Ralf Georg Nils Gothóni (born 2 May 1946, Rauma) is a Finnish-German pianist and conductor. He is also active as a chamber musician, professor, composer, and author. Born in Rauma,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

he made his orchestra debut at age 15. Besides his worldwide concert career he has made some 100 recordings with major labels. He often performs in a double role conducting from the keyboard. Ralf Gothóni studied the piano from the age of five, first with Tapani Valsta and later with

Ervin László Ervin László (; born 12 June 1932) is a Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, originally a classical pianist. He is an advocate of the theory of quantum consciousness. Early life and education László was ...

. Gothóni mentions

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, group= ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet classical pianist. He is frequently regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his int ...

and

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

as models for him. One of the first landmarks in Gothóni's career was the 1977

Schubertiade A Schubertiade (also spelled Schubertiad) is an event held to celebrate the music of Franz Schubert (1797–1828). Modern Schubertiades also include concert series and festivals, such as the Schubertiade Vorarlberg. History During Schubert's lifet ...

in Helsinki: forty Finnish singers performed circa 450

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

. Gothóni has appeared as a

pianist with such singers as

Jorma Hynninen Jorma Kalervo Hynninen (born 3 April 1941) is a Finnish baritone who performs regularly with the world's major opera companies. He has also worked in opera administration. Hynninen was born on 3 April 1941 in Leppävirta, Finland. He studied fro ...

Martti Talvela Martti Olavi Talvela (4 February 1935 – 22 July 1989) was a Finnish operatic bass. Born in Hiitola, Finland (now in the Republic of Karelia), the eighth of ten children

, Arleen Augér,

Edith Mathis Edith Mathis (born 11 February 1938) is a Swiss soprano and a leading exponent of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart worldwide. She is known for parts in Mozart operas, but also took part in premieres of operas such as Henze's ''Der junge Lord' ...

Anne Sofie von Otter Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs. Early life Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was Göran von Otter, a Swe ...

Ileana Cotrubas Ileana (also Illeana, Iliana, Eleana, Eliana) is a female given name. It is the feminine form of the male name Elijah. It has been adapted for Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Italian and Spanish (in Spanish there is also Ilean and in Romanian Il ...

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

, and

Barbara Hendricks Barbara Hendricks (born November 20, 1948) is an American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland in Basel since 1985. She is a citizen of Sweden following her marriage to a Swedish citiz ...

. He appeared in lied concerts until the middle of the 1990s and since that has concentrated on solo and chamber concerts and orchestral conducting. Gothóni was the artistic director of the

Savonlinna Opera Festival Savonlinna Opera Festival ( fi, Savonlinnan oopperajuhlat) is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna (St. Olaf's Castle), built in 1475. The castle is located amid spectacular lake ...

from 1984 to 1987. He created the Forbidden City Music Festival in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 1996 and the "Musical Bridge Egypt–Finland" in 2007. He was professor of chamber music at the

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

1996–2000, the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

1992–2007, the

Hochschule für Musik 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 ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

1986–1996 and 2006–2012 at the Instituto International da Camara, Reina Sofia,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Gothóni has made a significant contribution to the education of young musicians through Savonlinna Music Academy where he has served as artistic director. He was principal conductor of the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationall ...

from 2000 to 2009. Since 2004, he has been the guest conductor of the Deutsche Kammerakademie. In 2008 he was one of the jury members in the Sviatoslav Richter International Piano Competition and in 2012 in the

Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition The Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition (in Spanish: Concurso Internacional de Piano de Santander "Paloma O'Shea") is a piano competition taking place in Santander, Spain. Founded in 1972 by Paloma O'Shea as a national prize, i ...

. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Gothóni was music director of the Northwest Chamber Orchestra (

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

) from 2002 until 2006. His initial appearance with the orchestra in 2001 was highly acclaimed and led to his appointment in Seattle. In 2006 he resigned in the context of financial pressures on the orchestra. The orchestra was later dissolved. Gothóni's awards include the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Pro Finlandia The Order of the Lion of Finland ( fi, Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Lejons orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President o ...

in 1990 and the

Gilmore Artist Award The Gilmore Artist Award is awarded every four years to a concert pianist. The award was established in 1989 by The Gilmore of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Selection criteria In contrast with other music awards, nominees are not aware that they are unde ...

in 1994. In 2012 he received the

Queen Sofía College of Music Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

award from Her Majesty Queen of Spain. He has recorded for various labels, including BIS,

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Cpo CPO may refer to: Occupations * Certified Professional Organizer * Certified Protection Officer, a professional certification for security officers from the International Foundation for Protection Officers * Chief people officer, a corporate of ...

and Ondine, such works as

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

' '' Choros XI'', and the first and second piano concertos of

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a List of compositions by Einojuhani Rautavaara, gre ...

. His writings include ''Luova hetki'' (''The Creative Moment'', 1998), "Pyöriikö kuu" ("Does the moon rotate", 2001), "Flyygelin kanssa" ("With the grand piano", 2004) and "Hämähäkki" ("The Spider", 2014). His compositions include three chamber operas, chamber concerto for viola and chamber ensemble ("Peregrina"), concerto for piano 4-hands and the cantata ''The Ox and its Shepherd''. Gothóni is married to the violist Suzan Saber.

References

External links

Website of Ralf Gothóni

June 30, 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gothoni, Ralf Finnish pianists German pianists Finnish music educators German music educators Finnish classical pianists German male conductors (music) Finnish conductors (music) 1946 births Living people People from Rauma, Finland 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century German male musicians