Rudolf Buchbinder (born 1 December 1946,

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; german: Leitmeritz) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat ...

, Czechoslovakia) is an Austrian classical pianist.

Biography

Buchbinder studied with

Bruno Seidlhofer Bruno Georg Seidlhofer (5 September 1905 – 19 February 1982) was an Austrian pianist, organist, academic teacher and piano teacher at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Life Born in Vienna, Seidlhofer taught piano at the Aca ...

at the

Vienna Academy of Music en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1965, he made a tour of North and South Americas. In 1966 he won a special prize awarded at the

Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the co ...

. Subsequently he has toured with the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

and appeared as soloist around the world. He has also taught piano at the Basel Academy of Music. For the

Teldec Teldec (Telefunken-Decca Schallplatten GmbH) is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group. History Teldec was a producer of (first) shellac and (later) vinyl records. The Teldec manufacturing ...

label he has recorded the complete keyboard music of

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, all Mozart's major works for piano, all the

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

piano sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement ( Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with t ...

s and variations, and both

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

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 ...

s with

Harnoncourt Harnoncourt-Unverzagt is the name of an old Austrian noble family, which came to Austria from the Duchy of Lorraine, but originated from Luxembourg. History Counts d'Harnoncourt intermarried with Unverzagt family in the 18th century when Joseph ...

and the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklĳk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "R ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. With

János Starker János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is consider ...

, he recorded memorable performances of works for cello and piano by Beethoven and Brahms. He has twice recorded the Beethoven Piano Concertos conducting from the keyboard, first with the

Vienna Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Thea ...

for the Preiser label in 2007, and then with the

for the Sony label in 2011; this cycle was recorded live in concert and released on both CD and DVD. He is one of the few pianists to have ever recorded the entire Part II of ''

Vaterländischer Künstlerverein ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or anthology, incorporating 83 variations for piano on a theme by Anton Diabelli, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in t ...

'', which consists of 50 variations by 50 different composers on a waltz by

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

. He has also recorded Beethoven's ''

Diabelli Variations The ''33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli'', Op. 120, commonly known as the ''Diabelli Variations'', is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli. It for ...

'', which originally comprised Part I of that anthology. He is a life-long interpreter of Mozart's piano concertos and sonatas, displaying a mastery and sensitivity of these great works, conducting usually from the keyboard. Indeed Mozart's music is at the heart of his repertoire. Since 2007, Buchbinder has been the artistic director of the Grafenegg Festival. In 2009, Buchbinder was featured in the award-winning German-Austrian documentary ''

Pianomania ''Pianomania'' is a 2009 German-Austrian documentary film by directors Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis. The film presents Stefan Knüpfer, a virtuoso piano tuner from the piano company Steinway & Sons, in his work with pianists such as Lang Lang, A ...

'', about a

Steinway & Sons Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to ...

piano tuner, which was directed by

Lilian Franck Lilian Franck (born March 11, 1971) is a German film director and producer, best known for her 2010 documentary ''Pianomania'', a collaborative work with filmmaker Robert Cibis and winner of the Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary at the ...

and Robert Cibis. The film premiered theatrically in North America, where it was met with positive reviews by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', as well as in Asia and throughout Europe, and is a part of the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

catalogue.

Decorations and awards

* 1961: First Prize at the International Competition in Munich, division "Piano Trio" * 1962: Lipatti Medal * 1966: Special prize awarded at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition * 1970: Mozart Interpretation Prize of the Austrian Minister for Education and the Arts * 1977: Grand Prix du Disque for the entire piano works of Joseph Haydn * 1989:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1992: Honorary Member of the

Vienna Symphony The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikv ...

* 1994: Honorary Member of the Carinthian Summer * 1995:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1996: Great Merit of the Province of Salzburg * 1996: Grand Gold Decoration of Carinthia * 1996: of the

* 1996: Gold Medal for services to the City of Vienna * 1999: Grand Gold Decoration of Lower Austria * 2003: Grand Gold Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria * 2004: Gold Medal of Salzburg * 2007: Gold Medal of the Austrian capital Vienna * 2008: Honorary Member of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna * 2010: Tourism Award of the State of Lower Austria for his work in music tourism in

Grafenegg Grafenegg is a market town (Municipality) in the Krems-Land district of Lower Austria, Austria. History Originally called Etsdorf-Haitzendorf, it changed its name in 2003. Population Sights Grafenegg is renowned for Grafenegg Castle, owned ...

* 2011: Gloria Artis, Medal for Merit to Culture * 2012:

Echo Klassik The Echo Klassik, often stylized as ECHO Klassik, was Germany's major classical music award in 22 categories. The award, presented by the , was held annually, usually in October or September, separate from its parent award, the Echo Music Prize E ...

in German music award as Instrumentalist of the Year (piano) and the album ''Beethoven: The Sonata Legacy'' issued by

RCA Red Seal RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment. History The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

* 2016: Honorary member of the

* 2017: Vienna Mozart Prize

References

Sources

External links

Biography from IMG Artists

Hear Rudolf Buchbinder in concert
fro
WGBH Radio Boston

Piano Genealogy on Pianists Corner

Piano Playlist on Pianists Corner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchbinder, Rudolf 1946 births University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Living people People from Litoměřice Austrian classical pianists Male classical pianists German Bohemian people Deutsche Grammophon artists Austrian people of German Bohemian descent Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Members of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century male musicians