, the city of Vienna hosted the premiere of his ballet "Patara", written on the basis of Mozart's theme, but already a piano sonata.

Two composers occupy an important place in Say's performing piano repertoire: musical titans Bach and Mozart. At concerts, he alternates classical compositions with his own.

In 2000, he made an unusual experiment, venturing to record Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring for two pianos, performing both parts himself.

In 2013, he came under criminal investigation for statements on a social network related to the topic of Islam. The Istanbul court concluded that the musician's words were directed against the Muslim faith and sentenced Fazil Say to 10 years of probation.

In the same year, the composer filed a motion for a retrial, the verdict of which was confirmed again in September.

Other

It's simply not possible to tell about all modern pianists in one article. Therefore, we will list those whose names are significant in the world of classical music today:

• Daniel Barenboim from Israel;
• Yundi Li from China;
• Grigory Sokolov from Russia;
• Murray Perahia from the United States of America;
• Mitsuko Uchida from Japan;
• Nikolai Lugansky from Russia and many other artists.