Igor Levit (russian: link=no, Игорь Левит; born 10 March 1987) is a Russian-German pianist who focuses on the works of
Bach,
Beethoven, and
Liszt. He is also a professor at the
Musikhochschule Hannover
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...
. He lives in Berlin.
Biography
Born in Gorky (now
Nizhny Novgorod) to a Jewish family, Levit began playing piano at the age of three. He received piano lessons from his mother Elena Levit, a piano teacher,
répétiteur and
grand-disciple Grand-disciple or academic grandson (or granddaughter) (german: Enkelschüler) are terms sometimes used in academic contexts or contexts relating to fine arts, and denote someone whose mentor or teacher was himself (or herself) a student of a famou ...
of
Heinrich Neuhaus. As a child, he had his first successes on the concert stage in his hometown. His family moved to
Hannover in 1995. From 1999 to 2000, he studied at the
Mozarteum in Salzburg with
Hans Leygraf and, from 2000 to 2010, at the
Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover
Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (german: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, italics=unset, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating ...
with
Karl-Heinz Kämmerling
Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (6 May 1930 – 14 June 2012) was a notable German academic teacher of classical pianists, who trained pianists at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover for careers as performe ...
,
Matti Raekallio Matti Juhani Raekallio (born 14 October 1954 in Helsinki) is a Finnish pianist.
He has performed in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, having debuted at the Carnegie Recital Hall in 1980. A professor at the Swedish Royal College of Music (1994–1995), H ...
and .
Levit has appeared in major concert halls and music festivals around the world. During his studies, he won prizes in several international competitions including second prize at the International Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens (2004), first prize at the 9th Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition in
Hamamatsu (2004), the second prize at the piano competition
Kissinger Klavierolymp (2004), the silver medal and three other awards at the
Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in
Tel Aviv (2005). In October 2011, he appeared in a 45-minute documentary aired on
3sat
In logic and computer science, the Boolean satisfiability problem (sometimes called propositional satisfiability problem and abbreviated SATISFIABILITY, SAT or B-SAT) is the problem of determining if there exists an interpretation that satisfie ...
about his love for the music of
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
. He was a
BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2011 to 2013.
Levit was appointed to a professorship at the
Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover
Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (german: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, italics=unset, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating ...
(Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media) starting in the winter semester 2019/2020. In 2021, Levit contributed a cover of the Metallica song "
Nothing Else Matters" to the charity tribute album ''
The Metallica Blacklist''.
Awards
* 2009
Luitpold Prize for young artists at the Festival
Kissinger Sommer in
Bad Kissingen
* 2017
Beethoven Ring
Beethoven Ring is an annual award by the association "Citizens for Beethoven" of the city of Bonn. (Citizens for Beethoven) is Bonn’s largest cultural association. Its purpose is to promote Beethoven’s music and preserve his memory in the ci ...
* 2018
Gilmore Artist Award
* 1 October 2020
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
''Hauskonzerte''
During the
Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, Levit began streaming concerts from his home in Berlin
Mitte
Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding.
It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...
.
He posted these to Twitter as a series of ''Hauskonzerte'':
* 12 March 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ('Waldstein')
* 13 March 2020: Frederic Rzewski's
The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'' (1975) is a piano composition by American composer Frederic Rzewski. ''The People United'' is a set of 36 variations on the Chilean song " ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!" by Sergio Ortega and ...
* 14 March 2020: Bach's
Chaconne in a transcription for left hand by Brahms
* 15 March 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ('Appassionata')
* 17 March 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia" ('Moonlight')
* 18 March 2020: Schubert's "
Six moments musicaux"
* 19 March 2020: Schubert's
Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960
* 20 March 2020: Schubert's
Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959
* 21 March 2020: Schumann's
Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
* 22 March 2020: Shostakovich's
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61
* 23 March 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110
* 24 March 2020: Arrangements of Bach's ''
Nun komm' der heiden Heiland'', BWV 659, and ''
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ'', BWV 639; and Busoni's
Berceuse, BV 252, and ''
Fantasia nach Johann Sebastian Bach'', BV 253
* 25 March 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31/2 ('Tempest')
* 28 March 2020: Mozart's
Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-flat major, K. 570
* 29 March 2020: Transcriptions of Mahler's ''
Adagietto'', Billy Joel's "
And So It Goes", Frederic Rzewski's "
A Mensch", and Frederic Weatherly's "
Danny Boy
"Danny Boy" is a ballad, written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly in 1913, and set to the traditional Irish melody of "Londonderry Air".
History
In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly initial ...
"
* 30 March 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, Op. 31/3
* 31 March 2020: Liszt's
Sonetto 123 del Petrarca in A-flat major; Brahms'
Intermezzo in A major Op. 118/2; and Liszt's transcription of Wagner's
"Isoldens Liebestod"
* 1 April 2020: Schubert's
Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major and
Allegretto in C minor, D. 915; Brahms'
Ballade in B major, Op. 10/4
* 2 April 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ('Waldstein'), streamed from the
Schloss Bellevue concert room
* 3 April 2020: Two of Mendelssohn's "
Songs Without Words";
Jobim's "Luiza"; Schumann's ""; and
Janis Ian's "Stars"
* 4 April 2020: Solovyov-Sedoi & Matusovsky's "
Moscow Nights"; Gershwin's "
Rhapsody in Blue"
* 5 April 2020: Tchaikovsky's "
The Seasons" (except "September")
* 6 April 2020: Tchaikovsky's "September" (from "
The Seasons"); Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ('Pathétique')
* 7 April 2020: Satie's
Gnossienne
The ''Gnossiennes'' () are several piano compositions by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century. The works are for the most part in free time (lacking time signatures or bar divisions) and highly experimental with form, rhythm a ...
No. 3 and
Gymnopédie No. 1; Fred Hersch's "
Valentine
A valentine is a card or gift given on Valentine's Day, or one's sweetheart.
Valentine or Valentines may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Valentine (name), a given name and a surname, including a list of people and fictional char ...
"; and Beethoven's "
Rondo alla ingharese quasi un capriccio" in G major, Op. 129 ('Rage Over a Lost Penny')
* 8 April 2020: Shostakovich's
24 Preludes Op. 34
* 9 April 2020: Three of Scott Joplin's
Rags; Bolcom's "
Graceful Ghost Rag"; Schubert's "
Hungarian Melody"; and Curran's "
For Cornelius"
* 10 April 2020: Dessau's "
Guernica"; Rzewski's "
Which Side Are You On?"; and Cardew's
Thälmann Variations
* 11 April 2020: Liszt's "
Il penseroso" in C-sharp minor and
Dante Sonata in D minor
* 12 April 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
* 13 April 2020: Beethoven's
Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
* 14 April 2020: Beethoven's
6 Variations in F major, Op. 34; and
Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2
* 15 April 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a ('les Adieux')
* 17 April 2020: Mussorgsky's "
Pictures at an Exhibition
''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite (music), suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's ...
"
* 18 April 2020: Schumann's ''
Arabeske'' in C major, Op. 18; transcription of Mahler's ''Adagio'' from
Symphony No. 10
* 19 April 2020: Bach's "Contrapunctus I" from ''
The Art of Fugue''; Busoni's ''
Fantasia contrappuntistica''
* 20 April 2020: Stevenson's
Passacaglia on DSCH
The ''Passacaglia on DSCH'' is a large-scale composition for solo piano by the British composer Ronald Stevenson. It was composed between 24 December 1960 and 18 May 1962, except for two sections added on the day of the first performance on 10 Dec ...
* 21 April 2020: Alkan's
Prelude No. 8 in A-flat minor, Op. 31 ('The Song of the Madwoman on the Seashore'); Hindemith's "
Suite 1922"
* 22 April 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ('Appassionata')
* 23 April 2020: Liszt's "
Feierlicher Marsch zum heiligen Gral aus Parsifal", S. 450; Prokofiev's
Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83
* 24 April 2020: Liszt's "
O du mein holder Abendstern", S. 444; Prokofiev's
Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor, Op. 29
* 25 April 2020: Liszt's paraphrase of "
Valhalla" (from Wagner's ''
Das Rheingold''); Prokofiev's
Piano Sonata No. 9 in C major, Op. 103
* 26 April 2020: Schumann's
Theme and Variations
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.
Variation techniques
Mozart's Twelve ...
in E-flat major for piano ('Geistervariationen'); Feldman's "
Palais de Mari"
* 27 April 2020: Reger's "
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by J.S. Bach", Op. 81
* 28 April 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2
* 29 April 2020: Three of Mendelssohn's
Songs Without Words; Debussy's ''
Six épigraphes antiques
''Six épigraphes antiques'', L. 131, CD. 139, is a suite of six pieces by Claude Debussy, originally written for piano duo. Completed in July 1914, the suite was Debussy's only completed composition that year. In 1915 Debussy transcribed them fo ...
''; Second movement of Schubert's
Piano Sonata in A major, D. 664
* 30 April 2020: Beethoven's
Ländler; Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109; Chopin's
Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
* 2 May 2020: Bach's
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
* 3 May 2020: Six of Brahms'
Choral Preludes, Op. 122 (transcribed by
Busoni)
* 4 May 2020: Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 31/1; Beethoven's
Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90
* 24 May 2020: Ten of Bach's
Chorale Preludes
In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for pipe organ, organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque music, Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works o ...
(transcribed by
Busoni (BV B 27))
Separately from these concerts, on 30/31 May 2020 Levit gave a solo performance of ''
Vexations'' by Erik Satie, from a studio in Berlin, over a period of over 15 hours.
Discography
In 2007, when he was 20 years old, Levit released his debut album, a set of Beethoven's piano concertos, with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, conducted by
Helmut Müller-Brühl on
Naxos records
Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...
. In 2013, he released a two-disc set of
Ludwig van Beethoven's late piano sonatas (Nos. 28 to 32), on
Sony Classical Records. His second Sony album, a recording of
Johann Sebastian Bach's six
keyboard partitas, was named
Gramophone Magazine's recording of the month for October 2014. His third Sony album, a 3-CD set of Bach's
Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's
Diabelli Variations, and
The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'' (1975) is a piano composition by American composer Frederic Rzewski. ''The People United'' is a set of 36 variations on the Chilean song " ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!" by Sergio Ortega and ...
by
Frederic Rzewski, was released in October 2015. His fourth album was a 2-CD set released in 2018 entitled ''Life'', including works by Busoni, Bach, Schumann, Rzewski, Wagner, Liszt, and Bill Evans. It was Levit's response to the death of his best friend, German artist , who died in a bicycle accident in 2016.
His recordings of the complete
Beethoven piano sonatas were released by
Sony Classical on 13 September 2019. Levit was named Gramophone's 2020 Artist of the Year. His recording ''On DSCH'', pairing
Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues Op.87 with
Ronald Stevenson's epic ''Passacaglia on DSCH'', was issued by Sony in 2021.
*
*
*
*
Albums
Writings
*
*
Film
*
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levit, Igor
1987 births
Living people
Russian classical pianists
Male classical pianists
German classical pianists
Jewish classical pianists
German people of Russian-Jewish descent
20th-century Russian Jews
21st-century classical pianists
Musicians from Nizhny Novgorod
Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover alumni
Russian expatriates in Germany
Mozarteum University Salzburg alumni
BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists
21st-century Russian male musicians
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Musicians from Hanover