Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label piano. Show all posts
Valentin Gheorghiu
Valentin Gheorghiu (born March 21st, 1928) is a great Romanian classical pianist and composer.
Gheorghiu was born in Galaţi, Romania in 1928, where he started studying piano when he was very young. He studied first at the Royal Musical Academy in Bucharest, as a disciple of Mihai Jora (theory-solfeggio, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, composition), Constanţa Erbiceanu (piano), Mihail Andricu (chamber music) and Constantin Băloiu (history of music), then, between 1937-1939, the talented and successful young man was encouraged and supported to go to the High National Music Conservatory in Paris, where he studied under the following teachers: Lazare Levy (piano), Marcelle Mayer (theory and solfeggio) and Noël Gallon (harmony).
His career began brilliantly at the age of 15, under the baton of George Georgescu and gradually evolved towards complete fame. In 1950 Gheorghiu became soloist of the George Enescu Philharmonic. He made successful tours in all European music capitals, in the Middle East, USA and Canada, being recognized worldwide as a prestigious musician and recital performer. Valentin Gheoghiu is a perfect partner in several chamber groups, among which one of the most famous was the Bucharest Trio, where performed along with his brother, the violinist Ştefan Gheorghiu and the cellist, Radu Aldulescu). Gheorghiu has cooperated with maestros as Antal Dorati, Kurt Masur, Sergiu Commissiona, George Prêtre, Kiril Kondraschin and joined orchestras as the Dresdner Staatskapelle, the Suisse Romande Orchestra, the Bayerisches Rundfunk, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore, Leningrad, Montreal, Tokyo, and Moscow etc. As a solo player he took part to important festivals such as those of Salzburg, Prague, Dubrovnik, Bucharest and he played a recital for the UN members in New York. Gheorghiu has done many records for His Master’s Voice, Deutsche Grammophon, Pathé Marconi, RCA, Supraphon, Electrecord and Eterna. He was a member of the jury in all the most famous international piano competitions among which we can mention the Leeds, the Van Cliburn, the Tchaikovsky, the Margherite Long, the Santander, the Chopin in Warsaw, the Beethoven in Vienna, the Busoni.
As an exemplary pianist, won important prizes, including the First Enescu Mention in 1946 for the Piano Sonata; as a composer, won the “George Enescu” prize of the Romanian Academy for his Piano Concerto. Recently, Gheorghiu has been awarded the honorary degree by the National Academy of Music of Bucharest.
Modest, much too modest, Valentin Gheorghiu is a man of perfect moral conduct: "he remains in his place", he does not enjoy being in the light spot, he rather leaves this to his younger colleagues, as he is too shy to assert himself. Knowing his value, let us proclaim him as a first class and authentic musician: for over half a century, the complex musician, pianist and composer, Valentin Gheorghiu, has honestly and impressively represented the Romanian spirit.
Gheorghiu was born in Galaţi, Romania in 1928, where he started studying piano when he was very young. He studied first at the Royal Musical Academy in Bucharest, as a disciple of Mihai Jora (theory-solfeggio, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, composition), Constanţa Erbiceanu (piano), Mihail Andricu (chamber music) and Constantin Băloiu (history of music), then, between 1937-1939, the talented and successful young man was encouraged and supported to go to the High National Music Conservatory in Paris, where he studied under the following teachers: Lazare Levy (piano), Marcelle Mayer (theory and solfeggio) and Noël Gallon (harmony).
His career began brilliantly at the age of 15, under the baton of George Georgescu and gradually evolved towards complete fame. In 1950 Gheorghiu became soloist of the George Enescu Philharmonic. He made successful tours in all European music capitals, in the Middle East, USA and Canada, being recognized worldwide as a prestigious musician and recital performer. Valentin Gheoghiu is a perfect partner in several chamber groups, among which one of the most famous was the Bucharest Trio, where performed along with his brother, the violinist Ştefan Gheorghiu and the cellist, Radu Aldulescu). Gheorghiu has cooperated with maestros as Antal Dorati, Kurt Masur, Sergiu Commissiona, George Prêtre, Kiril Kondraschin and joined orchestras as the Dresdner Staatskapelle, the Suisse Romande Orchestra, the Bayerisches Rundfunk, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore, Leningrad, Montreal, Tokyo, and Moscow etc. As a solo player he took part to important festivals such as those of Salzburg, Prague, Dubrovnik, Bucharest and he played a recital for the UN members in New York. Gheorghiu has done many records for His Master’s Voice, Deutsche Grammophon, Pathé Marconi, RCA, Supraphon, Electrecord and Eterna. He was a member of the jury in all the most famous international piano competitions among which we can mention the Leeds, the Van Cliburn, the Tchaikovsky, the Margherite Long, the Santander, the Chopin in Warsaw, the Beethoven in Vienna, the Busoni.
As an exemplary pianist, won important prizes, including the First Enescu Mention in 1946 for the Piano Sonata; as a composer, won the “George Enescu” prize of the Romanian Academy for his Piano Concerto. Recently, Gheorghiu has been awarded the honorary degree by the National Academy of Music of Bucharest.
Modest, much too modest, Valentin Gheorghiu is a man of perfect moral conduct: "he remains in his place", he does not enjoy being in the light spot, he rather leaves this to his younger colleagues, as he is too shy to assert himself. Knowing his value, let us proclaim him as a first class and authentic musician: for over half a century, the complex musician, pianist and composer, Valentin Gheorghiu, has honestly and impressively represented the Romanian spirit.
Dan Grigore
Dan Grigore (born August 6th, 1943) is a great Romanian classical pianist and composer.
Dan Grigore was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1943. He was first a pupil of Mihail Jora and then of Florica Musicescu, who had both been teachers to Dinu Lipatti. He also studied in Saint Petersburg with Tatiana Kravcenko and in Vienna with Richard Hauser. He made his debut playing Enescu's Burlesque, Choral and Carillon Nocturne in first world audition and ever since the artist has been constantly including Enescu's music in his programs, all over the world.
Grigore is winner of the George Enescu National Music Competition (1960), laureate of George Enescu International Music Competition (1961, 1967) and Montreal International Piano Contest (1968). After 1966 his reputation is spread due to enthusiastic articles written by Cella Delavrancea. Together with Valentin Gheorghiu, Dan Grigore is one of the leading Romanian pianists of the second half of the twentieth century.
Dan Grigore was professor at the Music University in Bucharest between 1967-1979 and 1990-2001 - this time at the student's request. His activity for promoting young musicians is well-known and many of his former students have now successful international careers. He has given master-classes and held conferences in Great Britain, Japan, Italy, he is a member of international juries and frequently invited to prestigious international festivals. His career in Romania and abroad was severely restricted because of his steady opposition to the Ceauşescu regime. However, his reputation continued growing and he had many prestigious invitations being enthusiastically received by the audience. He has a growing discography and also a rich, steady publishing activity - essays, chronicles, interviews in cultural journals as well as Radio and TV talk- shows. He has an extremely wide repertoire, covering the whole range of styles and two constants in his entire artistic life are well-known: the high exigence towards himself and the careful choosing of the invitations to perform that he accepts. Surrounded by a mysterious aura, abandoning himself completely when he plays, he has been praised as belonging to the highest elite of pianists.
In February 1999 he was decorated by the French Government with the Order "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" and in 2000, by the Romanian State, with The Great Cross of the Order "Devoted Service". Since July 2000, the Romanian Government has appointed him as a member of the National Council of the Audiovisual.
Dan Grigore was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1943. He was first a pupil of Mihail Jora and then of Florica Musicescu, who had both been teachers to Dinu Lipatti. He also studied in Saint Petersburg with Tatiana Kravcenko and in Vienna with Richard Hauser. He made his debut playing Enescu's Burlesque, Choral and Carillon Nocturne in first world audition and ever since the artist has been constantly including Enescu's music in his programs, all over the world.
Grigore is winner of the George Enescu National Music Competition (1960), laureate of George Enescu International Music Competition (1961, 1967) and Montreal International Piano Contest (1968). After 1966 his reputation is spread due to enthusiastic articles written by Cella Delavrancea. Together with Valentin Gheorghiu, Dan Grigore is one of the leading Romanian pianists of the second half of the twentieth century.
Dan Grigore was professor at the Music University in Bucharest between 1967-1979 and 1990-2001 - this time at the student's request. His activity for promoting young musicians is well-known and many of his former students have now successful international careers. He has given master-classes and held conferences in Great Britain, Japan, Italy, he is a member of international juries and frequently invited to prestigious international festivals. His career in Romania and abroad was severely restricted because of his steady opposition to the Ceauşescu regime. However, his reputation continued growing and he had many prestigious invitations being enthusiastically received by the audience. He has a growing discography and also a rich, steady publishing activity - essays, chronicles, interviews in cultural journals as well as Radio and TV talk- shows. He has an extremely wide repertoire, covering the whole range of styles and two constants in his entire artistic life are well-known: the high exigence towards himself and the careful choosing of the invitations to perform that he accepts. Surrounded by a mysterious aura, abandoning himself completely when he plays, he has been praised as belonging to the highest elite of pianists.
In February 1999 he was decorated by the French Government with the Order "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" and in 2000, by the Romanian State, with The Great Cross of the Order "Devoted Service". Since July 2000, the Romanian Government has appointed him as a member of the National Council of the Audiovisual.
Clara Haskil
Clara Haskil (January 7, 1895, Bucharest - December 7, 1960, Brussels), Romanian classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. Haskil was particularly noted for her performances and recordings of Mozart. Many considered her the foremost interpreter of Mozart in her time. She was also noted as a superb interpreter of Beethoven, Schumann, and Scarlatti.
Clara Haskil was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Bucharest, and began her career as a child prodigy. She entered at the Bucharest Conservatory when she was 6. At age 7 she was sent to Vienna and profited from the tutelage of Richard Robert (whose memorable pupils included Rudolf Serkin and George Szell) and briefly with Ferruccio Busoni. She was only 10 when she made her public debut there. At 10 she was sent to Paris to continue her training with Morpain, and, at 12, entered the Paris Conservatoire, officially to study at Alfred Cortot's class, although most of her tuition came from Lazare Lévy and Mme Giraud-Letarse. In 1909 she took the 1st prize at the Concours de l'Union Française de la Jeunesse of Paris, and also 2nd Prix at the Conservatoire. She graduated in 1910, age 15, with the Prémier Prix at the Conservatoire. She also graduated with a Premier Prix in violin.
Upon graduating, Haskil began to tour Europe, though her career was cut short by one of the numerous physical ailments she suffered throughout her life. In 1913 she was fitted with a plaster cast in an attempt to halt the progression of scoliosis. She did recover, making her New York debut in 1924 and her London debut in 1926. Frequent illnesses, combined with extreme stage fright that appeared in 1920, kept her from critical or financial success. Most of her life was spent in abject poverty. With the outbreak of World War II, Clara Haskil was trapped in occupied Paris, but was able to escape to Marseilles. There she survived a surreptitious surgical procedure to remove a tumor from her optic nerve. In 1942 she sought refuge in Switzerland, smuggled to Vevey, where she settled for the rest of her days. In 1949 she became a naturalized Swiss citizen. It was not until after World War II, during a series of concerts in the Netherlands in 1949, that she began to win acclaim.
As a pianist, her playing was marked by a purity of tone and phrasing that may have come from her skill as a violinist. Transparency and sensitive inspiration were other hallmarks of her style. Well regarded as a chamber musician, Haskil collaborated with such famed musicians as George Enescu, Eugène Ysaÿe, Pablo Casals, Isaac Stern and Arthur Grumiaux, with whom she played her last concert. While renowned primarily as a violinist, Grumiaux was also a fine pianist, and he and Haskil would sometimes swap instruments. She played as a soloist under the baton of such conductors as Ansermet, Barbirolli, Beecham, Celibidache, Karajan, Kempe, Klemperer, Kubelík, Markevitch, Münch, Sawallisch, Solti, Stokowski, Szell, among many others.
Haskil died from injuries received through a fall at a Brussels train station. She was to play a concert with Arthur Grumiaux the following day. An esteemed friend of Haskil, Charles Chaplin, described in 1961 her talent by saying "In my lifetime I have met three geniuses; Professor Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Clara Haskil. I am not a trained musician but I can only say that her touch was exquisite, her expression wonderful, and her technique extraordinary". (Internet infos compilation)
Clara Haskil was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Bucharest, and began her career as a child prodigy. She entered at the Bucharest Conservatory when she was 6. At age 7 she was sent to Vienna and profited from the tutelage of Richard Robert (whose memorable pupils included Rudolf Serkin and George Szell) and briefly with Ferruccio Busoni. She was only 10 when she made her public debut there. At 10 she was sent to Paris to continue her training with Morpain, and, at 12, entered the Paris Conservatoire, officially to study at Alfred Cortot's class, although most of her tuition came from Lazare Lévy and Mme Giraud-Letarse. In 1909 she took the 1st prize at the Concours de l'Union Française de la Jeunesse of Paris, and also 2nd Prix at the Conservatoire. She graduated in 1910, age 15, with the Prémier Prix at the Conservatoire. She also graduated with a Premier Prix in violin.
Upon graduating, Haskil began to tour Europe, though her career was cut short by one of the numerous physical ailments she suffered throughout her life. In 1913 she was fitted with a plaster cast in an attempt to halt the progression of scoliosis. She did recover, making her New York debut in 1924 and her London debut in 1926. Frequent illnesses, combined with extreme stage fright that appeared in 1920, kept her from critical or financial success. Most of her life was spent in abject poverty. With the outbreak of World War II, Clara Haskil was trapped in occupied Paris, but was able to escape to Marseilles. There she survived a surreptitious surgical procedure to remove a tumor from her optic nerve. In 1942 she sought refuge in Switzerland, smuggled to Vevey, where she settled for the rest of her days. In 1949 she became a naturalized Swiss citizen. It was not until after World War II, during a series of concerts in the Netherlands in 1949, that she began to win acclaim.
As a pianist, her playing was marked by a purity of tone and phrasing that may have come from her skill as a violinist. Transparency and sensitive inspiration were other hallmarks of her style. Well regarded as a chamber musician, Haskil collaborated with such famed musicians as George Enescu, Eugène Ysaÿe, Pablo Casals, Isaac Stern and Arthur Grumiaux, with whom she played her last concert. While renowned primarily as a violinist, Grumiaux was also a fine pianist, and he and Haskil would sometimes swap instruments. She played as a soloist under the baton of such conductors as Ansermet, Barbirolli, Beecham, Celibidache, Karajan, Kempe, Klemperer, Kubelík, Markevitch, Münch, Sawallisch, Solti, Stokowski, Szell, among many others.
Haskil died from injuries received through a fall at a Brussels train station. She was to play a concert with Arthur Grumiaux the following day. An esteemed friend of Haskil, Charles Chaplin, described in 1961 her talent by saying "In my lifetime I have met three geniuses; Professor Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Clara Haskil. I am not a trained musician but I can only say that her touch was exquisite, her expression wonderful, and her technique extraordinary". (Internet infos compilation)
Dinu Lipatti
Dinu Lipatti (March 19, 1917 – December 2, 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was tragically cut short by his death from Hodgkin's disease at age 33. Despite his short career and a relatively small recorded legacy, Lipatti is considered one of the finest pianists of the 20th century.
Named Constantin by his parents, but always known as Dinu, Lipatti was born into a cultivated and musical family. His father was a violinist who had studied with Pablo de Sarasate and Carl Flesch, whilst his mother was a pianist. Young Dinu’s godfather was George Enescu, a great composer and performer who had a great influence on the life of Lipatti. He was a frail child, and his parents did not send him to school but employed tutors. His first formal piano lessons, at the age of eight, were with Mihail Jora, and at eleven Jora prepared Lipatti for entrance to the Bucharest Conservatory where he studied with Florica Musicescu. Lipatti subsequently studied under Alfred Cortot, Nadia Boulanger, Paul Dukas (composition) and Charles Munch (conducting) in Paris.
Dinu Lipatti returned to Romania in 1939. His career was interrupted by World War II, although he continued to give concerts throughout Europe, including Nazi-occupied territories. He only fled the country in 1943, via Scandinavia, to Switzerland, where at the Geneva Conservatoire he held the highest piano professorship from 1944 to 1949. He concertized widely in Europe, including Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium and Holland, and his fame and popularity grew rapidly. He was also much sought after as a teacher for his masterclasses. In addition to his pianistic accomplishments, Dinu Lipatti was a composer, who wrote in a neoclassical style with French and Romanian influences.
In the last six years of his life, Dinu Lipatti was diagnosed with leukaemia. Yet his drive did not diminish and his playing never suffered. There were even plans for a concert tour in America, but relapses caused it to be cancelled. In his last year, his illness was kept at bay temporarily with a new drug, cortisone - the cost of which devoted friends like Yehudi Menuhin, Charles Munch and Stravinsky contributed no small amounts. It was during this remission that Lipatti, much against the advice of his doctors, decided to honour his concert engagement and played his final recital at Besançon on September 16, 1950. Unfortunately, the leukaemia returned; Lipatti finally succumbed and died a painful death in Geneva on December 2, 1950, at the tragically young age of 33. He is buried at the cemetery of Chêne-Bourg, an outskirt of Geneva close to the border with France, next to his wife Madeleine, a noted piano teacher.
Dinu Lipatti's playing was hailed as having reached the highest degrees in integrity and pianistic technique - which he employed in the quest for musical perfection. He was posthumously made a member of the Romanian Academy (in 1997).
Named Constantin by his parents, but always known as Dinu, Lipatti was born into a cultivated and musical family. His father was a violinist who had studied with Pablo de Sarasate and Carl Flesch, whilst his mother was a pianist. Young Dinu’s godfather was George Enescu, a great composer and performer who had a great influence on the life of Lipatti. He was a frail child, and his parents did not send him to school but employed tutors. His first formal piano lessons, at the age of eight, were with Mihail Jora, and at eleven Jora prepared Lipatti for entrance to the Bucharest Conservatory where he studied with Florica Musicescu. Lipatti subsequently studied under Alfred Cortot, Nadia Boulanger, Paul Dukas (composition) and Charles Munch (conducting) in Paris.
Dinu Lipatti returned to Romania in 1939. His career was interrupted by World War II, although he continued to give concerts throughout Europe, including Nazi-occupied territories. He only fled the country in 1943, via Scandinavia, to Switzerland, where at the Geneva Conservatoire he held the highest piano professorship from 1944 to 1949. He concertized widely in Europe, including Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium and Holland, and his fame and popularity grew rapidly. He was also much sought after as a teacher for his masterclasses. In addition to his pianistic accomplishments, Dinu Lipatti was a composer, who wrote in a neoclassical style with French and Romanian influences.
In the last six years of his life, Dinu Lipatti was diagnosed with leukaemia. Yet his drive did not diminish and his playing never suffered. There were even plans for a concert tour in America, but relapses caused it to be cancelled. In his last year, his illness was kept at bay temporarily with a new drug, cortisone - the cost of which devoted friends like Yehudi Menuhin, Charles Munch and Stravinsky contributed no small amounts. It was during this remission that Lipatti, much against the advice of his doctors, decided to honour his concert engagement and played his final recital at Besançon on September 16, 1950. Unfortunately, the leukaemia returned; Lipatti finally succumbed and died a painful death in Geneva on December 2, 1950, at the tragically young age of 33. He is buried at the cemetery of Chêne-Bourg, an outskirt of Geneva close to the border with France, next to his wife Madeleine, a noted piano teacher.
Dinu Lipatti's playing was hailed as having reached the highest degrees in integrity and pianistic technique - which he employed in the quest for musical perfection. He was posthumously made a member of the Romanian Academy (in 1997).
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