Pianist Alexandre Kantorow and BIS Records announce new album Alexandre Kantorow plays Brahms & Schubert, out November 1

 

This recording concludes Kantorow's cycle dedicated to the piano sonatas of Brahms, following his highly acclaimed recordings of Brahms, Bartók & Liszt (2020) and Brahms (2021)

The program features Brahms' Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1 paired alongside Schubert's 'Wanderer Fantasy' D 760 and Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert lieder.

Assured, eloquent playing... To win both the Tchaikovsky and the Gilmore suggests Kantorow has technical security as well as something to say.

-The New York Times

 

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For immediate release – BIS Records is proud to announce the release of Alexandre Kantorow plays Brahms & Schubert - the new album by pianist Alexandre Kantorow that will be released November 1, 2024.

The album will conclude Kantorow's cycle dedicated to Brahms’ piano sonatas, the previous installments of which were acclaimed by music critics and audiences worldwide, with press hailing Kantorow as a "Brahms interpreter of unusual insight and distinctiveness" (The Guardian), whose "approach to the sonata is romantic and impassioned" (BBC Music Magazine). Brahms’ brilliant "début" Sonata in C major bears the number ‘Op. 1,’ though was in fact published after his second Sonata was written. The work is paired with Franz Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, the most virtuosic composition in his output and one that seemingly anticipates the expressive possibilities of Franz Liszt, a composer also featured on the album with his transcriptions of Schubert lieder. Schubert composed over 600 Lieder during his short life, making him the greatest exponent of this genre - five of these are presented here in Franz Liszt’s transcriptions for solo piano. 

Recently seen playing piano in the pouring rain during the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Kantorow is also the youngest recipient of the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award (2024). Sometimes referred to as music’s answer to the MacArthur Foundation "genius grants," the Gilmore Artist Award is awarded every four years and chosen by an anonymous, six-member Classical Awards Advisory Committee. Throughout the entire process, candidates are unaware they are under consideration - previous winners include Igor Levit and Kirill Gerstein. In 2019, at the age of 22, Kantorow made history as the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition as well as the Grand Prix, awarded only three times before in the competition’s history. Gramophone have called him "the real deal, a fire-breathing virtuoso with a poetic charm," and Fanfare referred to the young pianist as "Liszt reincarnated."

In January 2025, Kantorow will make his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Kantorow will continue his North American tour with recital performances at Dacamera Houston, the Eastman School of Music, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and with the Kalamazoo Symphony as a guest soloist, presented by The Gilmore. 

 

Album Track List

BRAHMS, Johannes (1833—97)
Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1 (1853)

I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegro molto e con fuoco — Più mosso
IV. Allegro con fuoco — Presto non troppo ed agitato

SCHUBERT, Franz (1797—1828) / LISZT, Franz (1811—86)
Song Transcriptions

Der Wanderer, S 558/11 (D 489)
Der Müller und der Bach, S 565/2 (D 795/19)
Frühlingsglaube, S 558/7 (D 686)
Die Stadt, S 560/1 (D 957/11)
Am Meer, S 560/4 (D 957/12)

SCHUBERT, Franz
Fantasy in C major, ‘Wanderer Fantasy’, D 760 (1822)

I. Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
II. Adagio
III. Presto
IV. Allegro

 

North American Tour Dates

January 24-26, 2025
DEBUT
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Los Angeles Philharmonic | Eun Sun Kim, conductor
TICKETS

January 28, 2025
Dacamera Houston | In Recital
TICKETS

January 30, 2025
Eastman School of Music | In Recital
TICKETS

February 2, 2025
Chicago Symphony Orchestra | In Recital
TICKETS

February 5, 2025
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | Julian Kuerti, conductor
TICKETS

 

About Alexandre Kantorow

In 2019, at age 22, Alexandre Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the Tchaikovsky Competition's First Prize, as well as the Grand Prix, awarded only three times before in the competition's history. Hailed by critics as the “reincarnation of Liszt” (Fanfare Magazine), he received the Gilmore Artist Award 2024, considered one of the most prestigious international piano prizes, and awarded only every 4 years. He is the first French artist and youngest winner of the Gilmore Artist Award.

Alexandre Kantorow began his career at an early age, making his debut at La Folle Journée de Nantes with Sinfonia Varsovia at age 16. Since then, he has performed with some of the world's most prestigious orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with Manfred Honeck, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko at the BBC Proms in London, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France with John Eliot Gardiner, Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev and Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer. Alexandre Kantorow has also performed on prestigious international tours with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden, as well as with the Orchestre National de France and Cristian Macelaru.

In recital, he performs in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium in New York, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw in its Master Pianists series, Vienna's Konzerthaus, Philharmonie de Paris, Brussels' Bozar, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Tokyo's City Opera... and in the most prestigious festivals including La Roque d'Anthéron, Ravinia Festival, Verbier Festival and Klavier-Festival Ruhr.

Highlights of the 2024/2025 season include Alexandre's debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, a European tour with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, under Tugan Sokhiev, debut with the Orchestre Metropolitain under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He will also perform Brahms' Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He will make his recital debut in China, including performances in Beijing and Shanghai as part of an Asian tour. In chamber music, he will perform with Janine Jansen and tour with Gautier Capuçon.

Alexandre Kantorow records exclusively for BIS. In 2022, he won two Diapason d'Or de l'Année for his Brahms disc and his Saint-Saëns disc (concertos 1 and 2). The latter disc, which finalizes the complete set of concertos recorded with the Tapiola Sinfonietta under Jean-Jacques Kantorow, has been hailed by critics as a “benchmark version of the Saint- Saëns concertos” (Resmusica). It was also selected by Gramophone magazine in their “Editor's choice”. His two previous recordings (Saint-Saëns concertos 3, 4 and 5, and solo works by Brahms, Bartok and Liszt) were both awarded Diapason d'Or and Choc Classica of the year in 2019 and 2020. Gramophone magazine describes his performance as “another outstanding example of his virtuosity and artistry, displaying both skill and sensitivity from start to finish”. His recital recording “à la Russe” also won numerous awards and distinctions in 2017, including Choc de l'Année (Classica), Diapason Découverte, Supersonic (Pizzicata) and CD des Doppelmonats (PianoNews).

He is a laureate of the Safran Foundation and Banque Populaire. In 2020, he won two awards at the Victoires de la Musique Classique: Recording of the Year and Instrumental Soloist of the Year, the latter also in 2024.

In 2022, he became artistic director of the “Les Rencontres Musicales de Nîmes” festival with violinist Liya Petrova and cellist Aurélien Pascal.

In 2024, Alexandre Kantorow was made Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite by the French President. Two years earlier, in 2022, he had been honored with the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. In July 2024, Alexandre performed at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.

Alexandre Kantorow studied with Pierre-Alain Volondat, Igor Lazko, Frank Braley and Rena Shereshevskaya.

 

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