Piotr Anderszewski () (born 1969) is a Polish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

and composer.

Biographical background

Anderszewski was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

, Poland. His father's family was part of Poland's aristocracy while his mother came from a Jewish Hungarian family. He studied piano at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw (renamed

Fryderyk Chopin University of Music The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.

in 2008) and conservatories in Strasbourg (with Hélène Boschi) and

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

. At age eighteen, he spent a year in the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

on a scholarship. Later in his twenties, he also studied with

Murray Perahia Murray David Perahia () (born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. Kn ...

Fou Ts'ong Fou Ts'ong (; 10 March 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Chinese-born British pianist who was the first pianist of his national origin to achieve international recognition. He came to prominence after winning third prize and the Polish Radio Prize ...

and

Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most ref ...

Career

Anderszewski first came to public attention at the

Leeds Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess ...

in 1990, when he walked off stage in the semi-finals because he felt he had not been playing well enough; the piece was the Variations op. 27 of

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and ste ...

). He made his London debut six months later at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

. He has given recitals at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, Carnegie Hall,

Suntory Hall The is a concert venue in the central Akasaka district of Tokyo, Japan. Part of the Ark Hills complex, it consists of a main concert hall, widely considered one of the finest in the world for its acoustics — indeed Herbert von Karajan called i ...

, the

Herkulessaal The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and disp ...

in Munich, the

Konzerthaus, Vienna The Konzerthaus is a concert hall located in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and ...

, the

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls ...

, the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the Mariinsky Concert Hall in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand A ...

in Los Angeles. Orchestras with whom Anderszewski has performed include the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

, the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscripti ...

, the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, ...

, 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 ...

and the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

. In addition, Anderszewski has established a significant reputation for directing from the keyboard and has collaborated with chamber orchestras including the

Sinfonia Varsovia The Sinfonia Varsovia is an orchestra and a musical institution based in Warsaw, Poland. It was founded in 1984 by Yehudi Menuhin, Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek Wybrańczyk, as a successor to the Polish Chamber Orchestra. Since 2003 the or ...

, the

Mahler Chamber Orchestra The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a professional touring chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado and former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1997. The MCO appears throughout the year in about 60–70 concerts and performances. It ...

, the Camerata Salzburg, the

Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (''unofficial English translation'': Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic) is a chamber orchestra based in Bremen (Germany), with place of residence in the historical building Stadtwaage. History A group of ...

in Bremen and the

Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and ...

. Anderszewski's chamber collaborations so far have been primarily with violinists - as well as his sister Dorota Anderszewska (currently leader of the Orchestre national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon), he has performed with

Viktoria Mullova Viktoria Yurievna Mullova ( rus, Виктория Юрьевна Муллова, , vʲɪˈktorʲɪɪ̯ə ˈmuɫəvə; born 27 November 1959) is a Russian-born British violinist. She is best known for her performances and recordings of a number ...

, Augustin Dumay,

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

Frank Peter Zimmermann Frank Peter Zimmermann (born 27 February 1965) is a German violinist. Childhood He was born in Duisburg, West Germany, and started playing the violin when he was five years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10. Since he ...

and Henning Kraggerud. He also appears regularly with the

Belcea Quartet The Belcea Quartet is a string quartet, formed in 1994, under the leadership of violinist Corina Belcea. History The quartet was formed while its members were studying at the Royal College of Music in London. Whilst there, they were coached by th ...

. Anderszewski made a number of recordings for

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''h ...

Accord Accord may refer to: Businesses and products * Honda Accord, a car manufactured by the Honda Motor Company * Accord (cigarette), a brand of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges * Accord (company), a former public services provider in south England * Accord H ...

and

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

before signing exclusively to Virgin Classics in 2000. His first disc on the Virgin label was Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, which received a number of prizes including a Choc du Monde de la Musique and an

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. Th ...

award. His discography also includes a Grammy-nominated CD of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Partita Partita (also ''partie'', ''partia'', ''parthia'', or ''parthie'') was originally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau (Thomaskantor until 1722), his student Christoph Graupner, and Johann ...

s 1, 3 and 6 and a disc of works by Chopin. His affinity with the music of his compatriot

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the in ...

is captured in recording of the composer's solo piano works, which received the Classic FM

Gramophone Award The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

in 2006 for best instrumental disc. On 12 April 2012 he received the ''

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. History The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC was the original owner and publisher toge ...

'' Recording of the Year Award at a ceremony in London, for his Virgin Classics CD of music of

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

. Anderszewski has collaborated on a number of occasions with the filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon. The first of these collaborations, ''Piotr Anderszewski plays the Diabelli Variations'' (2001) explores Anderszewski's particular relationship with

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 classic ...

's opus 120, whilst the second, ''Piotr Anderszewski, Unquiet Traveller'' (2008) is an unconventional artist portrait, capturing Anderszewski's reflections on music, performance and his Polish-Hungarian roots. A third film by Monsaingeon, ''Anderszewski Plays Schumann'' was completed in 2010. There have also been two filmed recordings of Anderszewski's concert appearances, featuring Mozart piano concertos and a recital given at Warsaw's Philharmonic Hall in 2007. Anderszewski has received a number of awards throughout his career, including the Gilmore Artist Award (2002), given every four years to a pianist of exceptional talent. He has also been a recipient of the Szymanowski Prize (1999) and the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a mem ...

's Best Instrumentalist award (2001).
Anderszewski has championed the work of his compatriot Szymanowski through numerous performances and has directed festivals dedicated to his music at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris (2005), Carnegie Hall, New York (2010), the Wigmore Hall in London (2005 and 2010) and the Philharmonic Hall in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

(2010).

Discography

*Leoš Janáček: Sonata for violin and piano. Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata No 1 in F minor, Op 80 for violin and piano. Claude Debussy: Sonata for violin and piano.

- violin. Recorded 1994. ''Philips 446 091''. Reissued ''Philips 457 7460'' (2006) *Johannes Brahms: Sonata No 1 in G, Op 78 for violin and piano. Sonata No 2 in A, Op 100 for violin and piano. Sonata No 3 in D minor, Op 108 for violin and piano.

- violin. Recorded 1995. ''Philips 446 709-2''. Reissued ''Philips 475 7454'' (2006) *Johann Sebastian Bach: English Suite No 6 in D minor, BWV811. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No 31 in A flat major, Op 110. Anton Webern: Variations, Op 27. Recorded 1996. ''Accord ACD 025''. Reissued ''Virgin Classics 7243 5 45632 2 5'' (2004) *Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata in G major, Op 30 for violin and piano. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in E minor, K304 for violin and piano. Franz Schubert: Sonata in A major D574, Op. post. 162 for violin and piano Dorota Anderszewska - violin. Recorded 1998. ''Accord ACD 044''. *Johann Sebastian Bach: French Suite No 5 in G major, BWV 816. Overture in the French style in B minor, BWV 831. Recorded 1998. ''Harmonia Mundi HMN 911679'' *Ludwig van Beethoven: 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op 120. Recorded 2000. ''Virgin Classics VC 454682'' *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No 21 in C major, K467. Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor, K491. with the Sinfonia Varsovia. Recorded 2001. ''Virgin Classics VC 5455042'' *Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No 1 in B flat major, BWV 825. Partita No 3 in A minor, BWV 827. Partita No 6 in E minor, BWV 830. Recorded 2001. ''Virgin Classics 7243 5 45526 2 5'' *Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No 3 in A flat, Op 47. Ballade No 4 in F minor, Op 52. Mazurka in A minor, Op 59 No 1. Mazurka in A flat, Op 59 No 2. Mazurka in F minor, Op 59 No 3. Mazurka in B major, Op 63 No 1. Mazurka in F minor, Op 63 No 2. Mazurka in C sharp minor, Op 63 No 3. Mazurka in F minor, Op 68 No 4. Polonaise No 5 in F sharp minor, Op 44. Polonaise No 6 in A flat, Op 53 'Heroic'. Recorded 2003. ''Virgin Classics 7243 5 45620 2 0'' *Karol Szymanowski: Métopes, Op 29. Masques, Op 34. Piano Sonata No 3, Op 36. Recorded 2004. ''Virgin Classics 7243 5 45730 2 6'' *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No 17 in G major, K453. Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor, K466. with the

. Recorded 2005. ''Virgin Classics 0946 344696 2 3'' *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata No 16 in C, K545, arr Grieg. with

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; Eastern Catalan: �ɾʒəˈɾik born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and education Argerich was born in Buenos Ai ...

- piano. Recorded live at the Lugano Festival 2005. ''EMI 0946 3 58472 2 2'' *Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op 15, with Die

Bremen. Six Bagatelles, Op 126. Recorded 2007. ''Virgin Classics 50999 5 02111 2 8'' *Piotr Anderszewski at Carnegie Hall: J S Bach: Partita No 2 in C minor, BWV 826, Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien, op 26, Janáček: In the Mists (V mlhach) (1912), Beethoven: Sonata No 31 in A flat major, op 110. Bartók: Three Songs from the Csík District, Sz 35a/BB 45b (1907). Recorded 2008. ''Virgin Classics 2 CDs ICPN: 5099926729121'' *Robert Schumann: Humoreske Op. 20, Studien für den Pedalflügel Op.56, Gesänge der Frühe Op. 133. Recorded 2009 & 2010. ''Virgin Classics Digipack 1 CD 5099994862522'' *Johann Sebastian Bach: English Suites Nos 1, 3 and 5. Recorded 2014. ''Warner Classics CD: 0825646219391; Download: 0825646219377; Mastered for iTunes: 0825646219353''

References

External links

*
Piotr Anderszewski recordings on Virgin Classics

Piotr Anderszewski
at

IMG Artists IMG Artists LLC is a performing arts management corporation. History In 1979 Charles Hamlen and Edna Landau co-founded Hamlen/Landau, a New York-based musical artist management agency. In 1984 it was acquired by International Management Group an ...

2000 Diabelli Variations documentary

2008 Unquiet Traveller (sic) documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderszewski, Piotr 1969 births Living people Polish classical pianists Hungarian classical pianists Male classical pianists Polish people of Hungarian descent Hungarian people of Polish descent Musicians from Warsaw Virgin Classics artists USC Thornton School of Music alumni 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century Hungarian male musicians Polish Jews